666  Final annex

The retaining wall design has taken as reference the conditions of case 1. The introduction
of a safety factor of 2.0 means that the wall resistance is 100% higher than the active thrust,
in deterministic terms. Thus, even in case 1 the wall movement will be smaller than required
to mobilize the active thrust in the backfill (see Section 8.2.7). So a lower bound can be
inserted in the previous relation:

Pa < P1 < P2 < P3 < P4 £ P0

ER8.2
If the retaining walls have different cross sections (while sharing all the other conditions),
this means that they were designed on the basis of distinct safety factors, being larger the
one adopted for wall 2. The inclination and eccentricity of the foundation load for wall 2
are smaller, so the ground deformation is smaller. Therefore, the back face displacement for
wall 2 is smaller. So, the following relation can be written, to start with:
P1 < P2

As the retaining walls are founded on soil, their base has experienced some displacement,
and so:

P1 < P2 < P0

Additionally, if we assume that even wall 1 has been designed with a reasonable safety mar-
gin relative to the active thrust, Pa, then it follows that:

Pa < P1 < P2 < P0

ER8.3
Agree Disagree
1 – It would have been more prudent to design the wall for the passive thrust, which is x
the largest, rather than the active, which is the smallest.
2 – The fact that thrust is, in both cases, larger than the active thrust is reasonable, x
because safety factors have been introduced in the design process.
3 – The wall is in danger of collapsing because the thrust due to backfill is larger than x
that considered in the design, the active thrust.
4 – The resistance and stiffness of the foundation soil in section B are lower, providing x
larger wall displacement, so earth pressures are lower.
5 – The thrust being larger in section A means that in A the wall displacement was x
larger than in section B.
6 – The soil thrust in both sections is lower than the at-rest thrust. x
1 - Disagree.The statement is absurd.The passive thrust is to be accounted for when the structure (or a structural element)
is supported by the ground, receiving pressures from it of reactive nature.
2 - Agree. Due to the introduction of (partial or global) safety factors to account for the inherent-design uncertainties, the
wall resistance ends up being larger than the active thrust (in deterministic terms). Therefore, the displacement of the wall
back face will be smaller than required for mobilizing the active state.
3 - Disagree. See comment to statement 2.
4 - Agree. The thrust is smaller in section B because the displacement of the back face was larger in that section. As the wall
is practically rigid, this happened because in section B the foundation ground experienced larger deformation.
5 - Disagree. See comment to statement 4.
6 - Agree. It seems reasonable that the wall suffered displacement in both sections, so the thrust will have to be lower than
the at-rest value.
 Final annex  667

ER8.4
a) For this example, Eurocode 7 – Design Approach 1 was followed.
For this type of retaining wall and for external design, the active Rankine thrust
should be considered at a vertical plane coinciding with the inner limit of the base (see
Section 8.2.5.3), as shown in Figure ER8.4a.
Figure ER8.4b summarizes the actions and the respective partial factors for the two
combinations. For Combination 1 two situations are considered: i) the effects of the
weight of the wall, of the soil block above the base and of the surcharge on this block
are favorable; and ii) the effects of the weight of the wall, of the soil block above the
base and of the surcharge on this block are unfavorable (see, for instance, Figure 3.14).
For the ULS of base sliding and foundation failure, Combination 2 governs the
design. So, the calculations will be presented only for this combination.
Table ER8.4 summarizes the magnitude of the forces above the wall foundation, the
respective lever arms in relation to the barycenter of the wall base, and the respective
moments in relation to this point.
Base sliding
With regard to base sliding (see Section 8.2.6) the safety factor is assessed by
Equation 8.3. Taking into consideration the values of the table above:

TSd = Pa + Paq = 179.6 kN/m

Figure ER8.4a   Earth pressures and gravity forces acting on the retaining wall and on the adjacent soil block.

Figure ER8.4b Actions and respective partial safety factors for the Design Approach 1 of Eurocode 7.
668  Final annex

Table ER8.4  Summary of the forces and moments above the wall fondation.
Σ Wi
Force W1 W2 W3 Wsoil (2) Pa Paq Pa + Paq (3)
Magnitude 19.4 38.9 50.4 232.2 340.9 147.6 32.0 179.6
(kN/m)
Lever arm 0.80 0.55 0 0.675 – 2.0 3.0
(m) (1)
Moment 15.5 21.4 0 –156.7 – 295.2 96.0 Σ Mi = 271.4
(kN.m/m) (1)
Notes:
1 – Moments are calculated in relation to the center of the base of the footing.
2 – This force is NS for the limit state of base sliding and VS for the limit state of bearing capacity.
3 – This force is TS for the limit state of base sliding and HS for the limit state of bearing capacity.

TRd = SWi × tan d b,d = 340.9 ´ tan 29.3° = 191.3 kN/m

Then, it can be concluded that:

TSd £ TRd

Foundation soil failure

The system of forces applied at the barycenter of the foundation are:

(V , H, M ) = ( 340.9 kN/m; 179.6 kN/m; 271.4 kN × m/m )

The eccentricity of the vertical force can be calculated:

e = M /V = 0.80 m

Therefore, for computation of the bearing capacity of the foundation, the effec-
tive width of the footing is equal to:

B¢ = B – 2e = 1.9 m
In the present case, among the corrective factors of the resistance, only the ones
for load inclination, iq and i γ, need to be considered. The following expression
allows the determination of the bearing capacity of the foundation, qult, according
to Equation 6.26:
1
qult = q × N q × iq + × B¢ × g ¢ × Ng × ig
2
Considering Tables 6.1 and 6.3,

ìN q = 36.86; iq = 0.224
for fd¢ = 35.8°: í
î Ng = 39.43; ig = 0.106
The bearing capacity can be computed as follows:

1
qult = 20 ´ 36.86 ´ 0.224 + ´ 1.9 ´ ( 20 - 9.8) ´ 39.43 ´ 0.106 = 205.6 kPa
2
 Final annex  669

The value of the resistance to vertical loading can then be computed as:

VRd = qult ´ B¢ = 390.6 kN/m

With regard to foundation failure (see Section 8.2.6) the safety factor is assessed
by Equation 8.4. Taking into consideration the value above and the value from
Table ER8.4:

VSd = SWi = 340.9 kN/m

It can be concluded that:

VSd £ VRd

b) For internal design, it was found that Combination 1 (assuming the effect of the
weight of the wall and of the soil above the base as unfavorable, see middle column of
Figure ER8.4b) is the critical one. So, the calculations will be presented only for this
combination.
For internal design, it must be taken into account that the supported backfill is not
really in the active state (see Section 8.2.7). For this reason, the pressures acting on the
wall will be considered on the basis of a pressure coefficient equal to:

1 1
+
Ka + K0 3 2
K= = = 0.42
2 2

being

K0 = 1 - sin f ¢ = 0.50

For this new earth pressure coefficient, the system of forces applied at the barycen-
ter of the foundation is:

(V , H, M ) = ( 492.5 kN/m; 241.9 kN/m; 338.1 kN × m/m )

and the eccentricity of the vertical force becomes:

e = M / V = 0.69 m

Figure ER8.4c shows the distribution of soil pressures under the footing for this
situation. Note that since e > B/6, part of the footing base is not active.

Figure ER8.4c Distribution of the normal pressures under the footing.

670  Final annex

Figure ER8.4d Pressures applied on the stem back face, bending moment and shear forces distributions.

Stem design
The following concrete and steel parameters will be assumed: C30/37 and S500.
Figure ER8.4d shows the pressure graphs applied by the soil at the stem back face,
as well as the respective bending moment and shear stress distributions.
Bending reinforcement
The steel reinforcement will be calculated only for the section with maximum bend-
ing moment. It will be assumed that:

d = h – c = 0.60 – 0.07 = 0.53 m

where d and h are, respectively, the effective and overall depth of the cross section and
c is the reinforcement cover.
Following Eurocode 2 (EN 1992-1-1:2004), to calculate the reinforcement it is nec-
essary to determine the active height of the concrete section:

Fc × z = MEd

(c1 × b × fcd × x) × ( d - c 2 × x ) = MEd

(0.81 ´ 1 ´ 20000 × x ) ´ (0.53 - 0.416 × x ) = 389.5

x = 0.047 m

where:
– Fc is the resultant of the concrete compressive normal stresses at the section;
– z is the lever arm of the internal forces;
– M Ed is the design value of the applied internal bending moment;
– χ1 is the area coefficient;
– b is the width of the cross section;
– fcd is the design value of concrete compressive strength;
– x represents the height of the concrete section which acts as a resistance to the
bending moment;
– χ2 is the positioning coefficient.
In the following, an equation is formulated to find the required reinforce-
ment to ensure the cross section equilibrium:
 Final annex  671

Fc = Fs

c1 × b × fcd × x = fyd × As

0.81 ´ 1 ´ 20000 ´ 0.047 = 434783 × As

As = 17.5 cm2 /m

where:
– Fs is the resultant of the steel tensile stresses at the section;
– f yd is the design yield strength of reinforcement.
Shear reinforcement
According to Eurocode 2, the following equation can be used to determine the
maximum shear stress mobilized by the transverse section:

ë { 1/ 3
û }
VRd ,c = max éCRd ,c × k × (100 × r × fck ) ù × b × d; n min × b × d

ë {
VRd ,c = max é0.12 ´ 1.614 ´ (100 ´ 0.002 ´ 30 ) ù ´ 1 ´ 530; 0.3932 ´ 1 ´ 530
1/ 3
û }
VRd ,c = max {186.5; 208.4} = 208.4 kN/m

where:
– V Rd,c is the design shear resistance of the member without shear
reinforcement;
0.18
– CRd ,c = , with γc the partial factor for concrete;
gc
200
– k = 1 + £ 2.0 , with d expressed in mm;
d
Asl
– r = < 0.02 , with A sl the area of the tensile reinforcement;
b×d
– fck is the characteristic compressive cylinder strength of concrete at 28 days;
and
– n min = 0.035 × k3/ 2 × fck1/ 2 .
As can be seen, the cross section can produce a shear resistance of
208.4 kN/m, which is enough to equilibrate the applied shear stress
(199.4 kN/m). Therefore, the minimum reinforcement established in the code
must be adopted:

Asw 0.08 × z × fck

=
s fyk

Asw 0.08 ´ 0.9 ´ 0.53 ´ 30

=
s 500
672  Final annex

Asw
= 4.18 cm2 /m
s
where:
– A sw is the cross-sectional area of the shear reinforcement;
– s is the spacing of the stirrups;
– z is the lever arm of the internal forces (the approximate value z = 0.9d may
normally be used);
– f yk is the characteristic yield strength of reinforcement.
Base design
Figure ER8.4e shows the loading diagram on the base of the wall, as well as the
bending moment and shear stress distributions.
Bending reinforcement
Following the same methodology as used for stem design:

Fc × z = MEd

(0.81 ´ 1 ´ 20000 × x ) × (0.53 - 0.416 × x ) = 317.1

x = 0.038 m

Imposing the equilibrium of the cross section:

Fc = Fs

0.81 ´ 1 ´ 20000 ´ 0.038 = 434783 × As

As = 14.2 cm2 /m

Shear reinforcement

VRd ,c = 208.4 kN/m

Since the maximum shear resistance provided by the cross section is not enough
to equilibrate the maximum shear stress, the required reinforcement must be
determined:

Figure ER8.4e Loading applied on the base, bending moment and shear stress distributions.
 Final annex  673

As VEd
=
s z × fyd × cotanq

As 224.4
=
s 0.9 ´ 0.53 ´ 434783 ´ 2.5

As
= 4.33 cm2 /m
s
Toe design
Figure ER8.4f shows the loading diagrams applied on the toe.
The internal stresses are in this case very small. Therefore, the minimum rein-
forcement is applied.
Bending reinforcement

fctm
As = 0.26 × ×b×d
fyk

2 .9
As = 0.26 × × 1 × 0.53
500

As = 8 cm2 /m

Shear reinforcement

Asw 0.08 × z × fck

=
s fyk

Asw 0.08 ´ 0.9 ´ 0.53 ´ 30

=
s 500

Asw
= 4.18 cm2 /m
s
Finally, Figure ER8.4g illustrates the simplified reinforcement layout.

Figure ER8.4f Loading on the toe.

674  Final annex

Figure ER8.4g Reinforcement layout

ER8.5
a) In static conditions, the wall is subjected to the loading system indicated in Figure
ER8.5a. The passive thrust in front of the wall is neglected.
The wall back face was defined by the dashed line indicated in Figure ER8.5a (see
8.2.5.2). The active thrust coefficient, calculated from Equation 5.69, considering
ϕ' = 30º, δ = 30º, β = 0 and λ =17º, is equal to K a = 0.462. The wall height is:

8 cos 17
h= = 8.31 m
cos (17 + 6 )

Figure ER8.5a Load system acting on the wall.