Analytical Solution for Rankine’s Seismic Active Earth Pressure in Soil with Infinite Slope
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 139, Issue 9
Abstract
This paper presents an analytical solution to determine seismic active earth pressure on a rigid frictionless retaining wall of soil backfill with an infinite slope, considering horizontal and vertical seismic coefficients. This solution is a generalized explicit expression and was derived based on the Rankine earth pressure theory and the Mohr-Coulomb yield criterion. To verify the derived solution, a special case was analyzed, and its result is identical to that obtained by earlier researchers. By analyzing the distribution of the seismic active earth pressures along the wall depth, a tension crack zone behind the wall was identified, and the seismic active earth pressure coefficient considering the tension crack was obtained. This study also investigated the effects of wall friction, soil friction angle and dimensionless cohesion, backfill slope, and horizontal and vertical seismic coefficients on the seismic active earth pressure coefficients. Design charts for seismic active earth pressure coefficients were developed for the practical use of this solution.
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Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge the support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51179022) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. DUT12LK19). The authors also acknowledge the assistance of the graduate student, Bo Liu, for the development of a computer program to calculate the earth pressure. In addition, the authors appreciate the associate editor and three anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments, which have helped the quality of the paper.
References
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Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 139 • Issue 9 • September 2013
Pages: 1611 - 1616
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Apr 23, 2012
Accepted: Nov 28, 2012
Published online: Dec 1, 2012
Published in print: Sep 1, 2013
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