Analytical Solutions for Active Lateral Earth Force
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 148, Issue 6
Abstract
Analytical solutions are presented for the active force on a retaining wall from a single wedge of unreinforced soil, as obtained from a general Coulomb-type limit equilibrium analysis. The solutions can accommodate variable wedge geometry, pore pressure, shear-strength parameters, surcharge stress, applied loads, pseudostatic seismic coefficients, and a tension crack zone. Closed-form expressions are derived for the critical angle of the base failure plane and corresponding maximum effective normal force on the wall for a triangular soil wedge. Verification checks show exact agreement with existing analytical solutions for simplified conditions, including Coulomb and Mononobe-Okabe active earth force. A numerical example is provided to demonstrate the method for a gravity retaining wall.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear in the published article.
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Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 148 • Issue 6 • June 2022
Copyright
© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 30, 2020
Accepted: Feb 15, 2022
Published online: Apr 5, 2022
Published in print: Jun 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Sep 5, 2022
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Cited by
- Amin Keshavarz, Fatemeh Khani, Active and Passive Lateral Earth Pressure with Anisotropic Seepage Effect, International Journal of Geomechanics, 10.1061/IJGNAI.GMENG-9394, 24, 8, (2024).
- Patrick J. Fox, Analytical Solutions for Internal Stability of a Geosynthetic-Reinforced Soil Retaining Wall at the Limit State, Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0002844, 148, 10, (2022).
- Patrick J. Fox, Analytical Solutions for General Three-Wedge Stability, International Journal of Geomechanics, 10.1061/(ASCE)GM.1943-5622.0002535, 22, 12, (2022).