CE 240 Soil Mechanics & Foundations Lecture 11.

Lateral Earth Pressure I (Das, Ch. 12)

Class Outline

Introduction: at-rest, active, and passive pressure for retaining structures Earth pressure at-rest Rankines theory: Active and Passive Retaining wall with limited height

Let us start to consider a question: What is the ratio of the horizontal pressure and the vertical pressure? h K= ?? 1) in water; v 2) in ice; 3) any difference? 4) which is larger? Extend the discussion on the ratio of the horizontal stress and vertical stress in solids.

1) in water:

h K= =1 v
h K= <1 v
h 1 K= v 3
if

2) in ice:

3) in rock:

= 0.25

Basic Concepts on Earth Pressures

'a

'h ( a )

'o

'h ( p )

Earth Pressure at Rest

Coefficient of earth pressure at rest

where

'h Ko = 'o

o = z h = Ko(z) = sat - w

Earth Pressure at Rest (Cont.)

For coarse-grained soils
K0 = 1 sin
(Jaky, 1944)

For correcting K0 due to over consolidation K0 = 1 sin (OCR)sin (Mayne & Kulhawy 1982) * For fine-grained, normally consolidated soils
PI (%) (Massarch, 1979) K o = 0.44 + 0.42 100

K o (OC ) = K o ( NC ) OCR

For overconsolidates clays Pc Where OCR =

'o

3 1

Rankines Theory Assumptions

The lateral earth pressure coefficients are valid for;
Vertical earth retaining wall Smooth wall in which the interface between the wall and soil is frictionless The supported soil is homogeneous and isotropic The soil is loose and originally in an at-rest state Lateral earth pressures must be applied to effective stress Critical slip planes are oriented at 45o /2

Rankines theory of active pressure

Figure 12.7

Compare these expressions with weve learned from equation 11.8 from Chapter 11, we can see the difference is the above equations is expressing the minimum principal stress by the maximum principal stress.

 'a

'o

Rankines Passive Pressures

The coefficient of Rankines passive earth pressure, Kp
1 Kp = Ka

'h ( p ) 1 + sin ' ' = = tan 2 45 + Kp = 'o 1 sin ' 2

Lateral Stress due to Compaction

Additional lateral stresses are imposed by the compaction equipment which should be considered while designing retaining walls Ingold (1979) used elastic theory to estimate these lateral stresses Some account for this by assuming that the resultant active lateral earth force acts at 0.4H0 or 0.5H0 rather than H0/3 from the base of the wall Alternatively, active earth pressures can be multiplied by a factor(~1.20)

Reading Assignment: Das, Ch. 12 HW: Problem 12.15