FOUNDATION ENGINEERING

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATIONS OF EARTH

PRESSURE ON WALLS WITH TWO RELIEVING PLATFORMS
IN THE CASE OF BREAKING LOADS ON THE BACKFILL

P ° I. Y a k o v l e v UDC 624.131.37:624.137.5

Quite economical lightweight walls have found wide use of late in the construction of retaining s t r u c -
~ r e s . The construction potentialities of the creation of such walls with consideration of the use of p r e c a s t
m e m b e r s are far f r o m exhausted. The skillful use of the p r o p e r t i e s of the backfill, having internal f r i c -
tion, p e r m i t s a considerable reduction of the forces acting on the wall.
One of the main methods of c r e a t i n g e c o n o m i c a l lightweight s t r u c t u r e s is the use of relieving p l a t -
f o r m s connected rigidly with the wail. E a r l i e r the author c a r r i e d out experiments with one relieving p l a t -
f o r m in o r d e r to investigate: 1) the distribution of p r e s s u r e o v e r the height of the wall as a function of the
position and dimensions of the p l a t f o r m under conditions of the effect of a v a r i o u s l y distributed load on the
backfill surface; 2) distribution of the p r e s s u r e on the p l a t f o r m as a function of the intensity and location
of the load; 3) c h a r a c t e r of change of the p r e s s u r e on the walt and p l a t f o r m in the p r e s e n c e of forward
movements of the wall; 4) size of the sliding wedge and position of the surface of sliding for wails with
p l a t f o r m s ; 5) s t r e s s of the backfill behind the wall [1].
An analysis of the results showed that the problems of the interaction of such walls with the backfill
a r e r a t h e r complex and the existing calculation methods inadequately take into account the effect of many
e s s e n t i a l factors [2-5].
The a u t h o r ' s experiments established that in the case of wail displacements an internal surface of
sliding s t a r t i n g f r o m the end of the p l a t f o r m f o r m s in the backfill zone above the platform. The soil p a r t i -
cles in the region between the internal sliding s u r f a c e , wall, and p l a t f o r m a r e not displaced during m o v e -
meats of the wall and a state of limit equilibrium does not o c c u r in this backfill zone. The position of the
internal and e x t e r n a l sliding s u r f a c e s depends on the width and depth of embedment of the platform. F o r
the s a m e depth of the p l a t f o r m the dimensions of the sliding zone i n c r e a s e with an i n c r e a s e of the p l a t -
f o r m width, In the backfill located between the p l a t f o r m and the external sliding surface the vertical c o m -
ponents of particle d i s p l a c e m e n t are maximum, whereas the horizontal components are relatively small

TABLE 1 TABLE 2

E,
I
E,, [ E~, E., r/tt Mov) Q,, Q_,,
tall [
love-[ E, El) E.*) Es,
" IN m[N/ml"/m lcnts N N N N
[

1283 167 276 840 t 0,315 419 820 710 0,096 I 2543 870 469 1213 0~455 1199 2040 850
i"°, 0062 0,146[ 2472 845 471 1150 0,458 tl73 2090 88O
0,234 [ 2394 892 416 1086 0,475 1175 2240 870
0,42 ~ 2456 962 448 I056 0,485 1239 2400 88O
0,062 1315 ) 159]294[ 862 0,314 i 425 I 820 } 720 0,78 I 2466 I029 427 1018 0,497 1269 2520 87O
0,062 1347 I 151 }304 } 892 } 0,308 I 428 } 820 ~ 720 1,60 t 2393 1060 412 92t 0,522 1279 2580 87O
3 0.064 1451 1 1861341 } 994 J 0,325] 488 I 860 } 750 4,68 / 2387 1098 409 880 0,53! 1306 2790 88O
0,o7o 1596 ) 2941344 ~ 958 0,358] 588 / 1130 } 760 9,62 2480 1176 345 959 0,527 1344 3170 850
s 0,0731 174I I 438 348 o,4oo I 729 i , ~ } 19,6 2581 t254 293 1034 0,520 1386 3250 810
1691 i 42"5-(~) 1016 ( 0,359( 618 ) 16,30 I - -
0,077 [ 1875 ( 429 378 1068 0.385] 747 [ I330 ( 770
a,oal ( 1~2 ( 450 39~ i~0~ 0,389 750 ) 1390 I 770
8 0.088 2134 ] 5 0 3 ] 4 8 1 ( 1178 0,305, 867 ) 1550 ] 800
I 0,092 2370 I 690 ] 468 I 1 2 1 2 0,4221 1034 i 1870 I a4o
2543 870 460 [ 1213 0,455 1 1 9 , 9 2040 850
I0 0,096

i I

Odessa Institute of Naval E n g i n e e r s . Translated f r o m Osnovaniya, Fundamenty i Mekhanika Gruntov,

No. 3, pp. 7-9, May-June, 1974.

© t974 Consultants Bureau, a division of Plenum Publishing Corporation, 227 West t7th "Street, New Fork, N. Y, lO01t, 1
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, I
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151
 b

,x,
Z3 . . . . .

¢9

0
--2_-t
.... -!,
'~ ". . . . 1

i '
0

0 0,10 0,20 0,30 N/crn2 0 O,fO 0~,~0 0,30 0,40 N/crn2

Fig. t. Diagrams of p r e s s u r e on wall for different loads on the fill s u r f a c e , a) 1-5th

loading step; b) 6-10th loading step. The numbers of the line c o r r e s p o n d to the numbers
of the loading step; line 0 c o r r e s p o n d s to the case when only sand was filled and the
load was not applied.

(about twofold less than for particles located below the

platform). The intensity of the vertical p r e s s u r e here
during movements of the wall is c o n s i d e r a b l y less than
I
the weight of the overlying backfill and load [6, 7].

~ -2 -- The v e r t i c a l s t r e s s e s in the region of the backfill

under the p l a t f o r m are considerably less than follows
f r o m the existing calculation method.
° % The vertical s t r e s s e s f r o m the load are distributed
at an angle considerably less than the angle of failure
25~ ~
7= ---2 .%,, __ reckoned f r o m the horizontal. The load beyond the sliding
o
wedge causes an i n c r e a s e of p r e s s u r e on the wall. The
d i a g r a m of p r e s s u r e s on the portion of the wall below
the p l a t f o r m has a gradual c h a r a c t e r . The p r e s s u r e
on the wall below the p l a t f o r m is g r e a t e r and n e a r the
,.\ I bottom of the wall less than the calculated.
During movements the resultant of the p r e s s u r e
'03 ~ L ~ \ - on the lower p a r t of the wall d e c r e a s e s continuously un-
0 e,m o,zo o,3o o,#,o N/cm2 til the displacements equal 1/200-1/100 of the wall
height. The m i n i m u m p r e s s u r e on this p a r t of the wall
Fig. 2. D i a g r a m of the p r e s s u r e on the wall
during movements can be severalfold less than the c o r -
during forward movements. 1) After placing
responding p r e s s u r e before the s t a r t of displacement.
the 10th loading step (displacement 0.096 mm);
With a further increase of movements the p r e s s u r e can
2-5) during movements equal r e s p e c t i v e l y to
increase somewhat, not exceeding,however, the p r e s -
0.146, 0.234, 0.42, and 0.78 m m .
sure before the s t a r t of displacement.
F o r c e r t a i n relations of the width and depth of the p l a t f o r m the p r e s s u r e on the upper p a r t of the
wall i n c r e a s e s during movements, the relative increase of p r e s s u r e being g r e a t e r the wider the platform
and s m a l l e r its depth.

152
 TABLE 3 TABLE 4
No. Charme~ Stresses at loading steps No. Stresses .during wall movements, mm 1

eel! sand ~ 2 a 4 5 6 ? 8 .9 io Of
eel1 0,096 0,I46 0,234 0,42 0,78 1,60 4,58 9,62 19,6
I
0,84 0,66 0,66 O,6B 0.75 0,75 0,72 0,74 0,82 0,88 0,89 ~. o;891 o,9o,o.9o o.s, o,83 o.~2 o,8o,o,~ o,,,)
0,I6 0 17t0,t710 1610 18/0,t810,18I~;1810,1910 18 0,18 0,18 0,19 0,17 0,17 0,10 0,15 0,1510,15 0,19(
0.32
0,40
0,58
0.33 l 0,34 } 0,34 1 0.36 t 0,36 | 0.38 / 0.38 | 0.40-i 0,42 1 0,42
0,46 0,48|048~0,49 0,49t0,5|/0,5110,54 0,55 0,55
0,60 0,61|0,60|0,64 0,65|0,66|0,67~0,7i]0,72 0,74
4
5
0,42
0,55
0.74
I I 0,42
0,55
0,72
0,41
0,53
0,70
0,40
0,40
0.69
0,39
0,46
0.66
0,38
0,44
0,63
0,39 I 0,43 I 0,46~
0,38 0,58 i 0,69~
0,62 0,69 0.78. ~

P r i o r to the s t a r t of w a l l m o v e m e n t s the m a g n i t u d e o f the r e s u l t a n t o f the p r e s s u r e on the p l a t f o r m

i s l e s s t h a n the c a l c u l a t e d p r e s s u r e , d e f i n e d a s the w e i g h t of the o v e r l y i n g b a c k f i l l and loado D u r i n g d i s -
p l a c e m e n t the r e s u l t a n t of the p r e s s u r e on the p l a t f o r m i n c r e a s e s n o t i c e a b l y and a p p r o a c h e s the c a l c u -
l a t e d v a l u e . T h e s e q u a l i t a t i v e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s a r e o b s e r v e d a l s o in w a l l s w i t h two r e l i e v i n g p l a t f o r m s .
The i n v e s t i g a t i o n s w e r e c a r r i e d o u t i n an o p e n c h a n n e l of w i d t h b = t00 c m , h e i g h t H = 109 c m , and
l e n g t h [ = 177 c m . The f a c e o f the m o d e l o f the w a t I c o n s i s t e d o f 10 x 1 0 - c m b l o c k s b o l t e d to a m e t a l
f r a m e o f No. 20 H b e a m s . The m a s s o f this p a n e l w a s a b o u t 400 kg° The w i d t h o f the u p p e r p l a t f o r m w a s
21o8 c m and o f the l o w e r 14.5 c m . The d e p t h of e m b e d m e n t of the u p p e r f a c e of the p l a t f o r m s was r e -
s p e c t i v e l y 27.3 and 57.3 c m .
The p l a t f o r m s w e r e m a d e of a 4 - c m - t h i c k b o a r d and w e r e b o l t e d o v e r t h e i r l e n g t h to f o u r b r a c k e t s
w e l d e d f r o m 45 × 4 5 - r a m angle i r o n s . The b r a c k e t s in t u r n w e r e b o l t e d to the w a l l . S u f f i c i e n t l y r i g i d a t -
t a c h m e n t of the p l a t f o r m to the q u i t e r i g i d w a l l w a s a t t a i n e d t h e r e b y . The s u r f a c e of the b l o c k s of the w a l l
f a c i n g the b a c k f i l l w a s s m e a r e d w i t h glue and d u s t e d w i t h s a n d to c r e a t e r o u g h n e s s .

The p r e s s u r e on the w a l l and p l a t f o r m w a s m e a s u r e d b y 12 p r e s s u r e c e l l s p l a c e d a l o n g the a x i s o f

the w a l t . Ti~e c e l l s w e r e p l a c e d on the v e r t i c a l w a l l a t a d e p t h o f 8, 23, 38, 53, 68, 8"3, and 103 c m . The
o t h e r five c e l l s m e a s u r e d the v e r t i c a l p r e s s u r e on the p l a t f o r m s ( t h r e e c e l l s on the u p p e r and two on the
lower platform).

A f t e r f i l l i n g the c h a n n e l w i t h L y u b e r t s y fine q u a r t z sand (unit w e i g h t 1.52 t o n s / m 3, a n g l e o f i n t e r n a l

f r i c t i o n 33°30 ') two r o w s o f i r o n c a s t i n g s w e r e p l a c e d on the s u r f a c e o f the fill o v e r the e n t i r e l e n g t h of
the c h a n n e l to p r o v i d e the n e c e s s a r y l o a d . A t f i r s t the f i r s t row of c a s t i n g w a s p l a c e d a s five s t e p s , w h i c h
p r o v i d e d a load i n t e n s i t y o f 3320 N / m 2 (the d i s t a n c e f r o m the w a l l to the f r o n t f a c e of the Ioad in the 1 - h t h
s t e p s w a s r e s p e c t i v e l y 82.5, 5 9 . 1 , 36.8, 14.2, and 0 c m ; the l e n g t h o f the l o a d i n g s e c t i o n in the f i r s t s t e p
w a s 88.1 c m ) , and then the s e c o n d r o w w i t h a l o a d o f 6420 N / m 2 w a s a p p l i e d in the s a m e s e q u e n c e on the
steps of the first row.
The experimental diagrams of the earth pressure on the wall obtained after filling the channel with
sand and during application of the l-5th steps of the load are shown in Fig. la.

Similar diagrams obtained during placement of the second loading row (6-10th steps) with an inten-
sity- of 3320 + 6420 = 9740 N/m 2 are Shown in Fig. Ib, which shows for comparison the diagram obtained
after placing the fifth step corresponding to a uniformly distributed load with an intensity of 3320 N/m 2
starting from the wall and located over the entire surface of the fill.

The forward displacement of the wall resulting from deformation of the supporting elements after
placing the 10th step was 0.096 mrn (diagram I0 in Fig. Ib)o
After loading the wall of the model a special forward displacement was imparted by turning the sup-
porting bars. Four diagrams obtained during such movements and corresponding to displacements of
0.146, 0.234, 0.420, and 0.78 mm are shown in Fig. 2 (here and henceforth the magnitudes of movements
are indicated from the initial position of the wall before filling the channel with sand).
The data from analyzing the diagrams are presented in Tables I and 2,whe re E is the resultant of the hori-
zontal pressure on the entire wall; E l, E 2, E 3 are the same on the upper part of the wall with a height of
31.3 em (above the lower face of the upper platform), on the middle part with a height of 30 cm, and on the
lower part with a height of 41.7 cm (from the bottom of the second platform from the top); Mov is the over-
turning moment of force E relative to the bottom of the diagram. The ratio r/h characterizes the location
of the resultant E with respect to the height of the wall, where r is the distance from the bottom of the dia-
gram_ to the line of action of force E ; h = 103 cm is the height of the wall within which the diagram was
constr~cted. Also shown there are the values of the resultants Qi and Q2 of the pressure on the upper and

153
 lower platforms in N / m 2 of the p i a t f o r m length, as well as the mag~
nitudes of the forward displacements of the wall during its loading
and movements.
In Table 1 the denominator p r e s e n t s the corresponding values
calculated by the p r e s e n t l y used Coulomb method of determining the
p r e s s u r e on walls with platforms for q = 0 °3320 and 9740 N / m 2 (for
an angle of wall friction 6 = 22°20').
We see f r o m Tables I and 2 that the experimental resultant I~
in all cases is close to the calculated. The value of t~ changes in-
significantly during wall m o v e m e n t s . The resultant of p r e s s u r e E 1
during loading of the wall differs little f r o m the calculated; however,
during wall movements the value of E i i n c r e a s e s considerably (up
to 1o5 times). The e x p e r i m e n t a l E 2 during loading of the wall is
noticeably g r e a t e r than the calculated. During movements of the
wall to 4.5 m m E 2 d e c r e a s e s somewhat, exceeding considerably the
Fig. 3. Displacement of the fill af- calculated nonetheless.
t e r forward movement of the wall
The resultant E 3 during loading is slightly less than the c a l -
by 19.6 m m . culated and it d e c r e a s e s even more during wall m o v e m e n t s . The
minimum of E 3 amounts to less than two-thirds of the calculated.
The point of application of the resultant E during loading and especially during wall movements is
higher than the calculated. T h e r e f o r e , the experimental value of Mov f r o m force E is g r e a t e r than the c a l -
culated moment. Thus, although the total horizontal p r e s s u r e on the wall is close to the calculated, the
distribution of p r e s s u r e o v e r the height of the wail differs f r o m the calculated.
The resultant of p r e s s u r e Q1 during loading is less than the calculated, defined as the weight of the
overlying fitl and load. However, during walt movements the experimental Q1 approaches the calculated.
The resultant Q2 during wall movements changes little. The d i a g r a m s of the p r e s s u r e on the p l a t -
f o r m s have a pronounced trapezoidal c h a r a c t e r with the s m a l l e r ordinate near the wall. For the upper
p l a t f o r m the ratio of the e x t r e m e ordinates during loading of the wall is about 2, but during movements in-
c r e a s e s to 4.
Figure 3 shows the displacement of the fill particles during forward movement of the wall. In this
case regions are formed above both platforms within which the fill does not pass into a state of limit
equilibrium.
In addition to the 12 contact p r e s s u r e cells, five soil p r e s s u r e cells that measured the v e r t i c a l
s t r e s s e s were placed in the backfill behind the wall. Cell No. 1 was located at the level of the upper face
of the lower p l a t f o r m at a distance of 18.6 e m f r o m the wall; cells Nos. 2 and 3 at a depth of 9.5 cm f r o m
the bottom of the lower p l a t f o r m at a distance of 4.5 and 11 c m f r o m the wall; cells Nos. 4 and 5 were
placed at the same such distance f r o m the wall at a depth of 26.9 c m f r o m the bottom of the lower p l a t -
f o r m . The results of m e a s u r i n g the s t r e s s e s in the fill are presented in Tables 3 and 4 (in N/era2).
During wall movements the p r e s s u r e on cell No. 1 d e c r e a s e d by about 30% as a consequence of a r c h -
ing, and only after c a v e - i n of the fill upon displacement of 0.004 H it began to i n c r e a s e , not reaching how-
e v e r the initial value. The load had little effect on cells Nos. 2 and 4 located n e a r the wail. During m o v e -
ment of the wall to 0.004 H the vertical s t r e s s e s at these points decreased by 20-30%. The s t r e s s e s on
cells Nos. 2 and 4 also d e c r e a s e d slightly for this same amount of movement.
On the whole the experiments revealed r a t h e r completely the pattern of the change of contact p r e s -
s u r e s on the wall and platforms and yielded some data in the complex and little-studied a r e a of e x p e r i -
mental investigations pertaining to m e a s u r e m e n t of s t r e s s e s in backfill.
The results obtained confirm the need to use more accurate calculation methods in design practice
[ 3 , 5 ] , which p e r m i t s improving the e c o n o m i c indices of using quite p r o m i s i n g lightweight walls with r e -
lieving p l a t f o r m s .
LITERATURE CITED
1. Z . V . T s a g a r e l t , New Lightweight Constructions of Retaining Walls [in Russian], Stroiizdat, Moscow
(1969).

154
2, G. K. Klein, Calculation of Retaining Waits [in Russian], Vysshaya Shkola, Moscow (1964).
3. P. I. Yakovlev, "Refinement of the method of calculating retaining walls with relieving platforms,"
in: Scientific Papers "Sea P o r t s , " [in Russian], No. 4 (1970).
P° I. Yakovlev, "Calculation of relieving beams," in: Scientific Papers "Sea Ports," [in Russian],
No. 1 (1965).
5. P. I. Yakovlev, "Application of S. S. Golushkevich's method to calculation of retaining walls with r e -
lieving platforms," Izvestiya VUZOV. Stroitel'stovo Arkhitektura, No. 9 (1966).
6. P. I. Yakovlev, "Experimental investigations of a new type of relieving device for retaining walls,"
in: Scientific Papers "Hydraulic Engineering" [in Russian], No. 3, Morskoi Transport (1964).
7. P. I. Yakov[ev, "Investigation of the behavior of relieving platforms of retaining walls," in: Scien-
tific Papers "Hydraulic E ngineering" [in Russian], No. 3, Morskoi Transport (1964).

155