LATERAL EARTH

PRESSURE 2
Lecture 11
Asst. Prof. Kristian Azul
Coulomb Earth Pressure
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Coulomb Method
1. Allows for friction between the retaining wall
and soil
2. May be used for non-vertical walls
3. Allows for non-horizontal backfill (inclined),
but must be planar
4. Backfill must be cohesionless for inclined
backfill
5. Assumes a planar slip surface, similar to
Rankine
6. Is used for Active and Passive conditions only
7. Assumes a homogeneous backfill
8. Any surcharge must be uniform and cover
entire surface of driving wedge
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COULOMB (ACTIVE)

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COULOMB (ACTIVE)
Let
• AB - back face of a retaining wall supporting
a granular soil the surface of which is
constantly sloping at an angle α with the
horizontal.
• BC - trial failure surface

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COULOMB (ACTIVE)

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COULOMB (ACTIVE)
In the stability consideration of the probable
failure wedge ABC, the following forces are
involved (per unit length of the wall):
• W—the weight of the soil wedge.
• F—the resultant of the shear and normal
forces on the surface of failure, BC. (inclined
at an angle of φ‘ to the normal drawn to the
plane BC.
• Pa—the active force per unit length of the
wall. The direction of Pa is inclined at an
angle δ’ to the normal drawn to the face of the
wall that supports the soil. δ’ is the angle of
friction between the soil and the wall.

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COULOMB (ACTIVE)

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COULOMB (ACTIVE)

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COULOMB (ACTIVE)

All variables EXCEPT β are constants.

It is now needed to determine the critical value of β
for maximum Pa.
So set dPa/dβ = 0 to get critical β and get:

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COULOMB (ACTIVE)

𝟏−𝒔𝒊𝒏𝝋
𝑲𝒂 = (Rankine)
𝟏+𝒔𝒊𝒏𝝋
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COULOMB (ACTIVE)

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EXAMPLE
Given: α = 10⁰; θ = 5⁰; H = 4 m; ϒ =
15 kN/m3; φ‘ = 30⁰; and δ’ = 15⁰.
Estimate the active force, Pa, per unit
length of the wall. Also, state the
direction and location of the
resultant force, Pa.

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EXAMPLE

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EXAMPLE
Ka = 0.3872
Pa = 0.5*15*42*0.3872 = 46.46 kN/m
It will act 4/3 m above the bottom of
the wall and is inclined at 15
degrees (δ’ = 15⁰) to the back face of
the wall.

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EXAMPLE

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COULOMB (PASSIVE)

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COULOMB (PASSIVE)

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COULOMB (PASSIVE)

𝟏+𝒔𝒊𝒏𝝋
𝑲𝒑 = (Rankine)
𝟏−𝒔𝒊𝒏𝝋
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COULOMB (PASSIVE)

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