Index

1) General aspects

K0
a) Lateral earth pressure distribution on a retaining structure
b) Definition of earth pressure coefficient
c) Effect of structure movement on earth pressure distribution
d) Importance of K0 coefficient
C
2) History dependency of K0 coefficient
O a) K0 in normally consolidated ground
b) K0 in overconsolidated ground
E
F 3) K0 measurement in the laboratory
a) Oedometer tests
F
4) K0 measurement in the field
I a) Evaluation through suction measurements
C b) Pressiometer
c) Dilatometer
I d) Non destructive methods: seismic test

E 5) Comparison between different methods

N Reference bibliography
T Jiménez Salas, J. A., Justo Alpañez, J. L. & Serrano González. 1981. Geotecnia y Cimientos II.
Capítulo 10. Editorial Rueda. Madrid.
Holtz & Kovacs, 1981. An introduction to Geotechnical Engineering. Sección 11.11. Editorial
Prentice Hall (en inglés).
 1) General aspects
a) Lateral earth-pressure distribution on a retaining structure

K0

C
O
Ea
E
F
F W
I
C Ep
p T a
I N
E
N
T  
E    dl
 1) General aspects
b) Definition of earth pressure coefficient

K0
Well known: total vertical stress

C  v   sat hw   h (h  hw )
h
O Relatively well known: Effective vertical stress
hw
v
E
 ' v   ' h w   h h  h w 
F Without water flow
h
F  'v   v  pw With water flow
I
Ill known: horizontal stress (total and effective) because it depends on ground history. It is
C generally expressed as a fraction of the vertical stress
I  'h  K 'v
E
N  h   'h  p w

T K = ’h / ’v earth pressure coefficient

 1) General aspects
c) Effect of structure movement on earth pressure

K0

C
O
E
F
F passive

I
C
I K0

E active
N
T
Earth pressure distribution depend on structure displacement
 1) General aspects
d) Importance of K0 coefficient

K0 Stress relaxation around an excavation

Ground deformation after excavation

C
O
ux = 4 mm ux = -6 mm
E
F
F 20 m
I
ux = -4 mm
C ux = -17 mm
I
E K0 = 0.3 K0 = 1
N
T
E = 200 MPa
 = 0.3
 1) General aspects
d) Importance of K0 coefficient

K0 Examples of retaining structures supporting K0 stress distribution

C
O
E
F
F
I
C
I 0,45

E
0,5

5,0

N 3,0

T
0,5

2,5
 2) History dependency of K0 coefficient
a) K0 in normally consolidated ground

K0 During sedimentation: ’v / ’h  constant

C capa
layer CC At point
En P P
el punto
layer BB
O
capa
capa
layer AA q ’h

E ’v
’h B
C
B
C

F
P
A A
3(1-K0)/(1+2K0) K0NC
F 1
p’
1
’v
I v
K0

C A

I
B
C
1
E K0NC
A B C
’v
N
p’

T Jáky’s formula (1948): K 0NC  1  sen '

Brooker & Ireland (1965)
(slightly better for clays): K 0NC  0,95  sen '
 2) History dependency of K0 coefficient
b) K0 in overconsolidated ground

K0 During the following unloading (erosion, ...), ’h / ’v increases with OCR
1

C erosion layer
erosión capaEE
q
C
’h
K0SC
1
/(1-)
1
1 C
erosion layer
capaDD
O
erosión
E D

E ’v
’h D 1
K0NC

F
P
E p’ ’v

F
v
K0

I E E

C D C 1
K0NC
D

I p’
C
’v
E
N Path CD (OCR  3@5): K 0SC  K 0NC OCR 
v
1 v
1  OCR 
T  3(1  K 0NC ) 3(1  K 0SC )   1  2 K 0NC 
Path DE (OCR > 5): m  SC 
 ln  OCR 
 1  2 K 0
NC
1  2 K 0   1  2 K 0SC 
Mayne & Kulhawy (1987):
(formula valid far for passive failure) K 0SC  K 0NC OCR sen '
 2) History dependency of K0 coefficient
b) K0 in overconsolidated ground

K0
’ Slightly overconsolidated
ligeramenteclays
: Arcillas sobre consolidadas

C 0.4

O
E 0.2

F
F 0 20 40 60 80 IP (%)

I m:
C m

I q/p’

E
C
0.2

N 1

T
m 0.1

ln(p’)
E 0 20 40 60 80 IP (%)
(Wroth, 1975)
 3) K0 measurements in the laboratory
a) Oedometer test

K0 Oedometer with measurement of lateral stress

C
O
E
F
F
I
C
I
E (Mesri & Hayat, 1993)
N
T (Morgenstern & Einstein, 1970)
 3) K0 measurements in the laboratory
a) Oedometer test

K0 Results from Brooker & Ireland (1965)

C 50
’ medio
’ average in sands
en arenas de Dr with
= 0.5 D = 0.5
r

O
40
Chicago clay
30
’ (º) Goose Lake Flour

E
Weald clay
20 London clay Beerpaw
shale
Angulo de fricción intrinseco
10 Intrinsic friction angle

F
(Skempton, Gibson, Bjerrum)
(Skempton, Gibson, Bjerrum)
0
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 IP (%)

F
I 3.5

C 3

I 2.5
E
OCR
32
2

K0
N 1.5
16

T 1
8
4
2
0.5
1

10º 15º 20º 25º 30º 35º ’

 3) K0 measurements in the laboratory
a) Oedometer test

K0 Comparison with theoretical formulas

Brooker & Ireland (1965)

C
3.5
Theoretical,
Teórico, LSCslightly overconsolidated
O 3
Theoretical,
Teórico, FSCheavily overconsolidated
Mayne & Kulhawy (1987)
E
F 2.5
OCR

F
I 2
K0

32
C 1.5 16
I 8
E 1 4

N
2
1
T 0.5

0
0 20 40 60 80
IP
 4) K0 measurement in the field
a) Evaluation through suction measurement

K0
Skempton (1960) 0 siIfrápido
extraction is quick  undrained conditions
(no drenado)
Mean effective stresses
tensiones efectivas does not change
no cambian

C Water pressure decreases down to uf

uf presión de agua disminuye
0 hasta uf

O
pc
E A
'
F v
K0  v
1 A
F u A: Skempton parameter (A < 1)
h
I pc = -uf: suction

C
I Suction measurement:
E • tensiometer
N
T Main problem: suction quickly increases in presence of drying
 Measurement of suction must be carried out as soon as possible
 4) K0 measurement in the field
b) Pressuremeter

K0

C
O
E
F
F
I
C
I
E
N
T
 4) K0 measurement in the field
b) Pressuremeter

K0

C
O
Self-boring pressuremeter (SBP) must be used
E
F Form a theoretical point of view, SBP is a
F reference test since if measures directly the
horizontal stress that leaves undeformed the
I ground
C K0 measured by SBP presents however large
I variations because it is sensitive to the
E perturbation induced by SBP installation

N Measurement of K0 by means of pressuremeter

T is essentially feasible in clays
 4) K0 measurement in the field
b) Pressuremeter

K0
Self-boring
C pressuremeter
O
E
F
F
I
C
I
E
N
T
 4) K0 measurement in the field
c) Dilatometer

K0

C
O
E
F
F • Parameters obtained (after correction of membrane flexibility):
I P0: pressure at which membrane starts to move
P1: pressure at which membrane displacement reaches 1.1 mm
C
• From P0, the horizontal stress index is derived: Kd = (P0 – u0) / ’v0
I
• K0 is correlated with KD, ’v0 y qr (cone tip resistance)
E K 
0.47

NC and uncemented clays: K0   D   0.6

N  1.5  0.002 (ISSMGE)

T Recent sand deposits: K 0  0.376  0.095 K D  0.0017 qc  'v 0

Old sand deposits: K 0  0.376  0.095 K D  0.0046qc  'v 0

0.005 (ISSMGE)
 4) K0 measurement in the field
c) Dilatometer

K0 Sediments of the delta of Llobregat River

C
O
E
F
F
I
C
I
E
N
T

(Devincenzi & Marchetti, 2002)

 4) K0 measurement in the field
d) Non destructive methods: seismic test

K0 G0   Vs (VH ) 
2

Vs  Cs F (e)  'v   'h 

na nb
H Homogeneous soil
G0  S F (e)  'v   'h 2n
2 na b

C Down-hole Cross-hole
O
E
F
F
Source Receptor
I L

C Vs  HV   Cs  HV  F (e)  'h 
na
 'v 
nb

I
E Vs  HH   Cs  HH  F (e)  'h  v  'h 
n nh

1  3  G0  
1 4n

H isotropic, Vs  p’ K0   1
N    1
2   'v  A    V HH C s HV   nb
K 0   s 
T A = S F(e) = Cs(VH)2 F(e)
 s
V  HV C s  HH  

n is determined in the laboratory or from charts Cs(HV)/Cs(HH) determined in the laboratory

na y nb  0.1 @ 0.15. In this range, they have
Cs determined in the laboratory
low influence on K0 results
 5) Comparison between different methods

K0

C
O
E
F
F
I
C
I
E
N (Burland et al., 1979)
T
 Referencias citadas

Brackley, I.J.A. & Sanders, P.J. 1992. In situ measurement of total natural horizontal stresses in an expansive clay.
Géotechnique, vol. 42, no. 2, pp. 443-451.

K0 Brooker E.W. & Ireland, H.O. 1965. Earth Pressure at Rest Related to Stress History. Canadian Geotechncial Journal,
vol 2, no. 1, pp. 1-15.

C
Burland, J.P., Simpson, B. & St-John, H.D. Movements around excavations in London clay. Design parameters in
geotechnical engineering, British Geological Society, Londres, vol. 1, pp. 13-29.

O Devincenzi, M. & Marchetti, S. 2002. El ensayo dilatométrico de Marchetti. Geotecnia 2002.

E Fioravante, V., Jamiolkowski, D., Lo Presti, D.C.F., Manfredini, G. & Pedroni, S. 1998.Assessment of the coefficient of

F
the earth pressure at rest from shear wave velocity measurements. Géotechnique, vol. 48, no. 5, pp. 657-666.

F
Gens, A., Ledesma, A. & Alonso, E.E. 1996. Estimation of parameters in geotechnical backanalysis – II. Application to a
tunnel excavation problem. Computer & Geotechnics, vol 18. No. 1, pp. 29-46.

I Jáky, J. 1944. A nyuglami nyomas tenyezoje (the coeffcient of earth pressure at rest). Magyar Mernok es Epitesz-Egylet

C
Kozlonye, pp. 355-358.

I
Mayne, P.W. & Kulhawy, F.H. 1982. K0-OCR relationships in soil. ASCE, vol. 108, no GT6, pp. 851-872.

E
Mesri, G. & Hayat, T.M. 1993. The coefficient of earth pressure at rest. Canadian Geotechnical Journal, vol. 30, pp.
647-666.

N Morgenstern, N. & Eisenstein, Z. 1970. Methods for Estimating Lateral Loads and Deformation. Proc. ASCE Specialty

T
Conference on Lateral Stresses in the Ground and Design of Earth-Retaining Structures. Cornell University, pp. 51-102.

Skempton, A.W. 1960. Effective stress in soils, concrete and rocks. Pore pressure and suction in Soils, Butterworths,
London, p. 5.

Wroth, C.P. 1975. In situ measurement of initial stresses and deformation. Proc. ASCE Specialty Conf. on In-Situ
Measurement of Soil properties, Raleigh, North Carolrina, vol. 2, pp. 181-230