8.

4 Passive Pressure

8.4.1 Rankine Passive Earth Pressure

The horizontal stress, , at this point is referred to as the Rankine passive pressure,
or = .

For Mohr’s circle, the major principal stress is , and the minor principal
stress is :

= ( ) ( ) (8.27)

Rankine Passive-pressure coefficient

( ) (8.28)

Then, we have:

= √ (8.29)

The passive pressure diagram for the wall shown in the following Figure.
Note that:

At z=0 =0 and = √

At z =H = and = √
The passive force per unit length of the wall can be determined from the area
of the pressure diagram, or:

√ (8.30)

If the backfill behind the wall is a granular soil (i.e., = 0), then, the passive force
per unit length of the wall will be:

(8.31)

(a) Rankine Passive Earth Pressure-Vertical Backface and Inclined Backfill

(I) Granular Soil

For a frictionless vertical retaining wall (as the following Figure) with a granular
backfill ( = 0), the Rankine passive pressure at any depth can be determined in a
manner similar to that done in the case of active pressure in a preceding section.

The pressure is:

and the passive force:

 (8.32)

Where,

√
= (8.33)
√

As in the case of the active force, the resultant force, , is inclined at an

angle α with the horizontal and intersects the wall at a distance H/3 from the
bottom of the wall. The values of (the passive earth pressure coefficient)
for various values of α and are given in Table 8.5.

Table 8.5: Passive Earth Pressure Coefficient

(II) and
If the backfill of the frictionless vertical retaining wall is a – soil, then:

Where,

( )
=
√[ ( ) ( ) ( ) ]
{ }

The variation of with , α, and / z is given in Table 8.6.

 Table 8.6 Values of

8.4.2 Coulomb’s Passive Earth Pressure

To understand the determination of Coulomb’s passive force, , consider the wall

shown in Figure 8.6a.

Figure 8.6: Coulomb’s Passive Earth

As in the case of active pressure, Coulomb assumed that the potential failure
surface in soil is a plane. For a trial failure wedge of soil, such as ABC1, the
forces per unit length of the wall acting on the wedge are:

1. The weight of the wedge, W,

2. The resultant, R, of the normal and shear forces on the plane BC1, and
3. The passive force, .
The minimum value of in this diagram is Coulomb’s passive force,
mathematically expressed as:

Where,

= Coulomb’s Passive Earth Pressure coefficient

( )
=
( ) ( )
( )[ √ ]
( ) ( )

The values of the passive pressure coefficient, , for various values of and
are given in Table 8.7 ( and ).

Tables 8.7: Values of for and

Note that the resultant passive force, , will act at a distance H/3 from the
bottom of the wall and will be inclined at an angle to the normal drawn to
the back face of the wall.

Examples 8.1:

Consider the retaining wall shown in the Figure below. Calculate the Coulomb’s
active force per unit length of the wall and the location of the line of action of that
resultant at which it acts at the retaining wall.
Solution:

If = * + ( ), then:
( )

= ( * + ( )) ………..(1)
( )

= + Hq * +…………(2)
( )

= ( ) ( ) …………………………(3)

can be found using Table 8.3:

 = 0.3578
Now substitute into equation (1):

= ( * +( ) )…….equation 1
( )

= ( * +( )( ) ( ) = 328.5 kN/
( )

To determine the location of the line of action of the resultant at which it acts at
the retaining wall:

Recall equations 2 & 3:

= + Hq * + ………..(2)
( )

= ( ) ( ) ……………………………(3)

( ) ( )

( ) ( Hq * +)
( )

( ) ( ( ) ) ( 6.1x96x * +)
( )

= 2.68 m.
Example 8.2:

Consider the retaining wall shown in the Figure below. Calculate the Rankine

passive force per unit length of the wall and the location of the line of action of that

resultant at which it acts on the retaining wall.

Solution:

Rankine passive lateral earth pressure coefficients:

( ) ( )= ( ) = 3.00

( ) ( )= ( ) = 2.56

Rankine passive lateral earth pressure:

* at h =0.00
= 0.00 kN/
* at h =2.00 (just before GWT):
= 2 x 15.72 = 31.44 kN/

( ) kN/

* at h =2.00 (just after GWT):

= 2 x 15.72 = 31.44 kN/

( ) √ ( )

= 31.44 x2.56 + ( )√ = 112.4 kN/

* at h =3.00 :
= 2 x 15.72+ 1.00 x (18.86-9.81) = 40.49 kN/

( ) √ ( )

= 40.49 x2.56 + ( )√ = 135.66 kN/

u= = 9.81 x 1.00 =9.81 kN/

Rankine passive force:

( ) = x 2.00 x 94.32 = 94.32 kN

( ) = 1.00 x 112.4 = 112.4 kN

( ) = x 1.00 x (135.66-112.4) = 11.63 kN

( ) = x 1.00 x 9.81 = 4.91 kN

Rankine passive resultant:

( ) ( )+ ( )+ ( ) = 94.32+112.4+11.63+4.91 = 223.26 Kn

Location of Rankine passive resultant:

( ) ( ) ( ) ( )

( )

= 0.980531m