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The Effects of the Soil-Wall Adhesion and Friction Angle on the Active Lateral Earth Pressure of Circular Retaining Walls

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Abstract

Lateral earth pressure on retaining walls is a widely researched classical problem in geotechnical engineering. This study investigates the active lateral earth pressure on a circular retaining wall using the stress characteristics method in the presence of soil-wall adhesion and friction. A computer code was developed for determining the lateral pressure of soil on the wall as well as the lateral pressure coefficients upon receiving the required input parameters. The principle of superposition was implemented to determine the lateral earth pressure coefficients. The effects of the soil-wall adhesion and friction angle on the lateral earth pressure were studied under active conditions. Moreover, the effects of these parameters on the characteristics network and failure region were demonstrated. The results showed that the coefficient of lateral earth pressure due to cohesion increased with increasing adhesion at the soil-wall boundary.

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Abbreviations

c :

Soil cohesion

H :

Retaining wall height

k aγ :

Active earth pressure coefficients due to weight

k aq :

Active earth pressure coefficients due to surcharge

k ac :

Active earth pressure coefficients due to soil cohesion

p a :

Active lateral earth force

q :

Uniform surcharge

r :

Horizontal or radial coordinate

r 0 :

Distance from the wall to the axis of symmetry

s :

Mean stress, (σ r  + σ z )/2

s 0 :

Mean stress on the ground surface

s f :

Mean stress on the wall boundary

z :

Vertical coordinate

β :

Ground surface angle

ϕ :

Soil internal friction angle

γ :

Soil unit weight

θ :

Wall inclination angle with vertical

σ 0 :

Normal stress at the ground boundary

σ f :

Normal active lateral stress along the soil-wall interface

σ θ :

Tangential stress

σ r :

Normal stress in r-direction

σ z :

Normal stress in z-direction

τ 0 :

Shear stress at the ground boundary

τ rz :

Shear stress

ψ :

Angle between major principal stress direction and r-axis

ψ 0 :

The angle ψ on the ground surface

ψ f :

The angle ψ on the wall boundary

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Engineering, Persian Gulf University, Bushehr, Iran

    Amin Keshavarz & Mohsen Ebrahimi

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  1. Amin Keshavarz
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  2. Mohsen Ebrahimi
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Correspondence to Amin Keshavarz.

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Keshavarz, A., Ebrahimi, M. The Effects of the Soil-Wall Adhesion and Friction Angle on the Active Lateral Earth Pressure of Circular Retaining Walls. Int. J. Civ. Eng. 14, 97–105 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40999-016-0016-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40999-016-0016-3

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