A study on lateral earth pressure against strutted retaining wall in cohesionless soil deposit

Abstract

In the present study, the variation of total lateral pressure with depth against strutted retaining wall from outside the excavation area (active) and below the excavation area (passive) are investigated numerically for different types of retained soil layer (cohesionless), wall thickness and depth of embedment of the wall. The net lateral earth pressure calculated numerically has been validated against that measured in the model test of a singly propped (strutted) embedded retaining wall. The validated numerical model is used to investigate the influence of various factors on the lateral earth pressure. It is found that the passive resistance increases with the bulk density of the retained cohesionless soil and the depth of embedment of the retaining wall, but it is independent of the thickness of the wall. Moreover, it is inferred that the total active pressure increases with depth of embedment (or total depth) of the wall and decreases with the increase in bulk density of sand. Relations between normalised lateral pressures with normalised depth are also established to provide guidance to the analysis and design of the strutted system for a particular soil condition, thickness and depth of embedment (total depth) of the wall.