Analysis of active earth pressure against rigid caissons backfilled with crushed rock and sand

Abstract

Arching effects in backfill materials generate a nonlinear active earth-pressure distribution behind a rough, rigid retaining wall. There are several analyses for estimating the nonlinear active earth pressures on a retaining wall exerted by a homogeneous backfill in the presence of arching. However, it is not possible to use these analyses for a caisson backfilled with crushed rock and sand, which is common in marine structures. In this study, a new formulation is proposed for calculating the nonlinear active earth pressure acting on a caisson backfilled with crushed rock and sand. The new formulation allows important insights, including the dependence of the slope angle of the crushed rock – sand interface that minimizes the active force and overturning moment on the caisson on the shear strengths of the crushed rock and sand and the geometry of the problem.