Behavior of Cantilever Retaining Walls

Abstract

Current methods for retaining‐wall analysis are based on the classical theoretical formulations of Rankine or Coulomb, with the assumption that sufficient lateral yield will occur to mobilize fully active conditions behind the wall. This leads to relatively simple equations for active pressure distributions. The effects of the deformation parameters of the backfill and foundation subsoil, construction sequence, wall flexibility and other complex initial conditions are not taken into consideration. In this paper the finite element method is employed to investigate the behavior of concrete cantilever retaining walls. The analyses reveal that the wall and soil movements are of considerable importance in predicting the lateral earth pressures. The results indicate that the lateral pressures acting on the wall stem are generally close to the active condition only in the top two‐thirds of the wall stem. Based on this study, a simplified design procedure is proposed for estimating the lateral earth pressures in cantilever retaining walls with loosely placed backfill.