Abstract
When considering the friction and bonding force between the back of the retaining wall and the horizontal fill behind the wall, the principal stress of the soil element near the vertical back of the retaining wall is no longer vertical and horizontal but deflects to a certain extent. When the surface of the backfill becomes inclined, the principal stress of the soil behind the wall deflects in a more complicated way. In this paper, the cohesion of the soil element in the fill with an inclined surface is assumed, and the formulas for calculating the active and passive earth pressures of the retaining wall with inclined cohesive backfill are derived by rotating the principal stress of the soil element behind the wall. The proposed method is compared with the existing algorithm, and the influences of the inclination and the cohesion of the fill are analyzed. The results show that the proposed method is more universal. Both the active and passive earth pressures increase rapidly with the increase of the inclination of the fill. The active earth pressure and its horizontal component decrease with the increase of the cohesion of the fill, while the passive earth pressure and its horizontal component increase with the increase of the cohesion of the fill.
Highlights
The calculation of earth pressure is the precondition of designing a retaining wall, and the calculation results directly affect the rationality of design
Many researchers established the calculation formula for active earth pressure of a rigid retaining wall without cohesive backfill based on the assumption of a plane slip surface and considering the arching effect in the backfill of the wall with an improved horizontal plate element method [2,3,4]
Irdmoosa and Shahir [17, 18] established the calculation method of earth pressure for the retaining wall with cohesive backfill based on the assumption of principal stress rotation, taking into account the action of soil arch in the backfill and the interaction of friction and bonding force at the wall-soil interface
Summary
The calculation of earth pressure is the precondition of designing a retaining wall, and the calculation results directly affect the rationality of design. Irdmoosa and Shahir [17, 18] established the calculation method of earth pressure for the retaining wall with cohesive backfill based on the assumption of principal stress rotation, taking into account the action of soil arch in the backfill and the interaction of friction and bonding force at the wall-soil interface. These methods can only be used to calculate the earth pressure of the retaining wall with horizontal fill. Based on the principal stress rotation method, the calculation formulas of active and passive earth pressure of the retaining wall with inclined cohesive fill are derived, and the effects of the surface inclination of the fill and the cohesion of the fill on the earth pressure are analyzed
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
