Earth Pressures against Rigid Retaining Walls

TLDR

This study uses shaking‑table experiments to evaluate static and dynamic stresses on rigid retaining walls, proposes a new criterion for wall deformation at which active stress develops, and derives an equation for the displacement needed to initiate active stress. The authors performed shaking‑table tests on granular soils against rigid walls, measured neutral and active stresses, and developed a criterion based on the maximum wall–soil friction angle, leading to an equation for the displacement required to trigger active stress. Experiments show that the backfill enters the active state at lower wall displacements than previously thought, and the displacement needed to trigger active stress rises with wall height and falls with backfill strength.

Abstract

This paper outlines the results of unique shaking table experiments to determine neutral and active static and dynamic stresses and the points of application of corresponding total thrust generated by granular soils against rigid retaining walls and compares the experimental data with the well-known Coulomb and Mononobe-Okabe equations. A new criterion is proposed for identification of the wall deformation level at which the active state of stress develops. This criterion states that active stress develops when the angle of friction between the wall and the backfill soil reaches its maximum value. Based on the above criterion, experimental results show that the backfill soil enters the active state at much lower wall displacement levels than generally believed. An equation is proposed for calculating the displacement necessary to initiate active static or dynamic stress. This equation reveals that the displacement necessary to initiate active state increases with the height of the wall and decreases with backfill soil strength.