Active Earth Pressure of Narrow Granular Backfill against Rigid Retaining Wall Near Rock Face under Translation Mode

Abstract

When a retaining wall is built near a building or a mountain, the backfill width is often limited. It limits the use of the classical theoretical formula based on the assumption of an infinitely large half-space. Finite-element analysis shows that when the retaining wall movement is translational, one to three slip surfaces will develop from the wall heel, and eventually develop to the surface along the soil–wall or soil–rock interface. An effective model for calculating the active earth pressure of narrow granular backfill against the wall under translational mode is established by taking into account the inclination angle of the rock face and the friction angles of the soil–wall and soil–rock interfaces. The active earth pressure under the failure mechanisms of one to three slip surfaces are given by using the limit equilibrium method and the whole analysis method of sliding wedge. The coefficient of active earth pressures is as low as 0.5–0.7 times the Coulomb solution and the location (h0/H) of the resultant of active earth pressures ranges from 0.34 to 0.44. The influence of different parameters on the number of slip surfaces was also studied by parametric analysis.