Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 17 views

    CCE 2312-Soil Mechanics II-slides 89-113

    Uploaded by

    MultimediaUniversityCivil Engineering
    This document discusses lateral earth pressures and methods for calculating active and passive pressures on retaining walls. It describes Rankine's theory and Coulomb's wedge theory for determining active earth pressures in cohesionless soils. Rankine's theory assumes a triangular distribution of pressure and considers stress elements within the soil mass. Coulomb's theory models the soil as a sliding wedge and considers equilibrium of forces on the failure wedge. The document provides examples of calculating active earth pressure and thrust using the two methods.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    CCE 2312-Soil Mechanics II-slides 89-113

    Uploaded by

    MultimediaUniversityCivil Engineering
    17 views27 pages
    This document discusses lateral earth pressures and methods for calculating active and passive pressures on retaining walls. It describes Rankine's theory and Coulomb's wedge theory for determining active earth pressures in cohesionless soils. Rankine's theory assumes a triangular distribution of pressure and considers stress elements within the soil mass. Coulomb's theory models the soil as a sliding wedge and considers equilibrium of forces on the failure wedge. The document provides examples of calculating active earth pressure and thrust using the two methods.

    Original Description:

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    This document discusses lateral earth pressures and methods for calculating active and passive pressures on retaining walls. It describes Rankine's theory and Coulomb's wedge theory for determining active earth pressures in cohesionless soils. Rankine's theory assumes a triangular distribution of pressure and considers stress elements within the soil mass. Coulomb's theory models the soil as a sliding wedge and considers equilibrium of forces on the failure wedge. The document provides examples of calculating active earth pressure and thrust using the two methods.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    17 views27 pages

    CCE 2312-Soil Mechanics II-slides 89-113

    Uploaded by

    MultimediaUniversityCivil Engineering
    This document discusses lateral earth pressures and methods for calculating active and passive pressures on retaining walls. It describes Rankine's theory and Coulomb's wedge theory for determining active earth pressures in cohesionless soils. Rankine's theory assumes a triangular distribution of pressure and considers stress elements within the soil mass. Coulomb's theory models the soil as a sliding wedge and considers equilibrium of forces on the failure wedge. The document provides examples of calculating active earth pressure and thrust using the two methods.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 27

    SOIL MECHANICS II-CCE 2312

    BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN CIVIL


    ENGINEERING

    Dr. George Okwadha


    Lateral Earth Pressures
    • Lateral earth pressure is the force exerted by the soil mass upon an
    earth-retaining structure such as a retaining wall
    • There are three distinct kinds of earth pressures namely:
    – Active earth pressure
    – Passive earth pressure
    – Earth pressure at rest
    • Active earth pressure
    – Consider a retaining wall with a vertical back supporting a
    cohesionless soil with a horizontal surface (see figure below)
    – Let the angle of shearing resistance of the soil be ϕ and its unit wt.
    γ be of a constant value
    – Vertical stress acting at a point at depth h below the top of the wall
    be given by
    • σv = γh
    Active earth pressure
    Retained Soil

    Push

    • If the soil retained by the wall exerts a push against the wall by virtue of its
    tendency to slip laterally and seek its natural slope or angle of repose,
    • the wall will move slightly away from the backfilled soil mass, making the
    soil to expand causing an immediate reduction in the value of lateral pressure
    at depth h.
    • This kind of pressure is called active earth pressure of the soil
    • The movement of the structure causes stains in the soil mass which in turn
    mobilize shearing stresses which help to support the soil mass and
    consequently reduce the pressure exerted by the soil against the structure
    Passive earth pressure
    • If the wall is pushed slightly into the retained soil, the soil will tend to
    be compressed
    • There will be an increase in the value of the lateral pressure
    • This kind of pressure is called Passive earth pressure
    • The surface over which the sheared-off soil wedge to slide is referred
    to as the surface of sliding or rupture
    • When the structure is pushed against the soil, internal shearing
    stresses develop but act in the opposite direction to those in the active
    earth pressure and must be overcomed by the movement of the
    structure
    • The limiting values of both active and passive earth pressure or
    resistance for a given soil depends on the amount of movement of the
    structure
    • This difference in the direction of internal stresses accounts for the
    difference in magnitude between active and passive earth pressures
    Active and Passive Earth Pressures

    (a) Active earth pressure conditions (b) Passive earth pressure conditions

    • The narrative above indicates that there are two possible modes
    of failure that can occur with the soil mass
    • If the value of the vertical pressure remain as σv = γh during
    these movements, then the minimum and maximum lateral earth
    pressures that will be exerted can be obtained from the Mohr circle
    diagram as shown
    Active and Passive Earth Pressures
    • The lateral earth pressure can
    τ
    reduce to a minimum value at
    which the stress circle is
    tangential to the shear strength 𝝈𝟑𝒑
    envelope of the soil. 𝝈𝟑𝒂 𝝈𝟏𝒂 𝝈𝟏𝒑
    • This minimum value is known
    as the active earth pressure
    given by
    • 𝒑𝒂 = 𝑲𝒂 γh where Ka is the
    coeff. of Active earth Press. • When considering active pressure,
    • The lateral earth pressure can the vertical pressure due to self-wt
    rise to a maximum value is the major principal stress
    known as the Passive Earth • And when considering passive
    Pressure given by pressure, the vertical pressure due
    • 𝒑𝒑 = 𝑲𝒑 γh where Kp is the to self-wt (𝝈𝒗 = 𝛄𝐡) is the minor
    coeff. of passive earth Press. principal stress
    Active Pressure in cohesionless soils
    • This can be estimated using Coulomb theory (1776) and
    Rankine’s theory (1857)
    Rankine’s theory (Soil Surface horizontal)
    • Assumptions are
    – The soil mass is semi infinite, homogeneous, dry and cohesionless
    – The ground surface is a plane which may be horizontal or inclined
    – The face of wall in contact with the backfill is vertical and smooth.
    That is, the friction, δ between the wall and the backfill is
    neglected
    – The wall yields back about the base sufficiently towards the fill for
    the active pressure condition to develop and pushed sufficiently
    towards the fill for the passive resistance to be fully mobilized
    • Consider a smooth, vertical retaining wall holding back a
    cohesioless soil with an angle of internal friction ϕ.
    • The top of the soil is horizontal and level with the top of the wall
    • Consider a point in the soil at a depth h below the top of the wall
    assuming that the wall has yielded back sufficiently to satisfy
    active earth pressure conditions
    Rankine’s theory (surface horizontal cont’)
    • In the Mohr circle diagram
    shown,
    𝜎3 𝑂𝐴 𝑂𝐶−𝐴𝐶 𝑂𝐶−𝐷𝐶
    • = = =
    𝜎1 𝑂𝐵 𝑂𝐶+𝐶𝐵 𝑂𝐶+𝐷𝐶
    • OCcos(90-ϕ)=DC
    • But Cos(90-ϕ) = cos90Cosϕ+Sin90sinϕ)
    • Cos90=0, sin90=1 ⇒ Cos (90-ϕ) = Sinϕ

    𝐷𝐶
    1−𝑂𝐶 1−𝑆𝑖𝑛ϕ
    • 𝐷𝐶 = =𝐾𝑎
    1+𝑂𝐶 1+𝑆𝑖𝑛ϕ

    • It can be shown by trigonometry


    that
    1−𝑆𝑖𝑛ϕ ϕ
    • =𝐾𝑎 =𝑡𝑎𝑛2 (45𝑜 − )
    1+𝑆𝑖𝑛ϕ 2
    • And active pressure
    𝑝𝑎 = 𝐾𝑎 γℎ
    Rankine’s theory (surface horizontal cont’)
    • Active pressure distribution at the back of the wall is
    shown and the resultant thrust is given by
    2
    ℎ ℎ
    𝑃𝑎 = 𝑝𝑎 = 𝐾𝑎 γ
    2 2

    pa
    Rankine’s theory (surface sloping at angle β)
    • In this case, the vertical pressure will no longer be principal
    stress since pressure on the wall is assumed to act parallel to
    the surface of the wall i.e. at angle β to the horizontal
    • The active pressure , pa is still the same and given by
    𝑝𝑎 = 𝐾𝑎 γℎ
    𝑐𝑜𝑠𝛽− 𝑐𝑜𝑠 2 β−𝑐𝑜𝑠 2 ϕ ℎ ℎ2
    • Where 𝐾𝑎 = 𝐶𝑜𝑠𝛽 and 𝑃𝑎 = 𝑝𝑎 = 𝐾𝑎 γ
    𝑐𝑜𝑠β+ 𝑐𝑜𝑠 2 β−𝑐𝑜𝑠 2 ϕ 2 2
    Example 1

    Since pa = Kaγh

    Pa,
    𝒉
    𝑷𝒂 = 𝒑𝒂
    𝟐
    Example 1 Cont’

    That is, 159-64 = 95kN


    Coulomb’s Wedge Theory
    • Coulomb’s theory considers the soil behind the wall as a
    whole instead as an element in the soil (Rankine’s theory)
    • If a wall supporting a granular soil were not to be there, the
    soil will slump down to its angle of internal friction, ϕ
    • If a wall therefore moves forward slightly, a rupture plane
    BD would develop somewhere between AB and BC i.e.
    between the wall and the surface of repose
    • The triangular mass of soil between this plane of failure and
    the back of the wall is referred to as the ‘sliding wedge’
    (ABD).
    • If the retaining wall were suddenly removed, the soil
    within the sliding wedge would slump downward
    Coulomb’s Wedge Theory
    • From the analysis of the forces acting on the wedge at
    incipient failure, the thrust from the lateral earth pressure
    necessary for the wall to withstand in order to hold the soil
    mass in place would be obtained. Hence, referring
    Coulomb’s theory as “Wedge theory”
    Coulomb’s Wedge Theory Assumptions
    • The backfill is dry, homogeneous, and isotropic
    • The backfill is elastically undeformable but breakable, granular
    material processing internal friction but no cohesion
    • The rupture surface is assumed to be plane and passes through the
    heel of the wall
    • The position and direction of the earth thrust are assumed to be known
    and acts at the back of the wall at a point one-third of the height of the
    wall above the base of the wall and makes an angle δ with the normal
    of the face of the wall. The angle δ is the angle of friction between the
    wall and backfill soil and is usually called wall friction
    • The sliding wedge acts as a rigid body and the value of the earths
    thrust is obtained by considering its equilibrium
    • The earth thrust is solved on the basis of a 2-D case of plane strain.
    That is, the retaining wall is assumed to be of infinite length and all
    conditions of the wall and the fill remain constant along the length of
    the wall. Thus a unit length of the wall is considered
    Coulomb’s wedge theory
    • According to Coulomb,
    Coulomb’s wedge theory
    See figure above

    • The value of wall friction can be obtained from tests. However,


    if tests are not available, assume δ to be 0.5 to 0.75ϕ.
    Example 2
    • Using Coulomb’s wedge theory, determine the total active thrust on a
    vertical retaining wall 5m high if the soil retained has a horizontal
    surface level with the top of the wall and has the following properties:
    ϕ′ = 35𝑜 , 𝛾 = 19𝑘𝑁𝑚−3 𝑎𝑛𝑑 δ = 0.5ϕ′
    Example 2 Cont’
    Point of application of the total active thrust
    • With either Rankine or Coulomb analytical methods, the
    total active thrust, Pa is given by
    𝐻 1
    𝑃𝑎 = 𝑝𝑎 = 𝛾𝐻 2 𝐾𝑎 where Ka is the coeff. of active
    2 2
    earth pressure, H is the height of the wall and γ is the unit
    weight of the soil
    • The position of the centre of pressure on the wall is
    indeterminate, however locations suitable for design
    purposes are given in the figure below, and are based on the
    Rankine’s theory with its assumption of triangular
    distribution of pressure.
    • The locations of Pa can also be used with values from
    Coulombs theory.
    Point of application of the total active thrust

    • The Pa obtained from the Culmann line construction is


    assumed to be located where a line drawn through the
    centroid of the failure wedge and parallel to the failure
    plane intersects the back of the wall.
    Surcharges
    • This is the extra load carried by a
    retaining wall.
    β
    • Can be
    – a uniform load (e.g. a roadway,
    stacked goods etc) »Ψ
    – a line load (e.g. trains running
    parallel to a wall) Ws is the intensity of the uniform
    – an isolated load (e.g. column load per unit area, ψ is the angle of
    footing) the back of the wall to horizontal
    – a dynamic load (e.g. traffic) and β is the angle of inclination of
    • Uniform load the retained soil.
    – This load is considered as • The surcharge can therefore be
    equivalent to an extra height of soil regarded as an extra height of
    soil placed on the top of the
    – Equivalent height is given by
    wall.
    𝑊𝑠 𝑆𝑖𝑛ψ
    ℎ𝑒 = where γ is the unit • Pressure due to surcharge
    γ𝑆𝑖𝑛(ψ+β)
    wt. of the soil, Pu = Kaγhe
    Surcharges
    • The pressure is distributed uniformly over the back of the wall
    with its centre acting at half the wall’s height (see figure below)
    𝑊𝑠
    • If the surcharge of the fill is horizontal, β=0 and ℎ𝑒 =
    𝛾
    • Pu is thrust on wall due to
    Surcharge
    • Pa is thrust on wall due to
    Earth pressure.
    • Pu and Pa can be combined
    To give the magnitude and
    Point of application of the
    resultant thrust.
    Example
    Example 1 Cont’
    End

    Thank you

    You might also like