Soil Mechanics-II: Chapter - 3 Lateral Earth Pressure

Soil Mechanics-II
CHAPTER -3
LATERAL EARTH PRESSURE

3.1. Introduction
 The resulting horizontal stress from the soil on the wall is
called lateral earth pressure.
ASTU/Soil Mechanics-II 2
... Introduction
... Introduction
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…Introduction
 To determine the magnitude of the lateral earth pressure, the
basic soil parameters must known:-
unit weight γ,
angle of friction ϕ and
cohesion c – for the soil retained behind the wall.
3.2. Types of Lateral Earth Pressure
There are three types of Lateral Earth Pressure
1. At Rest Lateral Earth Pressure
2. Active Lateral Earth Pressure
3. Passive Lateral Earth Pressure
…Types of Lateral Earth Pressure
1. Lateral Earth Pressure At Rest

 If the wall is not allowed to move at all either away from the
soil mass (lateral expansion) or to the soil mass (lateral
compression), the lateral pressure is called at rest earth
pressure.
 To calculate the magnitude of the lateral earth pressure at rest,

lateral earth pressure coefficient at rest (K0) must determined .
• It is the ratio between the' lateral and vertical principal

3
. o  '
effective stresses, K 1
 For truly normally consolidated soil that exhibits zero cohesion, a
value for K0 may be calculated from (Jaky, 1948):
K nc
o  1  sin  '
 For over-consolidated soils the value of K0 is Meyerhof (1976):

K ooc  K onc (OCR)1/ 2  (1  sin  ' )(OCR)1/ 2
 Based on statistical analysis of several laboratory test results,

Mayne & Kulhawy (1982) proposed that:
K ooc  (1  sin  ' )(OCR)sin '
 The magnitude of K0 depends on:-
 the type of the soil,
 its degree of compaction,
 plasticity characteristics, and
 degree of disturbance (Bishop, 1958).
 At any depth z below the ground surface the vertical effective

stress is:
  z  u
'
z
 The lateral earth pressure σ’x at a depth z is:
 x'  K 0 z'
 The magnitude of Ko in most soils ranges between 0.5 and

1.0, with perhaps higher values for heavily over-consolidated
clays.
Consider the distribution of earth pressure at rest on a wall of height
H.
The total force per unit length of the wall, Po, is equal to the area of
the pressure diagram, so:
1
P0  K o H 2
2
2. Active Lateral Earth Pressure

Active lateral earth pressure occurs when the wall tilts away
from the back fill soil.
Soil sliding down

pushing the wall
Failure wedge
H
45 + φ/2
12
• Active earth pressure coefficient (Ka) is the ratio between

the lateral and vertical principal effective stresses when an
earth retaining structure displaced away from the retained
 3'
soil. Ka 
 1'
• The resulting failure is called active;
• The lateral pressure exerted on the wall by the backfill soil

is called active lateral earth pressure (active earth pressure).
3. Passive Lateral Earth Pressure

 Passive earth pressure occurs when the wall is pushed into
the soil .
 In this case, the wall exerts a pressure on the backfill soil,

and the passive resistance provided by the backfill soil
against the wall displacement is called passive earth
pressure.
 The resulting failure is passive.
14
Soil being pushed

up the slope
H
Failure wedge
45 - φ/2
 Passive earth pressure coefficient (Kp) is the ratio between

the lateral and vertical principal effective stresses when an
earth retaining structure is forced to move against a soil
15
mass.
3.3. Earth Pressure Theories
 There are two classical earth pressure theories. They are:
1. Rankine's earth pressure theory.
2. Coulomb's earth pressure theory.
 These theories propose to estimate the magnitudes of Active

and Passive lateral earth pressures.
…Earth Pressure Theories
1. Rankine Active and Passive Lateral Earth Pressures

 The Rankine Assumptions:
 There is no friction between the wall and soil
 Lateral pressure is limited to vertical walls
 Failure (in the backfill) occurs as a sliding wedge along an assumed
failure plane defined by φ.
 Lateral pressure varies linearly with depth and the resultant
pressure is located one-third of the height (H) above the base of the
wall.
The resultant force is parallel to the backfill surface.
 Consider a vertical frictionless (smooth) wall retaining a soil

mass in both front and back of the wall as shown in Fig. 3a.
 If the wall remains rigid and no movement occurs, then the

vertical and horizontal (lateral) effective stresses at rest on
element A, at the back of the wall, and B, at the front of the
wall are given by  z  z  u
'
 x'  k 0 z'
 Mohr’s circle for the at rest state is shown by circle ① in Fig.
3b.
Figure a) A smooth retaining wall, b) Mohr’s circles for at rest, active

and passive states.
 What happens to the lateral effective stresses on elements A and
B when the wall is rotated?
 The vertical stress will not change on either element but the
lateral effective stress on element A will be reduced while that
for element B will be increased.
 We can now plot two additional Mohr’s circles:
 to represent the stress states of element A (circle ②) &
 the other to represent the stress state of element B (circle ③).

 Both circles are drawn such that the decrease (element A) or

increase (element B) in lateral effective stresses is sufficient
to bring the soil to Mohr-coulomb failure state.
 The stress states of soil elements A and B are called the

Rankine active state and the Rankine passive state,
respectively
 For the Rankine active state, the failure planes are oriented at:
'
 a  45 0  (3.6)
2
 For the Rankine passive state, the failure planes are oriented at:
'
 p  45 
0
(3.7)
2
 For the active state, the lateral effective stress σ’3 is equal to σ’a as
shown in Fig. 3b (Mohr’s circle ②).
 Substituting σ’a into Eqn in Chapter 1, the Rankine active lateral
effective stress is:
1  sin  ' 1  sin  '
 a'   z'  2c'
1  sin  ' 1  sin  '
(3.8)
  z' k a  2c' k a
1  sin  ' '
ka   tan 2 (45  ) (3.9)
1  sin  ' 2
For the passive state, the lateral effective stress σ’p becomes σ’1 the
major principal stress and the vertical effective stress σ’z becomes
the minor principal stress σ’3 as shown in Fig. 3b (Mohr’s circle ③).
 Therefore, using Eqn. (in Chapter 1, the Rankine passive lateral
' 1  sin
'effective  ' is: 1  sin  '
stress
p z  2c'
1  sin  ' 1  sin  '
(3.10)
  z' k p  2c' k p
1  sin  ' '
kp   tan (45  )
2
(3.11)
1  sin  ' 2
 Based on Eqns. (11 and 13), we can easily get the following
relation for the active and passive earth pressure coefficients:
1
Kp 
Ka
 Note that for a purely cohesive saturated clay with
undrained shear strength parameter of cu and ϕ’u = 0,
Ka=Kp=1
 In the active state case, the soil at depth z = 0 is subjected
to a tensile stress as shown in Fig. 6 b.
 Soils do not resist tensile strength, as a result tension cracks
will occur down to a depth z0, where the tensile stress
becomes zero.
Figure 6: pressure distribution in c- ϕ’ soil: a) c- ϕ’ soil, b) active, c) passive 25

 At depth z0 (known as depth of tension crack), the stress is
zero, thus,
 The lateral earth force is the area of the lateral stress diagram (Fig.
6), which for the Rankine active state, is:
H
Pa   ( ' zk a  2c' k a )  12 k a  ' H 2  2c' H k a (3.14)
0
 and, for the Rankine passive state, is
H
Pp   ( ' zk p  2c' k p )  12 k p  ' H 2  2c' H k p (3.15)
0
 For most retaining wall construction, a granular backfill is

used and c’ = 0, therefore, for granular soils Eqns. (16) and
(17) can be rewritten as:
Pa  12 K a ' H 2 Pp  K p ' H1 2
2
3.4. Lateral Earth Pressure When Groundwater is
Present
 If groundwater is present, you need to add the hydrostatic
pressure to the lateral earth pressure.
 From fluid mechanics, the pressure of static fluid at a specific point is

the same in all directions, because the horizontal pressure of water is
the same as vertical pressure.
u  h
 Pore water pressure at any depth h
w w (3
 The hydrostatic force

2 is:
Pw  2  w hw
1
(3.
…When Groundwater is Present
3.5. Lateral Earth Pressure due to Surcharge
 Surface stresses (due to surcharge) also impose lateral
pressure on retaining walls as illustrated in Fig. 7d.
 A uniform surface stress, qs, will transmit a uniform active
lateral earth pressure of kaqs and a uniform passive lateral
earth pressure of kpqs.
Active and passive pressure and force equations
 For a c’-ϕ’ backfill soil, surface stress & Hydrostatic pressure will
become:
 The corresponding active and passive lateral forces are also given
by:
H
Active and passive pressure distribution diagram
Variation of active and passive lateral earth pressures, hydrostatic

pressure, and a uniform surface stress with depth. (Note: backfill soil
is granular).
3.6. Rankine Active & Passive Earth Pressure for
Inclined Granular Backfill
 If the backfill of a frictionless retaining wall is a granular soil (c =
0, ϕ’) and rises at an angle β (β ≤ϕ’) with respect to the horizontal,
the Rankine active earth pressure coefficient ka is expressed in the
form: cos   cos 2   cos 2  '
k a  cos  (3
cos   cos 2   cos 2  '
 The Rankine active stress on the wall is:

 a'   ' zk a (3.29)
 and the Rankine active' lateral force is:

Pa  12 k a  H2
(3.30)
33
…Rankine Pressure for Inclined Granular Backfill
 Note that, the direction of the lateral force Pa is inclined at an

angle β to the horizontal and intersects the wall at a distance of
H/3 from the base of the wall.
…Rankine Pressure for Inclined Granular
Backfill
 The Rankine passive pressure coefficient kp for a wall with a

granular sloping backfill is:
cos   cos 2   cos 2  '

k p  cos  (3.31)
cos   cos   cos 
2 2 '
 The Rankine passive stress and passive lateral force are

calculated using equations similar to active stress and active
lateral force in which Ka is replaced by Kp.
2. COULOMB’S EARTH PRESSURE THEORY
 Coulomb (1776) proposed a theory to determine the lateral
earth pressure on a retaining wall by assuming a granular
backfill (c = 0) and a plane sliding surface.
 He account for the effects of friction angle, δ, between the

backfill & the wall and sloped face of a retaining wall .
 Lateral pressure is not limited to vertical walls
 The resultant force is not necessarily parallel to the backfill
surface because of the soil-wall friction value δ.
…Coulomb’s Earth Pressure Theory
 Coulomb assumed a wedge shape collapse mechanism which is
bounded by the face of the retaining wall, a horizontal or inclined
ground surface and a linear failure plane.
 The wedge slides downwards on the failure plane in the active
state or upwards in the passive state.
… Coulomb’s Earth Pressure Theory
 From statics, the wedge can be treated as a particle that is
subjected to three coplanar forces, W, P, and R.
 W is the self-weight of the wedge;
 P is the resultant of the wall reaction against the soil;
 R is the soil reaction against the sliding wedge.
 The force P makes an angle δ with the normal to the back face
of the wall.
 The angle δ is the wall–soil interface friction angle, which
can be determined from laboratory tests or can be assumed as
a fraction of φ’; usually, you can assume that δ ≈ 2/3φ’. 38
 The force R makes an angle φ’ with the normal to the failure

plane, assumed to be mobilized at the interface between the
sliding wedge and the underlying soil.
Fig. Retaining wall with slopping back, wall friction, and sloping soil surface for use
with Coulomb’s method for passive state
 Based on the equilibrium of the forces acting on the wedge,
Coulomb proposed the following equation to determine the active
lateral force,
Pa  12 k ac ' H 2 (3.32)
 where kac is Coulomb’s active pressure coefficient, which is

determined by the following expression:
sin 2 (    ' )
k ac  2
(3
 sin( ' ) sin( ' ) 
sin  sin(    ) 1 
2

 sin(    ) sin(   ) 
 Note that the line of action of the active force Pa will act at a
distance H/3 above the base of the wall and will be inclined
at angle δ to the normal drawn to the back of the wall.
 Coulomb’s passive earth pressure is determined similarly,
except that passive pressure inclination at the wall and
direction of the forces acting on the wedge.
 Coulomb’s passive earth pressure is given by:
sin 2 (    ' )
k pc  2
(3.35)
 sin( ' ) sin( ' ) 
sin  sin(    ) 1 
2

 sin(    ) sin(   ) 
Retaining wall with slopping back, wall friction, and sloping soil surface for use
with Coulomb’s method for passive state
3.3. Application of Lateral Earth Pressure to Retaining
Wall
 A retaining wall is a structure designed and constructed to resist

the lateral pressure of soil when there is change in ground
elevation that exceeds the angle of repose of the soil.
 The walls must be able to resist the lateral pressures generated by
soil and in some cases water pressure & surcharge.
 Retaining walls are usually built to hold back soil mass.
 RWs can also be constructed for aesthetic landscaping purposes.
44
… Retaining Wall
Batter
Drainage Hole
Toe
Cantilever Retaining wall with shear key

45
… Retaining Wall
46
1. Classification of RW
Retaining Wall
Rigid type RWs Flexible Others

RWs
1. Cantilever RW 1. Mechanically Stabilized
1. Gravity wall
Earth walls
2. Cantilever retaining wall 2. Propped or 2. Chemically Stabilized Earth
Anchored Walls (CSE)
3. Counterfort RW
3. Modular Gravity Walls (eg
4. Buttress wall
Gabion wall)
47
Classification of Retaining walls
There are two general classes of retaining walls:
1. One class is rigid and consists of concrete walls

relying on gravity for stability. These are called cast-
in-place (CIP) gravity and semi-gravity walls.
2. The other class is ﬂexible and consists of long,

slender members of either steel or concrete or wood
or plastic and relies on passive soil resistance and
anchors stability.
48
Types of Rigid Retaining walls
1. Gravity wall-Masonry or Plain concrete
2. Cantilever retaining wall-RCC (Inverted T & L)
3. Counterfort retaining wall-RCC
4. Buttress wall-RCC
49
Foundation Engineering I ASTU 50

51
Types of Flexible Retaining walls
Foundation Engineering I ASTU 52

1.Gravity walls
 made of plain concrete or stone masonry.

 depends upon its weight for stability.
 trapezoidal in section with the base projecting
beyond the face and back of the wall.
 no tensile stress in any portion of the wall.
 economically used for walls less than 6m high.
53
… Gravity walls
Gravity Walls
54
2. Cantilever walls
 made of reinforced concrete material.

 inverted T-shaped or L-shaped in section with each projecting
acts as a cantilever.
 economically used for walls 6 to 7.5m high.
Toe Vertical stem
Heel
55
… Cantilever walls
56
3. Counterfort walls
 made of reinforced concrete materials
 consists of cantilever wall with vertical brackets known as counterfort placed

behind face of wall
 ordinarily used for walls height greater than 6.0m
 The purpose of counterfort is to reduce shear and bending moment
Counterfort
57
4. Buttress walls
 same as counterfort except that the vertical brackets are on the

opposite side of the backfill
Vertical stem
Toe
Heel
58
Counterfort and Buttress walls
59
Modes of Failure for Retaining Walls
The modes of failure for rigid retaining walls:

 translational failure,
 rotation and bearing capacity failure,
 deep-seated failure, and
 structural failure.
Flexible walls, also called sheet pile walls, fail by:
 deep-seated failure,
 rotation at the base,
 rotation about the anchor or prop,
 failure of the anchor,
 bending of the wall,
 seepage-induced failure.
60
Modes of Failure for Rigid Retaining Walls
61
Modes of Failure for Flexible Retaining Walls
62
Forces On Retaining Walls
The forces that should be considered in the design of retaining walls
include
 Active and passive earth pressures
 Dead weight including the weight of the wall and portion of soil
mass that is considered to act on the retaining structure
 Surcharge including live loads, if any
 Water pressure, if any
 Contact pressure under the base of the structure
63
Stability requirements of RW
The following conditions must be satisfied for stability of wall:
 It should not overturn
 It should not slide
 It should not subside, i.e Max. pressure at the toe should

not exceed the safe bearing capacity of the soil under
working condition
64
3.4. Analysis And Design Of Retaining Walls
Proportioning of Retaining Walls
Based on practical experience, retaining walls can be proportioned
initially which may be checked for stability subsequently.
The common dimensions used for the various types of retaining
walls are given below.
Gravity and Cantilever wall
The tentative dimensions for a gravity, cantilever and counter fort
walls may be proportioned in terms of their height as shown in the
figure below.
Stability of Retaining Walls
The stability of retaining walls should be checked for the following
conditions:
I. Check for sliding
II. Check for overturning
III. Check for bearing capacity failure
IV. Check for base shear failure
The minimum factors of safety for the stability of the wall are:
I. Factor of safety against sliding =1.5
II. Factor of safety against overturning = 2.0
III. Factor of safety against bearing capacity failure = 3.0
Stability Analysis
Consider a cantilever wall with a sloping backfill for the purpose
of analysis. The wall shows all the forces exerted to it. The same
principle holds for the other types of walls.
Forces acts on the wall and the base, where:
I. Check for Sliding stability
The force that moves the wall (driving force) = horizontal force P h
The force that resists the movement is
The factor of safety against sliding is
In case Fs < 1.5, additional factor of safety can be provided by

constructing one or two keys at the base level shown in Figure.
II. Check for Overturning stability
 The forces acting on the wall are shown in figure below. The
overturning and stabilizing moments may be calculated by taking
moments about point O. The factor of safety against overturning
is therefore:
where Fo should not be less than 2.0.

III. Check for Bearing Capacity Failure
In the figure below:

Wt is the resultant of Ws and Wc.
PR is the resultant of Pa and Wt and PR meets the base at m.

R is the resultant of all the vertical forces acting at m with an
eccentricity e.
In the figure shows the pressure distribution at the base with a
maximum qt at the toe and a minimum qh at the heel.
An expression for e may be written as
The values of qt and qh may be calculated by making use of the
equations
where, qa = R/B = allowable bearing pressure.

The equations above are valid for e<= B/6. When e = B/6, qt = 2qa
and qh = 0.
The base width B should be adjusted to satisfy allowable bearing
capacity.
The ultimate bearing capacity qu may be determined using different
developed equations taking into account the eccentricity.
It must be ensured that
When the subsoil below the base is of a low bearing capacity, the
possible alternative is to use a pile foundation.

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Soil Mechanics-II

LATERAL EARTH PRESSURE

angle of friction ϕ and

cohesion c – for the soil retained behind the wall.

There are three types of Lateral Earth Pressure

1. At Rest Lateral Earth Pressure

2. Active Lateral Earth Pressure

3. Passive Lateral Earth Pressure

1. Lateral Earth Pressure At Rest

 To calculate the magnitude of the lateral earth pressure at rest,

• It is the ratio between the' lateral and vertical principal

 For over-consolidated soils the value of K0 is Meyerhof (1976):

 Based on statistical analysis of several laboratory test results,

 the type of the soil,

 its degree of compaction,

 plasticity characteristics, and

 degree of disturbance (Bishop, 1958).

 At any depth z below the ground surface the vertical effective

 The magnitude of Ko in most soils ranges between 0.5 and

2. Active Lateral Earth Pressure

Soil sliding down

• Active earth pressure coefficient (Ka) is the ratio between

• The lateral pressure exerted on the wall by the backfill soil

3. Passive Lateral Earth Pressure

 In this case, the wall exerts a pressure on the backfill soil,

 The resulting failure is passive.

Soil being pushed

 Passive earth pressure coefficient (Kp) is the ratio between

 These theories propose to estimate the magnitudes of Active

1. Rankine Active and Passive Lateral Earth Pressures

 Consider a vertical frictionless (smooth) wall retaining a soil

 If the wall remains rigid and no movement occurs, then the

Figure a) A smooth retaining wall, b) Mohr’s circles for at rest, active

 We can now plot two additional Mohr’s circles:

 to represent the stress states of element A (circle ②) &

 the other to represent the stress state of element B (circle ③).

 Both circles are drawn such that the decrease (element A) or

 The stress states of soil elements A and B are called the

Figure 6: pressure distribution in c- ϕ’ soil: a) c- ϕ’ soil, b) active, c) passive 25

 For most retaining wall construction, a granular backfill is

 From fluid mechanics, the pressure of static fluid at a specific point is

 The hydrostatic force

 A uniform surface stress, qs, will transmit a uniform active

lateral earth pressure of kaqs and a uniform passive lateral

earth pressure of kpqs.

Variation of active and passive lateral earth pressures, hydrostatic

 The Rankine active stress on the wall is:

 and the Rankine active' lateral force is:

 Note that, the direction of the lateral force Pa is inclined at an

 The Rankine passive pressure coefficient kp for a wall with a

cos   cos 2   cos 2  '

 The Rankine passive stress and passive lateral force are

 He account for the effects of friction angle, δ, between the

 The force R makes an angle φ’ with the normal to the failure

Pa  12 k ac ' H 2 (3.32)

 where kac is Coulomb’s active pressure coefficient, which is

 Coulomb’s passive earth pressure is given by:

 A retaining wall is a structure designed and constructed to resist