Effect of Wall Inclination on Dynamic Active Thrust for Cohesive Soil Backfill

Abstract

Design of retaining walls under seismic conditions is based on the calculation of seismic earth pressurebehind the wall. To calculate the seismic active earth pressure behind the vertical retaining wall, many researchers reportanalytical solutions using the pseudo-static approach for both cohesionless and cohesive soil backfill. Design charts havebeen presented for the calculation of seismic active earth pressure behind vertical retaining walls in the non-dimensionalform. For inclined retaining walls, the analytical solutions for the calculation of seismic active earth pressure as well as thedesign charts (in non-dimensional form) have been reported in few studies for c-ϕ soil backfill. One analytical solution forthe calculation of seismic active earth pressure behind inclined retaining walls by Shukla (2015) is used in the present studyto obtain the design charts in non-dimensional form. Different field parameters related with wall geometry, seismic loadings,tension cracks, soil backfill properties, surcharge and wall friction are used in the present analysis. The present study hasquantified the effect of negative and positive wall inclination as well as the effect of soil cohesion (c), angle of shearingresistance (ϕ), surcharge loading (q) and the horizontal and vertical seismic coefficient (kh and kv) on seismic active earthpressure with the help of design charts for c-ϕ soil backfill. The design charts presented here in non-dimensional form aresimple to use and can be implemented by field engineers for design of inclined retaining walls under seismic conditions. Theactive earth pressure coefficients for cohesionless soil backfill achieved from the present study are validated with studiesreported in the literature.