• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.39 no.7
• /
• pp.5-15
• /
• 2023

The evaluation of passive earth pressure plays a crucial role in the design of earth-retaining structures such as retaining walls and temporary earth-retaining walls to withstand horizontal earth pressure. In the earth pressure theory, active and passive earth pressures represent the earth pressures at the limit state, where the wall displacement reaches the maximum allowed displacement. In the design of earth-retaining structures, the passive earth pressure is considered as the resisting force. In this context, the limit displacement at which passive earth pressure occurs is significantly greater than that associated with the active earth pressure. Therefore, it is irrational to apply this displacement directly to the calculation of passive earth pressure. Instead, it is necessary to consider the mobilized passive earth pressure exerted at the allowable horizontal displacement to evaluate the structural stability. This study proposes an allowable wall displacement, denoted as 0.002 H (where H represents the excavation depth), based on a literature review that focuses on sandy soils. To calculate the mobilized passive earth pressure from the wall displacement, a semi-empirical equation is proposed. By analyzing the obtained data on mobilized passive earth pressure, a reduction factor applicable to Rankine's passive earth pressure is proposed for practical application in sandy soils under different wall movement types.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.36 no.11
• /
• pp.51-60
• /
• 2020

Estimation of passive earth pressure is an important factor in anchor block, temporary retaining wall and support block of raker that resist lateral earth pressure. In practice, due to ease of use, it is common to estimate the earth pressure using the theory of Coulomb and Rankine, which assumes the failure plane as a straight line. However, the passive failure plane generated by friction between the wall surface and the soil forms a complex failure plane: a curve near the wall and a flat plane near the ground surface. In addition, the limit displacement where passive earth pressure is generated is larger compared to where the active earth pressure is generated. Thus, it is essential to calculate the passive earth pressure that occurs at the allowable displacement range in order to apply the passive earth pressure to the design for structural stability reasons. This study analyzed the mobilized passive earth pressured to various displacement ranges within the passive limit displacement range using the semi-empirical method considering the complex failure plane.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.24 no.6
• /
• pp.531-543
• /
• 2021

Freezing and thawing of pore water within backfill can affect the stability of retaining wall as the phase change of pore water causes changes in the mechanical characteristics of backfill material. In this study, the effects of freezing and thawing on the mechanical performance of retaining wall with granular backfill were investigated for various temperature and groundwater level (GWL) conditions. The thermal and mechanical finite element analyses were performed by assigning the coefficient of lateral earth pressure according to phase change of soil for at-rest, active and passive stress states. For the at-rest condition, the mobilized lateral stress and overturning moment changed markedly during freezing and thawing. Active-state displacements for the thawed condition were larger than for the unfrozen condition whereas the effect of freezing and thawing was small for the passive condition. GWL affected significantly the lateral force and overturning moment (Mo) acting on the wall during freezing and thawing, indicating that the reduction of safety margin and wall collapse due to freezing and thawing can occur in sudden, unexpected patterns. The beneficial effect of an insulation layer between the retaining wall and the backfill in reducing the heat conduction from the wall face was also investigated and presented.