Estimation of the Active Earth Pressure with Inclined Cohesive Backfills: the Effect of Intermediate Principal Stress is Considered

Abstract

Estimating active earth pressure accurately is very important when designing retaining wall. Based on the unified strength theory and plane strain assumption, an analytical solution has been developed to determine the active lateral earth pressure distribution on a retaining structure with the inclined cohesive backfill considering the effect of the intermediate principal stress. The solution derived encompasses both Bell’s equation (for cohesive or cohesionless backfill with a horizontal ground surface) and Rankine’s solution (for cohesionless backfill with an inclined ground surface).