Numerical modeling of cohesive-frictional soil behind inclined retaining wall under passive translation mode

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 School of Mining Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Iran.

2 Department of Civil Engineering, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 30009, Taiwan.

10.22059/ijmge.2024.368712.595126

Abstract

Accurate assessment of horizontal earth pressure acting upon retaining walls is crucial for the effective and secure design of these constructions. Not only active earth pressure, but the arching phenomenon also plays a significant role in passive earth pressure distribution. In this study, using the finite difference method (FDM), some numerical models are simulated to examine the influence of soil strength properties and a wall inclination on the earth pressure and ground deformation. The development of shear bands as well as the trajectories of principal stress inside the backfill are investigated. The results of this study show that the failure surface behind the retaining wall under passive mode is generally nonlinear and will become linear only if the wall surface is frictionless. Among the existing theories, the stress distribution provided by the classical theory of Coulomb (1776) shows a better agreement with the numerical data compared to arching-based theories and the classical theory of Rankine (1857).
Considering the root mean square error (RMSE) falling within the approximate range of 0.2 to 0.5, it can be inferred that the numerical modeling results demonstrate acceptable agreement with Coulomb theory. These findings are consistent with the experimental results of Fang et al. (2002). 

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

[1]      C. A. Coulomb. (1776) Essai sur une application des regles de maximis et minimis a quelques problemes de statique relatifs a l’architecture (essay on maximums and minimums of rules to some static problems relating to architecture).
[2]      W. J. M. Rankine. (1857). II. On the stability of loose earth,” Philos. Trans. R. Soc. London, 147: 9–27.
[3]      Y.-S. Fang, T.-J. Chen, and B.-F. Wu. (1994). Passive earth pressures with various wall movements, J. Geotech. Eng., 120 (8): 1307–1323.
[4]      Y.-S. Fang, Y.-C. Ho, and T.-J. Chen. (2002). Passive earth pressure with critical state concept, J. Geotech. Geoenvironmental Eng., 128 (8): 651–659.
[5]      R. Xu, Y. Chen, Z. Yang, and X. Gong. (2002). Experimental research on the passive earth pressure acting on a rigid wall, CHINESE J. Geotech. Eng. Ed., 24 (5): 569–575.
[6]      T. S. O’Neal and D. J. Hagerty. (2011). Earth pressures in confined cohesionless backfill against tall rigid walls—a case history, Can. Geotech. J., 48 (8): 1188–1197.
[7]      M. H. Khosravi, T. Pipatpongsa, and J. Takemura. (2013). Experimental analysis of earth pressure against rigid retaining walls under translation mode, Géotechnique, 63 (12): 1020–1028.
[8]      H. W. Ying, J. H. Zhang, X. G. Wang, B. H. Li, and W. Zhu. (2016). Experimental analysis of passive earth pressure against rigid retaining wall under translation mode for finite soils, Chinese J. Geotech. Eng., 38 (6): 978–986.
[9]      X. I. A. Jun-wu, D. O. U. Guo-tao, S. U. Qiong, and others. (2019). An experiment study on the non- limit passive earth pressure of clay under different displacement modes, J. Southwest Jiaotong Univ., 54 (4): 769–777.
[10]    S. Liu, Y. Xia, and L. Liang, (2018). A modified logarithmic spiral method for determining passive earth pressure J. Rock Mech. Geotech. Eng., 10 (6): 1171–1182.
[11]    F. Chen, Y. Lin, and J. Yang. (2020). Passive earth pressure of narrow cohesionless backfill against inclined rigid retaining walls under translation mode, Soils Found., 60 (5): 1226–1240.
[12]    F. Chen, Y. Lin, J. Yang, and M. Huang. (2021). Passive Earth pressure of narrow cohesionless backfill against rigid retaining walls rotating about the base, Int. J. Geomech., 21 (1): 6020036.
[13]    W. Kejia, P. Yu, and Y. Liu, “Simulation of Passive Earth Pressure against Retaining Wall Considering Wall Movement Mode,” in IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 2021, vol. 714, no. 2.
[14]    K. Lu, G. Zhou, and K. Shi. (2021). Numerical study of 3D passive earth pressure on a rigid retaining wall in three displacement modes, Arab. J. Geosci., 14 (19): 1–10.
[15]    H. Chen, F. Chen, and Y. Lin. (2022). Slip-Line Solution to Earth Pressure of Narrow Backfill against Retaining Walls on Yielding Foundations, Int. J. Geomech., 22 (5): 4022051.
[16]    M. Jiang, M. Niu, and W. Zhang. (2022). DEM analysis of passive failure in structured sand ground behind a retaining wall, Granul. Matter, 24 (2): 1–22.
[17]    K. Terzaghi. (1943). Theoretical soil mechanics. John Wiley & Sons, New York., Theor. soil Mech. John Wiley Sons, New York.
[18]    R. S. Dalvi and P. J. Pise. (2012). Analysis of arching in soil-passive state, Indian Geotech. J., 42 (2): 106–112.
[19]    W. Cao, T. Liu, and Z. Xu. (2019). Calculation of passive earth pressure using the simplified principal stress trajectory method on rigid retaining walls, Comput. Geotech., 109: 108–116.
[20]    A. Pain, Q. Chen, S. Nimbalkar, and Y. Zhou. (2017). Evaluation of seismic passive earth pressure of inclined rigid retaining wall considering soil arching effect, Soil Dyn. Earthq. Eng., 100: 286–295.
[21]    A. S. Alqarawi, C. J. Leo, D. S. Liyanapathirana, L. Sigdel, M. Lu, and P. Hu. (2021). A spreadsheet-based technique to calculate the passive soil pressure based on the log-spiral method, Comput. Geotech., 130.
[22]    L. Zhang, F. Dang, X. Wang, J. Ding, J. Gao, and Y. Zhang. (2022). Estimation of earth pressure against retaining walls with different limited displacement modes based on elastic theory, J. Mt. Sci., 19 (1): 289–304.
[23]    Y. Cai, Q. Chen, Y. Zhou, S. Nimbalkar, and J. Yu. (2017). Estimation of passive earth pressure against rigid retaining wall considering arching effect in cohesive-frictional backfill under translation mode, Int. J. Geomech., 17 (4): 4016093.
[24]    R. L. Handy. (1985). The Arch in Soil Arching, J. Geotech. Eng., 111 (3): 302–318.
[25]    K. Ghaffari Irdmoosa and H. Shahir. (2019). Analytical solution for passive earth pressure of c-φ soil using principal stress rotation assumption, J. Geoengin., 14 (1): 31–39.
[26]    Consulting group Itasca. (2016). FLAC2D Fast Lagrangian Analysis of Continua in 2 Dimension.
[27]    S. Patel and K. Deb. (2022). Experimental and analytical study of passive earth pressure behind a vertical rigid retaining wall rotating about base, Eur. J. Environ. Civ. Eng., vol. 26 (6): 2371–2399.
[28]    D. W. Taylor. (1948). Fundamentals of soil mechanics, 66 (2): LWW.
International Journal of Mining and Geo-Engineering
Volume 58, Issue 3
September 2024
Pages 281-287

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics