Foundation Design

CONEN-452

Dr. Zaheer Abbas Kazmi

Email: [email protected]

College of Engineering, Department of

Construction Engineering 1
 Lateral Earth Pressure

Earth retaining structures experience

pressure from the retained soil mass.
Typical example of such structures is
retaining wall

Three Cases of Earth Pressure

① Pressure at Rest

② Active Pressure

③ Passive Pressure
 Lateral Earth Pressure
Consider a soil mass. The mass is
bounded by a frictionless wall.

The soil element located at a depth

z is subjected to a vertical effective
pressure 𝜎𝑜′ and horizontal effective
pressure 𝜎ℎ′ .
𝜎 ′𝑜 = 𝛾 × 𝑧
𝜎 ′ ℎ = 𝐾𝜎 ′ 𝑜 = 𝐾𝛾𝑧

Where K is a nondimensional
coefficient of lateral pressure, given
as
𝜎 ′ℎ
𝐾= ′
𝜎𝑜
 Case I: At-rest Pressure
If the wall AB is static, i.e., if it does
not move either to right or to left of
its initial position – the soil mass
will be in a state of static
equilibrium.

In such a case, σ’h is referred to as

the at-rest earth pressure, or

𝜎 ′ℎ
𝐾 = 𝐾𝑜 = ′
𝜎𝑜

where Ko = at-rest earth pressure

coefficient.
 Case II: Active Pressure
If frictionless wall rotates
sufficiently about its bottom to a
position of A’B, then triangular
mass ABC’ adjacent to the wall
will reach a state of plastic
equilibrium and will fail sliding
down the plane BC’.

At this time, σ’h is referred to as

active pressure, or

𝜎 ′ℎ 𝜎 ′𝑎
𝐾 = 𝐾𝑎 = ′ = ′
𝜎𝑜 𝜎𝑜

where Ka = active earth pressure

coefficient
 Case III: Passive Pressure
If the wall rotates sufficiently
about its bottom to a position
A”B, then a triangular mass
ABC” will reach a state of
plastic equilibrium and will
fail sliding upward along the
plane BC”.

At this time, σ’h is referred to

as passive pressure, or

𝜎 ′ℎ 𝜎 ′𝑝
𝐾 = 𝐾𝑝 = ′ = ′
𝜎𝑜 𝜎𝑜

where Kp = passive earth

pressure coefficient
Variation of Earth Pressure with Wall Tilt

∆𝐿𝑎 ∆𝐿𝑝
𝐻 𝐻
 Earth Pressure Coefficient at Rest
Vertical effective stress = s’o = gz
Horizontal effective stress = s’h = Kogz
For coarse-grained soils, the coeff. of
earth pressure at rest is estimated by
using empirical relationship (Jaky 1944)
𝐾𝑜 = 1 − 𝑠𝑖𝑛∅
where f’ = drained friction angle
Jaky’s Eq. is good for loose sand backfill.
For dense sand backfill, this Eq. may
underestimate the lateral earth
pressure at rest. 𝜎 ′ ℎ = 𝐾𝜎 ′ 𝑜
This underestimation is due to the
process of compaction of backfill.
 Earth Pressure Coefficient at Rest
For normally consolidated clays (Brooker &
Ireland, 1965)

𝐾𝑜 = 0.4 + 0.007 𝑃𝐼
(for PI between 0 to 40)

𝐾𝑜 = 0.64 + 0.001 𝑃𝐼
(for PI between 40 to 90)

Where PI is Plasticity Index

For Overconsolidated Clays,

𝐾𝑜(𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑)
= 𝐾𝑜(𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑) 𝑂𝐶𝑅

Where OCR is Overconsolidation Ratio

Earth Pressure at Rest

𝜎 ′ 𝑜 = 𝛾𝑧
𝜎 ′ ℎ = 𝐾𝑜 𝛾𝑧

1
𝑃𝑜 = 𝐾𝑜 𝛾𝐻2
2

𝐻
3

𝐾𝑜 𝛾𝐻
 Earth Pressure at Rest

𝜎 ′ 𝑜 = 𝑞 + 𝛾𝑧
𝜎 ′ ℎ = 𝐾𝑜 (𝑞 + 𝛾𝑧)

𝑃1

𝑃2
𝐻
𝐻
2
3

𝑃𝑜 = 𝑃1 + 𝑃2
1
𝑃𝑜 = 𝐾𝑜 𝑞𝐻 + 𝐾𝑜 𝛾𝐻2 ) 𝐾𝑜 𝑞 𝐾𝑜 𝛾𝐻
2
 Earth Pressure at Rest

𝜎 ′ 𝑜 = 𝑞 + 𝛾𝑧
𝜎 ′ ℎ = 𝐾𝑜 (𝑞 + 𝛾𝑧)

𝑃1
𝑃𝑜
𝑃2
𝐻
𝐻 𝒛ത
2
3
𝑃𝑜 = 𝑃1 + 𝑃2
1 𝐾𝑜 𝑞 𝐾𝑜 𝛾𝐻
𝑃𝑜 = 𝐾𝑜 𝑞 + 𝐾𝑜 𝛾𝐻2 )
2
𝐻 𝐻
𝑃𝑜 𝑧ҧ = 𝑃1 + 𝑃2
2 3
𝐻 𝐻
𝑃1 2 + 𝑃2 3
𝑧ҧ =
𝑃𝑜
 Earth Pressure at Rest

𝜎 ′ 𝑜 = 𝛾𝑧1
𝜎 ′ ℎ = 𝐾𝑜 𝛾𝑧1
𝑧1

𝐾𝑜 𝛾𝐻1

𝑧2
+

𝐾𝑜 𝛾𝐻1 𝐾𝑜 𝛾 ′ 𝐻2 𝛾𝑤 𝐻2

𝐾𝑜 (𝛾𝐻1 + 𝛾 ′ 𝐻2 )
𝜎 ′ 𝑜 = 𝛾𝐻1 + 𝛾𝑠𝑎𝑡 − 𝛾𝑤 𝑧2 𝛾 ′ = 𝛾𝑠𝑎𝑡 − 𝛾𝑤
𝜎 ′ ℎ = 𝐾𝑜 (𝛾𝐻1 + 𝛾𝑠𝑎𝑡 − 𝛾𝑤 𝑧2 )
 Earth Pressure at Rest
A

𝜎 ′ 𝑜 = 𝛾𝑧1
𝜎 ′ ℎ = 𝐾𝑜 𝛾𝑧1
𝑧1
B I
C
𝐾𝑜 𝛾𝐻1 𝐾𝑜 𝛾𝐻1

𝑧2
+ =
E F J K
D
𝐾𝑜 𝛾𝐻1 𝐾𝑜 𝛾 ′ 𝐻2 𝛾𝑤 𝐻2
𝐾𝑜 (𝛾𝐻1 + 𝛾 ′ 𝐻2 )+𝛾𝑤 𝐻2
𝐾𝑜 (𝛾𝐻1 + 𝛾 ′ 𝐻2 )
1 1 1
𝑃𝑜 = 𝐾𝑜 𝛾𝐻1 + 𝐾𝑜 𝛾𝐻1 𝐻2 + 𝐾𝑜 𝛾 𝐻2 + 𝛾𝑤 𝐻2 2
2 ′ 2
2 2 2

ABC BCDE CEF IJK

 Earth Pressure at Rest - Example
Example 1: Following figure shows a 15-ft retaining wall. The wall is
restrained from yielding. Calculate the lateral force Po per unit
length of the wall. Also, determine the location of the resultant
force.

𝐾𝑜 = 1 − sin 30 = 0.5
𝜎 ′ 𝑜 = 𝛾𝑧1
𝜎 ′ ℎ = 𝐾𝑜 𝛾𝑧1
𝐴𝑡 𝑧1 = 0
𝑧1
𝝈′ 𝒉 = 𝟎
𝐴𝑡 𝑧1 = 10
𝝈′ 𝒉 = 𝟓𝟎𝟎 𝐥𝐛/𝒇𝒕𝟐
𝜎 ′ ℎ = 𝐾𝑜 (𝛾1 𝐻1 + 𝛾2 ′ 𝑧2 )
𝐴𝑡 𝑧2 = 0
𝑧2 𝝈′ 𝒉 = 𝟓𝟎𝟎 𝐥𝐛/𝒇𝒕𝟐
𝐴𝑡 𝑧2 = 5
𝝈′ 𝒉 = 𝟔𝟓𝟎 𝐥𝐛/𝒇𝒕𝟐
 Earth Pressure at Rest - Example
Example 1: Following figure shows a 15-ft retaining wall. The wall is
restrained from yielding. Calculate the lateral force Po per unit
length of the wall. Also, determine the location of the resultant
force.

𝑈 = 𝛾𝑤 𝑧2
𝐴𝑡 𝑧2 = 0
𝑼=𝟎
𝐴𝑡 𝑧2 = 5
𝑼 = 𝟑𝟏𝟐 𝐥𝐛/𝒇𝒕𝟐
 Earth Pressure at Rest - Example
Example 1: Following figure shows a 15-ft retaining wall. The wall is
restrained from yielding. Calculate the lateral force Po per unit
length of the wall. Also, determine the location of the resultant
force.

P1 = 2500

Po = 6155

8.33
P2 = 2500
𝒛ത
P3 = 375 P4 = 780
2.5 1.67 1.67

𝟔𝟏𝟓𝟓 × 𝒛ത = 𝟐𝟓𝟎𝟎 × 𝟖. 𝟑𝟑 + 𝟐𝟓𝟎𝟎 × 𝟐. 𝟓 + 𝟑𝟕𝟓 × 𝟏. 𝟔𝟕 + 𝟕𝟖𝟎 × 𝟏. 𝟔𝟕

𝒛ത = 𝟒. 𝟕𝟏 𝒇𝒕