The limit values and the distribution of three-dimensional passive earth pressures

english

2008

volume 5, issue 1

Univerza v Mariboru, Fakulteta za gradbeništvo
(Obvezni izvod spletne publikacije)

This paper presents a novel approach to the determination of the critical distribution and limit values of three-dimensional passive soil pressures acting on flexible walls following the upper-bound method within the framework of the limit-analysis theory. The method of limit analysis with a set of three-dimensional kinematically admissible hyperbolic translational failure mechanisms is used to determine the critical distribution of the passive pressures along the retaining structurećs height. The intensity of thepassive pressures is gradually determined with the mentioned translational failure mechanisms in the top-down direction. Thus, the critical distribution,the trust point and the resultant of the passive pressures that can be activated at the limit state for the chosen kinematic model are obtained. The results of the analyses show that the total sum of passive pressures, considering the critical distribution, is lower than the comparable values published in the literature. Furthermore, the trust point of the passive pressure resultant is independent of the friction between the retaining structures and the soil.

21.05.2020