Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society ISSN:1229-2427(Print) 2288-646X(Online) 한국지반공학회 논문집

In this study, the calculation method of the active earth pressure acting on the imaginary vertical plane at the end of the heel of the wall is proposed. For cantilever retaining wall, a change of shear zone behind the wall affects the earth pressure in the vertical plane at the end of heel of the wall depending on wall friction and angle of ground slope. It is very complicated to calculate the earth pressure by a limit equilibrium method (LEM) which considers angles of failure planes varying according to the heel length of the wall. So, the limit analysis method (LAM) is used for calculation of earth pressure in this study. Using the LAM, the earth pressures considering the actual slope angles of failure plane are calculated accurately, and then horizontal and vertical earth pressures are obtained from them respectively. This study results show that by decreasing the relative length of the heel, the slope angle of inward failure plane becomes larger than theoretical slope angle but the slope angle of outward failure plane does not change. And also the friction angle on the vertical plane at the end of the heel of the wall is between the ground slope angle and the wall friction angle, thereafter the active earth pressure decreases. Finally, the Coulomb earth pressure can be easily calculated from the relationship between friction angle (the ratio of vertical earth pressure to horizontal earth pressure) and relative length of the heel (the ratio of heel length to wall height).