Abstract

This work presents a theoretical study of passive earth pressure exerted behind a retaining structure, for homogeneous normally consolidated and overconsolidated sands, then for normally and overconsolidated cohesionless backfill overlaying natural deposit. The theoretical data were compared with the available test results for both homogeneous and layered sands. It was found that the coefficient of passive earth pressure in the case of homogeneous overconsolidated cohesionless soil increases while increasing the internal frictional angle of the sands ([straight phi]), soil-wall frictional angle (e P ) and overconsolidation ratio (OCR). For the case of two layers of different types of cohesionless soils it was found that coefficients of passive earth pressure of strong homogeneous are more than that of strong overlaying weak sands. For the case of weak sand layer overlying a very strong layer, the coefficient of passive earth pressure remains as that of the weak layer and the failure plane will not go through the strong layer. Results are given in terms of design charts, which are simple and easy to use.