Sei sulla pagina 1di 2

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY MADRAS, CHENNAI

Department of Civil Engineering


CE 3350 Geotechnical Engineering
Assignment # 3: Lateral Earth Pressure and Retaining Walls
Note: Make suitable assumptions wherever necessary.
1. (a) State the assumptions in the Coulomb's method of calculating lateral earth pressure.
(b) A basement is to be built using 2.5 m tall masonry walls. These walls will be backfilled with a silty
sand that has c' = 0, ' = 35 and = 19.7 kN/m 3. Assuming the at-rest condition will exist and using
an over consolidation ratio (OCR) of 2, compute the normal force per metre acting on the back of this
wall. Also, draw a pressure diagram and indicate the lateral earth pressure acting at the bottom of the
wall.
(c) Find the magnitudes and locations of active and passive forces as shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1
2. (a) A 3 m high wall is shown in Fig. 2. Determine the Rankine passive force per unit length of the wall.

Fig. 2
(b) A gravity retaining wall and the
backfill properties are shown in
Fig. 3. The groundwater level
is 4.5 m below the base of the
wall. Determine the stability of
the wall assuming = 20.

Fig. 3
3. (a) Does Coulombs theory give an upper bound or a lower bound solution?
(b) What is the effect of wall friction on the shape of slip planes?
(c) An excavation was made in saturated, soft clay ( u = 0), with its sides more or less vertical. When
the depth of excavation reached 6 m, the sides caved in. What was the approximate value of cohesion
of the clay soil ( = 20 kN/m3).
4. A retaining wall, 12 m high has its back sloping at an angle of 75 with the horizontal. The surface of
the backfill slopes at an angle of 15. The relevant soil parameters are as follows: c' = 0, ' = 35, =
3.1

18 kN/m3, = 25. Determine the resultant active thrust on the wall by the trial wedge method and the
angle of critical slip plane. Determine the value of PA by the Coulomb equation.
5. Determine the stability of the cantilever
gravity retaining wall shown in Fig. 4. The
existing soil is a clay and the backfill is a
coarse-grained soil. The base of the wall will
rest on a 50 mm thick, compacted layer of
the backfill. The interface friction between
the base and the compacted layer of backfill
is 25. Groundwater level is 8 m below the
base.

Fig. 4
6. A cantilever retaining wall of 7 m height retains sand. The properties of the sand are: e = 0.5, = 30
and Gs = 2.7. Using Rankine's theory determine the active earth pressure at the base when the backfill
is (a) dry, (b) saturated and (c) submerged, and also the resultant active force in each case. In addition
determine the total water pressure under the submerged condition.
7. A rigid retaining wall 6 m high has a saturated backfill of soft clay soil. The properties of the clay soil
are: sat = 18 kN/m3 and unit cohesion, cu = 18 kN/m2. Determine: (a) the expected depth of the tensile
crack in the soil, (b) the active earth pressure before the occurrence of the tensile crack and (c) the
active pressure after the occurrence of the tensile crack. Neglect the effect of water that may collect in
the crack.
8. A wall of 6 m height retains a noncohesive backfill of dry unit weight 18 kN/m3 and an angle of
internal friction of 30. Use Rankine's theory and find the total active thrust per metre length of the
wall. Estimate the change in the total pressure in the following circumstances: (a) the top of the
backfill carrying a uniformly distributed load of 10 kN/m2 and (b) the backfill under a submerged
condition with water table at an elevation of 2 m below the top of the wall. Assume Gs = 2.65 and the
soil above the water table saturated.
9. Find the active lateral force/unit of width and the point of application for a retaining wall with the
following data: = 17.30 kN/m3, = 36, c = 0 kPa, H = 5.10 m and = 20. Use the Coulomb
equation and consider the cases: (a) = 0, (b) = 10 and (c) = -10.
10. Plot the active earth pressure diagram and compute the resultant and its location for the wall system
shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 5
3.2

Potrebbero piacerti anche