EARTH PRESSURE THEORY AND APPLICATION

4.3.2 Active and/or Passive Earth Pressure

Depending on the shoring system the value oI the active and/or passive pressure can be
determined using either the Rankine, Coulomb or trial wedge methods.
4.3.2.1 Rankine's Theory
Rankine`s theory is the simplest Iormulation proposed Ior earth pressure calculations and
it is based on the Iollowing assumptions:
- The wall is smooth and vertical.
- No Iriction or adhesion between the wall and the soil.
- The Iailure wedge is a plane surIace and is a Iunction oI soil`s Iriction | and
the backIill slope | as shown in Eq. 4-14 and Eq. 4-17.
- Lateral earth pressure varies linearly with depth.
- The direction oI the lateral earth pressure acts parallel to slope oI the backIill
as shown in Figure 4-5 and Figure 4-6.
- The resultant earth pressure acts at a distance equal to one-third oI the wall
height Irom the base.
Values Ior the coeIIicient oI active lateral earth pressure using the Rankine Theory may
be taken as shown in Eq. 4-14:
.
D
=

+
cos
cos cos cos
cos cos cos
|
| | |
| | |
2 2
2 2
Eq. 4-14
And the magnitude oI active earth pressure can be determined as shown in Figure 4-5
and Eq. 4-15:
( ) ( ) ( )
3
D
=
1
2
2
h .
D
Eq. 4-15
The Iailure plane angle o can be determined as shown in Eq. 4-16:
o = +
|
\

|

|

|
\

|

|

|
\

|

| 45
2
1
2
| |
|
| $UFsin
sin
sin
Eq. 4-16
4-11

CT TRENCHING AND SHORING MANUAL


Figure 4-5. Rankine`s active wedge
Rankine made similar assumptions to his active earth pressure theory to calculate the
passive earth pressure. Values Ior the coeIIicient oI passive lateral earth pressure may be
taken as:
.
S
=
+

cos
cos cos cos
cos cos cos
|
| | |
| | |
2 2
2 2
Eq. 4-17
And the magnitude oI passive earth pressure can be determined as shown in Figure 4-6
and Eq. 4-18:
( ) ( ) ( )
3
S
=
1
2
2
h .
S
Eq. 4-18
4-12

EARTH PRESSURE THEORY AND APPLICATION
The Iailure plane angle o can be determined as shown in Eq. 4-19:
o =
|
\

|

|
+
|
\

|

|
+
|
\

|

| 45
2
1
2
| |
|
| $UFsin
sin
sin
Eq. 4-19

Figure 4-6. Rankine`s passive wedge
4-13

CT TRENCHING AND SHORING MANUAL

Where:
K height oI pressure surIace on the wall.
3
D
active lateral earth pressure resultant per unit width oI wall.
3
S
passive lateral earth pressure resultant per unit width oI wall.
angle Irom backIill surIace to the horizontal.
o
Iailure plane angle with respect to horizontal.
eIIective Iriction angle oI soil.
.
D
coeIIicient oI active lateral earth pressure.
.
S
coeIIicient oI passive lateral earth pressure.

unit weight oI soil.
Although Rankine`s equation Ior the passive earth pressure is provided above, one should
not use the Rankine method to calculate the passive earth pressure when the backIill
angle is greater than zero (|~0). As a matter oI Iact the K
p
value Ior both positive (|~0)
and negative (|0) backIill slope is identical. This is clearly not correct. ThereIore,
avoid using the Rankine equation to calculate the passive earth pressure coeIIicient Ior
sloping ground.
4.3.2.2 CouIomb's Theory
Coulomb`s (1776) earth pressure theory is based on the Iollowing assumptions:
- The wall is rough.
- There is Iriction or adhesion between the wall and the soil.
- The Iailure wedge is a plane surIace and is a Iunction oI the soil Iriction |,
wall Iriction o, the backIill slope | and the slope oI the wall e.
- Lateral earth pressure varies linearly with depth.
- The direction oI the lateral earth pressure acts at an angle o with a line that is
normal to the wall.
- The resultant earth pressure acts at a distance equal to one-third oI the wall
height Irom the base.
4-14