Axisymmetric active lateral earth pressure for c-Φ soils using the stress characteristics method

The slip line or Stress Characteristics Method (SCM) is used to analyze the active lateral earth pressure in the axisymmetric case. In this paper, in addition to the retaining walls in the axisymmetric and plane strain conditions that were studied in the past, a new model of the retaining wall in the axial symmetry is considered, which can be widely used in the design of grain silos, buildings, and road constructions. The effects of various parameters, including cohesion and friction angle of the soil, wall and backfill slopes, soil-wall interface adhesion, and friction angle, on the lateral earth pressure have been evaluated for all cases of the retaining walls. Based on the proposed theory, a computer code has been developed for the plane strain and axisymmetric cases. Also, finite element modelling is used to verify the results of the SCM. Comparison of the results indicates the accuracy of the proposed method. Furthermore, the effect of the plastic critical or tension crack depth has been evaluated and it is indicated that neglecting the plastic critical depth is not conservative.