Abstract

The magnitude and distribution of lateral earth pressure acting on a retaining wall due to dry cohesionless backfilling material and existence of saturated consolidated clay in the foundation are studied by a series of two-dimensional plane-strain analyses. For the particular wall geometry and soil condition, effects of wall height and elapsed time of consolidation are investigated and discussed. The analysis was carried out using the finite element computer program, CRISP, with some modifications to cope with the objective of the analysis. The behaviour of the concrete retaining wall is represented by a linear elastic model. The backfilling material was assumed to be elasto-plastic with Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion, while the clay foundation is assumed to follow Cam-clay model. The thin layer interface element is used to represent the interface between the wall and the surrounding soil. The results showed that the wall tilted towards the backfilling material during consolidation. Also, it was found that the permeability and Poisson's ratio of the foundation soil are the most important material parameters that influence the behaviour of the retaining wall.

Key words: Consolidation, finite elements, modified Cam-clay, plane strain, retaining wall.