Conclusions
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1.
The total pressure exerted by saturated soil is the sum of the respective pressures caused by the water and the buoyant soil. The fundamental laws for the pressure exerted by dry sand intrinsically apply also to sand located in a water environment.
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2.
Measured soil pressure on a rigid wall exceeds the active pressure by 30%. The distribution of soil pressure with respect to depth below wall crest, under active-pressure conditions, is not triangular but, rather, closer to a parabolic curve.
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3.
The point of application of the resultant pressure is definitely dependent on wall displacement, its position rising with total applied movement of the wall.
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4.
The relative wall displacement Δ/H cannot serve as a criterion for determining various parameters of soil pressure on the wall, inasmuch as they depend on specific soil properties, magnitude of soil friction against the wall, soil compressibility, etc.
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5.
In design the adoption of a uniform (rectangular) distribution of the supplementary pressure due to surcharge loading on the backfill surface is justified only in the case of smooth walls. Actually, the subject supplementary pressure diminishes with depth below backfill surface, and varies with wall roughness, soil properties, and the specific kinematic system for effecting wall displacements.
The results of the experiments carried out can serve as a basis for further improvement in design methods for retaining structures, taking into account their displacements within limiting conditions.
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Literature Cited
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Additional information
For initial and subsequent discussion, see Gidrotekhnicheskoe Stroitel’stvo, Nos. 1, 3, 5, and 7, 1996; Nos. 1, 3 to 6, 8, 9, and 12, 1967; and Nos. 1 to 5, and 7, 1968. —Editors.
Translated from Gidrotekhnicheskoe Stroitel’stvo, No. 12, pp. 32–36, December, 1968.
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Vargin, M.N. Investigation of relation of pressure exerted by saturated soil to retaining wall displacement. Hydrotechnical Construction 2, 1086–1092 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02376167
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02376167