Test Study on Relationship between Lateral Earth Pressure Acting on Retaining Structures and Horizontal Displacement

There are many kinds of methods of calculating lateral earth pressure acting on retaining structures, but effective methods solving earth pressure problems under any movements of retaining structures are not available. In pit excavation, movements of retaining structures often have to be controlled to avoid excessive settlements of adjacent buildings. In these cases, soil behind retaining structures is not under the limit Equilibrium State that is assumed in classical theory of earth pressure, such as Rankine and Coulomb theories. In model tests, lateral earth pressure that changed gradually from earth pressure at rest to active earth pressure was measured under controlled movements of a retaining slab. Relationship between the intensity of lateral earth pressure and movements of retaining structures was found out and a simplified method suggested for solving earth pressure problems taking account of movements of retaining structures. [