Calculation Method for Nonlimit Passive Earth Pressure of Retaining Walls in Translational Mode

Abstract The distribution of nonlimit passive earth pressure is closely related to the displacement of the retaining wall. The transition from static to passive earth pressure can be compared with a triaxial radial loading test. According to the hyperbolic relationship between the increment of the major principal stress and radial strain, a functional relationship between the internal friction angle and wall displacement in the nonlimit state is established using the Mohr stress circle. On this basis, analytical solutions for the intensity, resultant force, and application point position of nonlimit passive earth pressure are derived using the horizontal-layer method, taking into account the effects of displacement, soil arching, and shear stress between soil layers. The proposed solution can be reduced to the classic Coulomb solution. Compared with available experimental data and existing theoretical solutions, the results in this paper agree well with measured values, which demonstrates the rationality of the theoretical derivation. In addition, the effects of displacement, internal friction angle, and wall–soil friction angle on the distribution of nonlimit passive earth pressure, horizontal resultant force, and application point position are discussed separately.