The Calculation and Design Method of Active Earth Pressure with Type of Gravity Structures

In this study theories of earth pressure such as Rankine, Coulomb, Trial Wedge, Improved Trial Wedge, used in the design for onshore and offshore structures, are analyzed and the characteristics of loaded pressure to virtual back (wall, plane) and wall surface in accordance with the structure type are suggested. To investigate characteristics of earth pressure, gravity retaining wall with inclined angle and cantilever wall with inclined ground are movilized for onshore structures and caisson and block type quay wall are mobilized for offshore structures. Based on various theories, the earth pressure applied angle(wall friction angle) and sliding angle toward the wall, which is influenced by the heel length, are calculated and compared. In the case of long heel, the pressure by Rankine`s method in virtual plane and the mobilized angle are most reasonably estimated by the ground slope, and in the case of short heel, the pressure by Coulomb`s method and the mobilized angle by the angle of wall friction. In addition, the sliding angle toward the wall estimated by the improved trial wedge method is large than the value of Rankine`s method. Finally, in this study the reasonable method for calculating the pressure and the mobilized angle that can be applied to the routine design of port structures is proposed. The proposed method can decide the earth pressure with length of a heel and a self weight of retaining wall according to sliding angle toward the wall.