Numerical study of the dynamic active lateral earth pressure coefficient of cohesive soils

Retaining walls are proposed in many projects, such as bridges, coastal structures, road constructions and wherever lateral support is required for the vertical surface of an excavation. The active lateral pressure coefficient of soil, Ka , is an important parameter for studying the static and dynamic behaviors of these retaining walls. Many studies have evaluated this coefficient in static situations, but in most previous dynamic studies, researchers have worked on the behavior of cohesionless backfill soil or made simplifying assumptions (e.g., pseudo-static status) for cohesive soils as backfill soil. In this study, the size of the active lateral earth pressure coefficient (Ka) was studied in a full dynamic situation (Kae). A retaining wall with cohesive backfill soil is evaluated using the finite-difference method (FDM) and the effects of important soil and loading properties are assessed. The model is based on Mohr-Coulomb failure criteria under seismic loading. The results show that the value of Kae at the top of the wall, where it is highly sensitive to any variation in the soil and loading properties, is greater than one due to the high pressure value induced by the horizontal dynamic acceleration and the presence of tension cracks.