Lancellotta, R. (2007). Geotechnique 57, No.

3, 319321

TECHNICAL NOTE

Lower-bound approach for seismic passive earth resistance

R . L A N C E L L OT TA *
KEYWORDS: diaphragm walls; earth pressure; plasticity;
seismic actions

i0

INTRODUCTION
Current practice for computing earth pressure on earthretaining structures in the presence of seismic action relies
on an extension of the Coulomb solution, due to Okabe
(1924) and Mononobe & Matsuo (1929), and referred to in
the literature as the MononobeOkabe approach (Fardis et
al., 2005).
However, it is well recognised that, when wall friction is
present, a non-uniform stress field arises as well as a nonplanar failure surface. This renders the problem of computing exact values of earth pressure non-trivial, and analytical
solutions are not available in this case. In particular, when
dealing with passive earth resistance, standard codes suggest
solutions provided by limit equilibrium methods with a
curved (typically log spiral) surface (Caquot & Kerisel,
1948; Kerisel & Absi, 1990). However, as these procedures
are essentially of a kinematical nature, they are not conservative. In fact, should the assumed mechanism be admissible in kinematic terms, these solutions represent an upper
bound to the exact solution. For this reason, even though
there has been considerable debate in the literature about the
use of force-based approaches (Steedman & Zeng, 1990,
1993), because of their widespread adoption (Kramer, 1996)
it is still of interest to search for a solution based on a
statically admissible stress field, this approach providing a
conservative answer or the exact one.
This paper is intended to contribute to this problem by
deriving an analytical solution for passive earth resistance
coefficients in the presence of seismic actions, based on the
lower-bound theorem of plasticity. The novelty of the present
contribution lies in a transformation of axes that allows the
problem of seismic passive resistance to be solved using the
same stress field equations as the usual static case.

kh

xx

v cos

Fig. 1. Initial and transformed geometry

According to equation (1), represents the obliquity of the

body force per unit volume in the presence of seismic
action, and it is also noted that the presence of a vertical
component of the inertia forces could be taken into account
by assuming



kh
(2)
tan
1
1  kv

STRESS FIELD EQUATIONS

Consider the problem shown in Fig. 1: a soil surface,
sloping at an angle i with respect to the horizontal axis x is
subjected to the vertical body force 9, due to gravity, and to
the horizontal body force kh 9, which represents the seismic
action, the coefficient kh being the horizontal seismic coefficient (positive assumed if the inertia force is towards the
backfill). In order to compute the passive resistance on a
vertical wall of roughness
(i.e.  9xz  9xx tan
), imagine
transforming the problem geometry through a rigid rotation
, given by
tan
1 k h

1 k 2h

xz

where kv is the coefficient of vertical acceleration.

By referring to this transformed geometry we now deal
with the problem of deriving the passive resistance acting on
a rough wall, tilted from the vertical by the angle , and
interacting with a backfill of slope  i
. The resulting
verticalq
body force is represented by the vector
9 1 k 2h , which can be thought of as a properly
scaled gravity body force q
(in
the presence of vertical accel-

(1)

eration it would be 9

Manuscript received 29 March 2006; revised manuscript accepted

22 March 2006.
Discussion on this paper closes on 1 September 2007, for further
details see p. ii.
* Technical University of Torino, Italy.

(1  k v )2 k 2h .

With reference to Fig. 2(a), zone 2 is the conventional

passive zone in which the stress state is known, as represented by the small Mohr circle in Fig. 2(b), also shown for
clarity in Fig. 2(c). If the segment OM represents the
319

LANCELLOTTA

320

 9xx OT cos

0
0

xz


p
OT OC1 C1 T s91 cos
sin 2 9
sin 2

x

xx

That is,


p
 9xx s91 cos
cos
sin 2 9
sin 2

1
z

By combining equations (4) and (3), we obtain


p
cos


cos

sin 2 9
sin 2

s91
p
 9xx
 cos 
s92
cos 
sin 2 9
sin 2 

(a)

H1

H2
M

1 2
s1 R

s2 C2

21
xx

Zone 2

C1

s91
e2 tan 9
s92

 9xx K PE  cos i

T
P1

where

K PE

(b)

(7)

"

(6)

so that by inserting equation (6) into equation (5) we obtain

the solution

Zone 1

(5)

At this stage we briefly recall that if, in order to smooth

the overall stress field, we consider a fan of stress discontinuities (Fig. 2(a)), across which the rotation of the principal
direction assumes the finite value , then the shift between
the two extreme Mohr circles is defined by (Bolton, 1979;
Atkinson, 1981; Lancellotta, 2002; Powrie, 2002)

A
P2

(4)

cos

p
sin 2 9
sin 2 (i
)
#

p
2
2
3 cos
sin 9
sin
e2 tan 9
cos(i
)

(8)

P2
M
O

2
Q s2
1
22
2
V

and, as shown in the Appendix,




sin

sin i

sin
1
2 sin
1
sin 9
sin 9

i
2

(9)

(c)

Fig. 2. Stress discontinuity analysis: (a) fan of stress discontinuities; (b) Mohr circles relative to zone 1 and zone 2; (c) Mohr
circle relative to conventional passive zone

resultant stress  v9  cos  acting at depth  on the plane

parallel to the ground surface, it can be observed that the
following relations hold (Fig. 2(b)):
OM OH2
H2 M
OH2 s92 cos 
q
p
H2 M r 2
C2 H2 2 s92 sin2 9
sin2 
so that


p
OM  cos  s92 cos 
sin 2 9
sin 2 

(3)

Moving through a fan of stress discontinuities to zone 1

adjacent to the wall, the normal component  9xx of the
passive earth resistance is obtained from the large Mohr
circle in Fig. 2(b) by observing that

DISCUSSION
The obtained solution is of value in engineering practice
because it is a conservative estimate of the exact solution,
but allows the wall roughness to be taken into account,
avoiding unjustified pessimistic assumptions. As an example,
Eurocode 8 suggests the use of the MononobeOkabe
formula by neglecting the wall roughness (Fardis et al.,
2005).
This solution is compared in Fig. 3 with that provided by
Chang (1981), based on a limiting equilibrium approach
with composite sliding surfaces. As expected, equation (8)
gives values lower than those suggested by Chang (1981),
the differences ranging up to 30% for the cases shown in
Fig. 1 (i.e. i 0,
/9 0.5, kh ranging from 0 to 0.30).
In the absence of seismic action (i.e. 0) the obtained
solution is in agreement with the solution provided by
Sokolovskii (1965), based on the method of characteristics
(this was shown in a previous paper; Lancellotta, 2002). It is
also of relevance to note that the suggested solution represents an extension to the case of sloping backfill, not considered by Sokolovskii.
In addition, this solution merges into the Rankine solution
when 0 and

i: that is, when conditions of conjugate planes apply, because the direction of the stress vector
on each of these planes is parallel to the other plane.

LOWER-BOUND APPROACH FOR SEISMIC PASSIVE EARTH RESISTANCE


^
1

2
x

^
2 
22
kh

20
xz
xx

15

^
3 22


z
i0

Chang 1981

KPE

/ 05

kh 0
kh 01
kh 02
kh 03

so that
sin22


10

sin 
sin 9

Since
2 2(1 2 ) sin
1
sin
1

5
kh 0
kh 01
kh 02 Equation (8)
kh 03

0
25

(11)


sin

sin 9


sin(i
)

(i
) 2
sin 9

equation (9) is proved.

NOTATION

30

35
: degrees

40

45

Fig. 3. Coefficient of seismic passive earth resistance for a

specific case (i 0, /9 0.5)

A final remark concerns the limitations of force-based

approaches, as discussed by Steedman & Zeng (1990, 1993).
It has been reported that retaining walls and quay walls
experience significant movements during earthquakes, so that
their behaviour is dominated by displacements, and a forcebased design is not a reliable indicator of the performance
of these structures. In this context, the suggested solution is
of value for properly estimating a critical value of the
seismic acceleration, and can be incorporated into analyses
that take amplification effects into account.

APPENDIX. PROOF OF EQUATION (9)

Consider in Fig. 2(b) the larger Mohr circle, relating to
zone 1. The following relations hold:
^1 


2

^
2

21
2

3^
2^ 21


2
r
sin
r sin ^
3
H1 R OR sin

sin 9
so that
sin21

321

sin

sin 9

(10)

By considering the other Mohr circle, relating to zone 2 (see

details in Fig. 2(c)), it follows that

i
kh
kv
9

9

slope of backfill
coefficient of horizontal acceleration
coefficient of vertical acceleration
effective unit weight
friction angle at soil/wall interface
angle of rotation of principal stress direction
angle of internal friction
obliquity of body force per unit volume in presence of seismic
action tan
1 kh

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