Seismic passive earth pressure on an inclined cantilever retaining wall using method of stress characteristics - A new approach

This paper depicts the computation of passive earth pressure on an inclined retaining wall supporting a cohesionless backfill subjected to earthquake loading condition. The method of characteristics in association with the pseudo-dynamic approach has been adopted for the intended purpose. Unlike the previous studies considering the limit equilibrium or limit analysis method, a priori failure mechanism is not assumed in this analysis. The effect of various parameters such as angle of internal friction of the backfill soil, inclination and roughness of the wall, and phase difference of the seismic waves is discussed in detail. While comparing with the available literature, the present values of seismic passive earth pressure coefficient are mostly found to be lesser than the values reported by earlier pseudo-dynamic analyses assuming the linear failure surface.