Analysis of the nonlinearity of coefficient of earth pressure at rest and its calculation method for coarse-grained soils

Authors

Zhao-sheng YU, Key Laboratory of Engineering Structures of Heavy Haul Railway of Ministry of Education, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410083, China
Xiao-bin CHEN, Key Laboratory of Engineering Structures of Heavy Haul Railway of Ministry of Education, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410083, ChinaFollow
Jia-sheng ZHANG, Key Laboratory of Engineering Structures of Heavy Haul Railway of Ministry of Education, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410083, China
Liang DONG, China Academy of Railway Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
M S ABDOULKADER, School of Civil Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410083, China

Abstract

The acquisition of a precise coefficient of earth pressure at rest (K0) is very important for earth pressure calculation, and the study of nonlinear characteristics of K0 has great practical significance. Nevertheless, the research on nonlinearity of K0 for coarse-grained soils has long been neglected. To fill the gap, this study presents a detailed analysis of the nonlinearity characteristics of K0 for coarse-grained soils. Based on the incremental stress-strain relation of Duncan-Chang model, we establish the mathematical formula of K0, and the sensitivity analysis of the K0 formula is presented. The proposed method is applied to predict the K0 of coarse-grained soil experimental data reported by others and by DEM method. Comparison results show that the calculated K0-value is very close to the experimental K0-value, particularly for coarse-grained soils. Furthermore, we compared the K0-value from Jaky formula and that from the proposed method, and discussed the influence of initial stress condition on K0 for coarse-grained soils. The research findings of this study are helpful for the understanding of nonlinearity and the precision of K0 in coarse-grained soils, and may provide reference for related earth pressure calculations.

Graphic Abstract

Recommended Citation

YU, Zhao-sheng; CHEN, Xiao-bin; ZHANG, Jia-sheng; DONG, Liang; and ABDOULKADER, M S (2020) "Analysis of the nonlinearity of coefficient of earth pressure at rest and its calculation method for coarse-grained soils," Rock and Soil Mechanics: Vol. 41: Iss. 6, Article 7.
DOI: 10.16285/j.rsm.2019.6280
Available at: https://rocksoilmech.researchcommons.org/journal/vol41/iss6/7