Net pressure analysis of cantilever sheet pile walls Available to Purchase

There are many methods for the analysis and design of embedded cantilever retaining walls. They involve various different simplifications of the net pressure distribution to allow calculation of the critical retained height. In the UK, it is commonly assumed that net pressure consists of the sum of the active and passive limiting pressure values. In the USA, the net pressure is commonly simplified by a three-line rectilinear pressure distribution. Recently, centrifuge tests have led to a proposed semi-empirical rectilinear method in which an empirical constant defines the point of zero net pressure. Finite element analyses presented in this paper examine the net pressure distribution at limiting equilibrium. The study shows that the point of zero net pressure for a best-fit rectilinear approximation is dependent on the ratio between the passive and active earth pressure distributions at limiting conditions. A simple empirical equation is proposed which defines the point of zero pressure. The predictions for the critical retained height and bending moment distribution using this empirical equation are in excellent agreement with the finite element results and centrifuge data. They are in better agreement than the predictions of the commonly used analysis methods.