Active earth pressure of 3D earth retaining structure subjected to rainfall infiltration

Rainfall infiltration is a key factor that determines the active earth pressure on an earth-retaining structure. Previous investigations on the stability of earth retaining structures were mainly conducted under the assumption that the backfills was dry, saturated, or subjected to a steady unsaturated flow, ignoring the time-varying characteristics of the rainfall infiltration process. Based on the upper bound theorem of limit analysis, this study conducted a stability analysis of a three-dimensional (3D) earth retaining structure (ERS) subjected to various rainfall infiltration patterns. An analytical model that was, capable of calculating the pore water pressure distribution due to rainfall infiltration, was employed to calculate the time-dependent pore water pressure change of unsaturated soil. A horizontal slice method was employed to take into account the change of effective unit weight of soil. Afterward, an analytical expression of the active earth pressure coefficient is derived from the energy balance equation. The effects of the 3D characteristics of ERSs and rainfall patterns on the active earth pressure coefficient and the failure pattern of ERSs were investigated. It was found that compared with plain strain conditions, the 3D characteristics of ERSs lead to a lower value for the active earth pressure and better stability. The rainfall patterns not only directly determined the stability and active earth pressure of an ERS, but also played a dominant role in critical failure pattern of the ERS. •The change of pore water pressure of soil during rainfall infiltration is obtained.•A horizontal slice method is employed to calculate the effective unit weight of soil.•Analytical expression of Ka of ERSs subjected to various rainfall patterns is derived.•The effect of different rainfall patterns on Ka of the ERSs are investigated.