Displacement in Retaining Walls

[koshimli059]

Hello to all,

I'd like to know what should be the maximum allowable displacement for a retaining wall and what code is this coming from?

Thanks in advance

 

[fattdad]

If you are basing the retaining wall design on active earth pressures, you (i.e., the designer) needs to forecast 1-in of horizontal rotation at the top of the wall for each 10 ft of height. I don't know the code and don't really care. I just know that some movement in the wall backfill MUST occur to mobilize the frictional resistance along the Rankine wedge behind the wall.

If you (i.e., the designer) does not want such rotation, design the wall for at-rest earth pressures, which are typically about 50 percent greater than active.

f-d

ípapß gordo ainÆt no madre flaca!

 

[Doctormo]

I do not believe there is any displacement requirement or criteria for retaining walls in any code. This would be similar to settlement in that the displacement or serviceability requirement would be a function of what the retaining wall is expected to do and would need to be defined by the designers of adjacent structures or roadways if any nearby.

A typical bridge abutment might be designed for minimal movement to avoid bridge related problems whereas a simple retaining wall would not have any specific criteria and would be free to deflect as needed to develop the active earth pressure condition noted above.

The active earth pressure rotation noted above is a function of the retained soil with granular material yielding much less rotation than cohesive soils (fractions of a percent vs. percents.