Reese - Wang Vs Broms Methods

[RFreund]

Which is more commonly used?

Also I'm trying to understand the main concepts behind the two.

Broms: Use Rankine passive pressure with an increased 'effective' pile width. This method is used in California Trenching and Shoring Manual I believe.

Reese-Wang: Evaluate different failure states to find an ultimate 'passive failure wedge'. I am not very familiar with the equations or where they are used. Any ideas where I can look?
Is there a good reference besides Geotech Circular No 4 for Reese-Wang equations for developing passive pressure.

Thanks!

EIT

http://www.HowToEngineer.com

 

[RFreund]

Does anyone regularly use the Reese-Wang equations for passive resistance?

EIT

http://www.HowToEngineer.com

 

[GeoPaveTraffic]

Calculating passive resistance can be very complicated. I always suggest that the geotechnical engineer for the project perform these calculations.

Based on your post, I assume that this is for a shoring wall of some sort. If so, I would use LPile or similar software to determine the load/resistance/deflection of the soldier piles.

If using passive pressure for soldier piles (which I don't recommend) I would use twice the width of the pile or shaft as the effective width of the passive pressure block and use a hefty factor of safety. It takes a lot of deflection to mobilize passive pressure.

Mike Lambert