Evaluation of the static and seismic active lateral earth pressure for c ϕ soils by the ZEL method

The method of zero extension lines (zel) has been used to evaluate the static and seismic active lateral earth pressure on an inclined wall retaining c — ϕ backfill. the equilibrium equations along the zero extension lines have been solved using the finite difference method. a computer code is prepared to analyze the retaining wall, calculate the zel network and the distribution of the active lateral earth pressure behind the retaining wall. the total active force on the retaining wall was defined as the lateral earth pressure coefficients due to the soil unit weight, the surcharge, and the soil cohesion. the variations of the active lateral earth pressure coefficients with changes in different parameters, such as the inclination of the earth and wall, the friction angle of the soil, the adhesion of the soil-wall interface, the horizontal and vertical pseudo-static earthquake coefficients, have been obtained. the results have been obtained for soils with associated and non-associated flow rules. the effect of the dilation angle has also been considered. the results obtained in this study are very close to those of other methods and confirm that the zel method can be successfully used to evaluate the lateral earth pressure of retaining walls.