Simplified method 233 6.29 6.30 631 Same as the previous problem. Use the simplified gross earth pressure method to compute the bending moment and shear of the retaining wall this time. See Problem 5.20 and Figure P5.20, Use the simplified gross earth pressure method to compute the bending moment and shear of the retaining wall. Same as the previous problem, use the net earth pressure method to compute the bending moment and shear of the retaining wall this time.236 Beam on elastic foundation method 7.2. Basic principles In foundation engineering, the soil-structure interaction problem is often simulated as a series of springs to simplify analysis. Among them, Winkler’s model (Winkler, 1867) is most widely applied. As shown in Figure 7.1, the basic assumption of the Winkler model is—given that the foundation is a structure with stiffness and soils are of elastic foundation, their interaction can be simulated as a series of individual springs. The spring constant is the ratio of stress (p) to displacement (6), which can be expressed as follows: bat (7.1) where the constant, is called the coefficient of subgrade reaction, the modulus of subgrade reaction, or the soil spring constant, the unit of which is force) x (dimension)~3. The strength of the Winkler model is that it greatly simplifies analysis, for it assumes the elements are individually acting without interaction. As shown in Figure 7.2a, the beam on elastic foundation analysis of an excavation assumes the retaining wall to be a beam on an elastic foundation, which is simulated as a series of soil springs and the earth pressures on both sides of the wall before excavation are taken to be the at-rest earth pressure (Ko-condition) (see Figure 7.2b). After excavation is started, unloading induced by excavation will cause unbalanced forces between the two sides of the wall and make the wall deform. The amount of the unbalanced force is the difference between the at-rest earth pressure on the two sides of the wall when the wall is kept unmoved, as shown as the difference between poz and poy in Figure 7.2c. Acted on by the unbalanced forces, the beam is displaced, and will change the distribution ofearth pressures, The earth pressure from outside is decreased to po —ky8 (hy is the horizontal Coefficient of subgrade reaction and é is the lateral displacement of the wall) with the increase of displacement, The minimum lateral earth pressure is the active earth pressure. The earth pressure from inside is increased to po + &y6 due to the inward displacement of the wall, ‘When soil springs develop up to the passive condition, the soil reaction on the passive side ceases increasing and stays at the passive earth pressure. This state is called the plastie state (see Figure 7.24). When the reaction forces of soil springs are smaller than the passive earth pressure at a point, this is called the elastic state. Q | ‘A beam on elastic foundation ‘A beam on elastic foundation Figure 7.1 Winkler’s model.Beam on elastic foundation method 237 Equivalent springs (for struts) wwf Atrest lateral Atrest lateral earth pressure arth pressure Excavation surface cart Ce area Equivalent springs. feo (for soils) ae @) () Ground surface Ground surface Equivalent springs™”—} Atrest earth for (struts) pressure taken fom the datum of the ground surface Excavation bottom Plastic zone’ Excavation bottom Atrestearth pressure py taken from the datum of the excavation botiom Ny Pon Elastic zone Po () @ Figure 7.2 The beam on elastic foundation method: (a) springs placed at both sides of the continuous beam, (b) at rest earth pressure before excavation, (c) distribution of earth pressures cn both sides of the retaining wall before wall movement, and (d) distribution of earth pressures on both sides of the wall after wall movement. Figure 7.3 illustrates another model of beam on elastic foundation. In Figure 7.3a, the pres- sure acting on the back of the wall is assumed to be the active earth pressure and the resistance from inside is simulated as a series of soil springs. At each excavation stage, the active earth pressure on the back of the wall should be balanced by the internal struts and soil springs. The magnitude of the force of soil springs is the coefficient of subgrade reaction fy, multiplied by the displacement at the place. When the soils are acted on by a force smaller than the passive arth pressure at the place, this is called the elastic state, Once the displacement of the wall is large enough to develop the soil springs to the passive earth pressure, the soil reaction on the passive side ceases increasing and stays at the passive earth pressure, and is called the plastic state (see Figure 7.3b). ‘To consider the influence of excavation width on analysis, the active earth pressures below the excavation bottom are assumed to converge with the increase of depth till pressure con- vergence point is zero (Miyoshi, 1977). According to the concept of Boussinesq’s pressure238 Beam on elastic foundation method wwf tw Eguivalnt springs Equivalent spring ms aaa Buln pas Corsa hay ‘c 2, \ 5 bow NE Plastic zone > pow Convergence He juivalent sprin, ee Creat ann a Bate Sone h : Aen bot "0" 1 v v @ © Figure 7.3 Another model of the beam on elastic foundation method: (a) springs placed at the front of the continuous beam and (b) distribution of earth pressure. bulb, the unloading force (induced by soil removal) has an influence on the vertical plane of the wall to the depth equaling an excavation width, Therefore, the depth of the converging point can be assumed to be below the excavation bottom at a depth equaling an excavation ‘width without going through hard soils. The passive soil reaction is thus equal to the passive earth pressure subtracting the earth pressure, po (see Figure 7.3 b). 7.3, Formulation Though the beam on elastic foundation method can be used in hand calculation, with the development of computers, most of the analysis methods are coded into computer programs, some of which have been made into commercial software. The theories of beam on elastic foundation, however, are still not complete in application and the analysis principles of these computer programs are not without dispute either. There is still much room for improve- ment. This section will introduce the process of mechanical computation, The part using the principle of the finite element method to introduce the mechanical computation of the beam on elastic foundation method can be ignored for undergraduate students and engineers dealing with excavation in practice. Graduate students intending to thoroughly explore the contents of the beam on elastic foundation method or develop related computer programs are recommended to refer to Chapter 8, in addition to studying this section. According to the conception of the finite element method, the retaining wall is simulated as a continuous beam of a unit width, which will be partitioned into many beam elements. Each beam element can be further classified into basic beam elements and beam on clastic foundation elements, depending on whether there exist soil springs. The stiffness matrix is elucidated as follows: 1 Basic beam elements: A basic beam element refers to a beam element without soil springs. As shown in Figure 7.4, a beam element has four degrees of freedom. Assuming the displacement of any point on the beam in the y direction i v, the displacement equation will be veer tex tesx? + car? (7.2)Beam on elastic foundation method 239 ‘The boundary values vO=q, 0) = 4g, =O v(€) = q2, v(£) = 9) = -O> ‘Thus, we can infer the displacement at x is a ¥@) = DM ahh | i) 82, where fi= po — 370405) p= pore + 2x76? — x63) (7.4) B= Boe + 3x7) i= Bet 8e) The above equation can be transformed into a matrix whose form is v = [/] - [q] where I/] is called the displacement shape function, According to the principle of virtual work (see Section 8.2), we can infer that the stiffness matrix of the beam element is Lr geyt 2 ferta war f [3] aro] 12ET/@ —6ET/e2 —12E/8 —6EI/e* —6El/ — AET/€ 6EL/e? 2EI/e —12ET/e 6ET/e2 —12ET/@3 GEL /e* —6EI/@2 ET /€ 6EL/e? AEI/& [Ko (75) where E is the elastic modulus of the wall and / is the moment of inertia. 2 Beam on elastic foundation elements: A beam on elastic foundation el element that takes the reaction of soil springs into consideration, as shown in Figure 7.5. The range of application includes: 1 The model as shown in Figure 7.2 takes all beam elements as beam on elastic foundation elements while that as shown in Figure 7.3 takes only the beam elements below the excavation bottom as beam on elastic foundation elements. 2 Under the influence of preload of struts, all the beam elements on the retaining wall should be viewed as beam on elastic foundation elements in analysis, as shown in Figure 7.6. ‘When considering beam on elastic foundation elements, their displacement shape function is the same as that of basic beam elements. The ky value is the coefficient of the horizontal