Passive Pressure Determination by Method of Slices

A method of slices satisfying all the conditions of statical equilibrium has been developed to deal with the problem of determination of passive earth pressure over a retaining wall in sand. A method similar to that of Morgenstern and Price 1 which was used to solve the stability of slopes, has been followed. The earth pressure coefficients with the proposed methodology have been computed for a vertical retaining wall for both positive and negative wall friction angle. Also examined is the variation of the interslice shear force between the retaining wall and the Rankine Passive boundary. Due to complete satisfaction of the equilibrium conditions, the method generates exactly the same earth pressure coefficients as computed by using Terzaghi's overall limit equilibrium approach