Earth pressure on a vertical shaft considering the arching effect in c-phi soil

Abstract

A new earth pressure equation considering the arching effect in c-phi soils was proposed for the accurate calculation of earth pressure on circular vertical shafts. The arching effect and the subsequent load recovery phenomenon occurring due to multi-step excavation were quantitatively investigated through laboratory tests. The new earth pressure equation was verified by comparing the test results with the earth pressures predicted by new equation in various soil conditions. Resulting from testing by using multi-step excavation, the arching effect and load recovery were clearly observed. The test results in c-phi soil showed that even a small amount of cohesion can cause the earth pressure to decrease significantly. Therefore, predicting earth pressure without considering such cohesion can lead to overestimation of earth pressure. The test results in various ground conditions demonstrated that the newly proposed equation, which enables consideration of cohesion as appropriate, is the most reliable equation for predicting earth pressure in both phi soil and c-phi soil. The comparison of the theoretical equations with the field data measured on a real construction site also highlighted the best-fitness of the theoretical equation in predicting earth pressure.