Simplified Calculation Method for Seismic Active Earth Pressure of Translational Retaining Wall considering Soil Arching Effect

At present, most seismic earth pressure theories have the limitations of complex derivation process and difficult solution. To solve these problems, considering the deflection of small principal stress caused by soil arching effect, the central arc soil arch was approximated to two inclined linear soil arches, which can greatly simplify the derivation process. Firstly, by improving the combination of differential thin-layer element method and pseudostatic method, the theoretical formulas of seismic active earth pressure intensity, resultant force size, and resultant force action point under translation mode (T mode) were derived and were verified by experimental results. Then, the influence of soil internal friction angle, wall-soil friction angle, and seismic coefficient on seismic active earth pressure theory was analyzed. The results show that the seismic active earth pressure is nonlinearly distributed, and the seismic horizontal coefficient has a greater influence than other influence factors. The theoretical results can provide reference for the seismic design of retaining wall.