f

,
1

177

On the Determination of Earth Pressure

during Earthquake.
(Paper No. SSS)
. ' . .
. By Nagaho Mononobe, Koga/o,-uhakushi, and HaruoMatsuo,
O.E., of the Research Office of Public Works, Department
of Home A.fairs, Japan. .
'l'he great Kwanto earthquake of Sept. 1st, 1923; brought to notice many
problems concerning the stability of structures during such disturbances.
Among these, earth pressure is one. JuSt after the earthquakes, one of the
writers introduced a method of calculation for maximum earth pressure during
earthquakes j ana some structures in the reconstruction work were made earth~
<luake~ proof accordingly.
As the earthquake is an oscillatory motion of the ground and its motion !'ui..
very complicated,. its action can not he expressed in a 'simple mathematical ~;

form. But for practical applications, especially 'for engineering purposes, it

,.'- ...
may be considered to be a simple harmonic motion. Let A be the semi~am~
plitude, T the period of the simple harmonic motion, and y the. displacement
from the original position, at any time t, then,

'Y = '.4:
.. Sln -2:;r
-t ;
T

the acceleration at that time being

2
--=_
d y
dt~.
...4. (~:)~.
-
T
211'
Slll-t
T'
.. ~
and its maximum value;

Tr
A 4.Ar?-
g= -.- .
',['J

The displacement may be resolved into horizontal and vertical components, each
of which may be expressed by the form of the above equation~
For the stability of. massive st~ctures, practically, it is sufficient to
.., consider only the effect. of the maXimum acceleration.. Then, for retaining
,
walls and similar structur~, the action of earthquake is most dangerous when
the horizontal acceleration is directed towards the wall; and the vertical; up~
wards.
Let.g denote the acceleration of gravity; kg, the maximum horizontal
acceleration; k1g, the maximum upward vertical acceleration; g., the resultant
oi the above three; 0, the angle gubter'ld~d between fl and g.; and g./g = .l. (see
Fig. 1). ,," . '...... '"

( ,
.~.
',."

_
........ ;.;,.,..

 .~,. ,

.,,:/ ..

fl. ~
:i 178 Mononobe and Matsuo-Earth Pressure during E~rthquake. NQ.888;
".

.,.
Nil

~i TI
,.
t:
f;; bt~,
'.;' ,
.,
C:.~
.. ,
~
nc
<,
.~.

;
.. ;.

. .

Fig. L

,.' Under ,seismic conditi~ns, the' direction' of the resultant. acceleration is:
deflected 8 from the. vert.icaI.
i
~.
, . The earth pressure during earthquakes can be determined in the same
! m"antter' as for static conditions by repla~ing u. for u, with its aytual magnitude,
and direction. This can be applied to analytical as well as graphical solutions.
.~.
Applying thEl principle to the .wedge theory and to. the Rankine theory, the fol-
lowing expressions for maximum earth pressu~e during earthquakes are derived.
First applying the wedge theory, the seismic earth pressure P is expressed by the',
follo~ng equa'tion;

Lwlr-(l"':'fj cos!(~ - 0 - a)
.( 'p_
- 2 1 8
cos cos!a cos (ro+ i+O) [1
, .
+ isin ('1'+'1'0) sin ('1'-0 r r)]2' .
. '. \I cos (~u+a+e) cos (r-a) Th
where w, unit weight of the earth (see Fig. 20.),
H, height of the wall measured vertically,
'P, angle of friction of the earth,
'Po, angle of friction between. the earth and the back of the wall,' Th
r,angle of the earth surface with the horizontal,
a, angle of the b~ckof. the wall with the vertical, and
8, angle of the plane of rupture with the horizontal.
the

wa
,,:

, ::'.'
c:. ... f:

'.0;'

C' 'H::.I.:::. TL
. [".- -.:-:.!:.'

",".....'.,:,. ..

,.'
'. '" ':'"

Fig.2a. . ..... .". ~ ,

 "':,
,j
'0
. ~~'t.:......... ".
. ...
:".~
"" .~ .

'~. ~
',-,j
, ,,' '.~
..'..... 1
:j
!
( 1

No. 388 Mononobe and Matsuo~Earth Pl'cssure during Eo.rthquJl.ke;

The angle which P makes with the horizontal is equal to '1'0 + a.

179
rj

1
Poncelet's graphical solution 'may be applied, by inclining figure' until Uti; 1t
becomes :verticaL In Fig. 2b,. BL represents horizontal line through B in this \

{
new position.
i
'J
I
t
1. !

..t

"Fig.2b.

"The pressure triangle M N C and the plane of rupture Beare determined.

The amount of the earth 'pressure,
P='areatJ MNC xlw.

"The angle of rupture,

o=L.CBL-O. ~ .
;
The results obtained from this graphical treatment naturally coincide With i,
l'
~.
those from t'he analytical t.reatment mentioned above.
Second, applying the principle to tlie Rankine theo1:Y when the back of ,the 1
,
"to . wall is vertical, the seistili~ .earth pI'essure, ' ' :
:~

P=~,uH!(l-kl) co;; r{[cos(r-o}:-v' cos2(r+O)-cos~tpj+[sin(r+O)~sin(r~0)J}t:

!!' , cos 0 {cos (r+O)+v' cos2(r+O)-cos'!tp} , '
.'

~,
;:
" ' , '

The direction of which is

{i = r + sin- 1 [sin 0 {cos (r + 0) +' 'k sin (r+o)}],.

. C" 1'- kl , ,
, j

; being the angle which P makes with the horizontaL

In general, when the back of the wall is inclined a fi'om the vertical~ thE1
(
 ..~'"

.. ~ .. '

180 Mononobe and Matsuo-:-Earth Pressure during :Earthquake. No. BSS ..

maximum earth pressure during earthquakes, exerted on the plane B S (Fig~
.3) which makes an angle 0 with the vertical.is 1

"
F' = ..L ~h2 cos (r. + 0). cos (r + 0) - vi cos 2 (r+ 0) - 2

.
.i:;".
COS 9'
1-
. 2 cos 0 . cos (r + 0) + Y cos 2 (r + 0) - 2
COS 9" . . ~. :1

[I

. ?/Iw'
~ j.:

.1

Fig. 3.
r
the point of application being at Ys hfrom B and the direction being parallel to
A S. . The force W' which is exerted by the unit width of the earth prism A B S
is the area A B S X ,l. w, the direction being parallel to B S and the point of ap-
c plication being at the centre of gravity of the area. Now P' and W'arecom-
posed graphically and their resultant pressure will be P.
1
u

For a special case, when a: = 0, 9'0 = 29' and kl :::;::: 0, values of Ccoscpo are r
f
calculated for various values of k and plotted in curves as shown in Fig. 4.
To verify the principle, experiments were carried out as follows: Two
sand boxes of different sizes were set on rollers and 'by means of a winch
driven by an electric motor,.horizontRI simple harmonic motion was given
to the boxes. The boxes had vertical doors hinged at the bottom, and at the
top of the doors, the horizontal pressure exerted on the wall was measured by-
means of a hydrauJic pressure gauge. The "sizes of the boxes were 4 ft x~ ft X 9 ft'
and 6 ft X 6ft X 21 ft. Each box had' two doors; at one end, the width was 4 ft
and at the other, 2 ft, for the former; and 6'ft and 3 ft respectively for the latter.
The sand used in the experiment was taken from the neighbouring river bed
. and ., . screened by the No:.8 mesh of A.S.T.M., washed several times to-
was first
. take away muddy substances and was dried in a :fir~ oven.
The unit weight and the angle offriction of the sand was as follo'Ys:
~

w = 1.52 ton/cub.m., rp = 32 0
in loose packing; and
w = 1.68 ton/cub. m., 9' = 38 in close packing.

The amplitude of the vibration was controlled by the eccentric distance of

the crank disk, which was adjustable from 10 mm. to 30 mm. To take off extra
shocks, springs were attach~d to the boxes at the end of the crank shafts, thus.
the amplitude of the simple harmonic motion was here somewhat modified.

(
('
 , ~ ,",;" "f; ,
. ,j
".
.... , 'i.,
I
j'
.. ''t
:-." . ..
.: ;~

J)
( ''.I.:
"
.I

No. 388 Mononobe and Matsuo-Earth Pressure during Eal'thqllake. 181

j
1
.
The period of the motion was gradually changed by the use of a drum of a .~ ...
conical shape. Thus, the period was changed from 0.42-0.48 sec. To measure 1
the maximum acceleration of the motion, a. self-recording accelograph ~as 1
i
attached to the box... The arrangenlents are shown in Fig. 5. f
'j
i
Up to the present, experiments were made with the 4; x 4' X 9' box, the
1
box being iined on the hiner Side by thin zinc Eheets. The. 'pressure was
, measured at the distance of 4'-6" from the centre of the hinge.
r
. "}.1 The effect of the friction of sand on the side walls was e1imin~tE!d by
calculation from the measurements of two different widths and from which the
a
values of were determined. The results are plotted in a diagram (Fig. 6).
The curves !epresent the value calculated from the principle both for loose
.. and close packing, the condition of the sand changed from loose to close packing
gradually during the experiment; but in general, experiments were made
in close packing. There,fore, the result is applicable to cases similar to the
above condition. From the nature of the sand, the pressure is affected by
'vurious factors, such as; a trifle forward yielding of the doors, extra shocks, and
the difficulty of measuring the exact values of the pressure. But from the
results, we may conclude that the value calculated and that observed, coincides
very closely.
.e ,
l
;,'
One of the direct 0aUsfs I)f the failure of the quay walls in Yokohama har-
bour. at the time of the great Kwanto earthquake scems to have been' the lack
;
1 of due consideration of the seismic earth pressure. The maximum earth pres-
f, sure to be expected by an earthquake of the same degree was calculated by this
principle and applied to ,the quay walls of Yokohama, to both those which
failed and survived. Both were so proven by the above calculation .

."
.'
.'
:l
,t-
f

"
~.

.-....

(
 182 Mononobe a.nd Matsuo-Earth Pressure during Earthqua.ke. No. 388
:,1
~

.k'O cos ~o-Curve (vertical back face).

~ .. " , " '1 '
~ = p COS ~o = "2 w' H~ acos ~o ..;.

,a~
{.

, <1.6

~\
:k
.
1.2

Q,I t'.2

c
fir {;.: iJ'-
-- .. r
M

"7

d.t:

0 .",

~ .
f
~D4
as
"
'"

........
11,2,

11.1'
d M 11."" a~ ;(4 tlf

-r.
Fig. .4

(
,I
 ,.'r
'j
;
,I,
'" i
'.,.)
"

Mono~obe a.rid Matsuo-Earth Pressure during Earthquake. 183

:.-;

41

liT

\~

~.

(/,1
11.1

fiT{'1~r(J~
y. .j/f'
1.1

/.11

~.
4,9
i
41
;'
117
,
~Q.6
I

~s

11:4

(/,;1
(J 6.1 ~z <1,;'. Q;'I qS
7d
Fig. 4 (Continued).
 -.').;.~:,!~;J.";';'~:;>;;:~

r n <I", '.~ ,,, _," ~ ~

........ 4~............ i
...,. t",

*'

...~
E/~vaf;ori .
.J

Sand Box. -pres-S' ure ~

~'.'L., "'~
0
.. " , .... "J' 00 uiJ e. g
t:I
Winch. 'g-
Sa
(30 H.P.) [

hinr:l:? 1Br"'::
I ....rn~

t
I . ~

SO

Plan. ,
.j: \
.i
~
16
i:l.
"""
Col'lica/ 5.t:I
aq
Drum.
t<.1
~

S:
..0
~
rt

Eccerrfr/c lJ/s-k. .
~
.~

Fig. 6. 00
r:p

. :~'" ' . .' - "', ',' t '; .~' .-.. : '-.;~ :. ',:,-
'1" " ,,::.; ;".~ ".' \l-;. " ~!' 8'~.1'''~''' ',"1;:- ,1';..

2
r. . . . . ~ ,,,
 ... ~. :.... :
, '

J
,,'

(
~o).3SS :\Iononobe and ~fatsuo-Eai'th Pressure during Earthquake. 185

/.0
J
........ "

, "I.

0.9
;:.~
i
Wed'le -!heart
-' - /
:;'. /
i - - - .1?anklne -Iheory.
:1.-
J
- - ./
0 Observed once.
.,
/, IJ
C -limeS.
O.T I--
'--
'0
0
. :J . v/V
II;~ l/
!-- ~
0 4
,lJ ~!/
'I'
~

/
Li ,"~,
I

V Q1 lL ~Il /,II'"

V'
"

1/1 ~ I/~~J
II'

c oS
J
V 130,,,/ / V ,0 /
/
!!
/ ~/ I ' I

/ /"
0
oJ / /,/
I I
0.4
/, ? <1' /0
V 0' /" I I,
I ! 1

.- --/--7
<1" ,/ ",/'
I
"
:.:
1...-
/
A
/
I!
~ '"
.~.
':::J
:- /
~~
"

.. :.

-- V - ~
;. /p...,; ~
.'_ .. i.
~
, ~ ~
... ....
-1~
1/
,0.2' 1/
V
"

0.1

..
0.1 /J.e tJ.:J 0.4
"-':"- Ie
Fig. 6.