To determine the distribution of active earth pressure on retaining walls, a series of model tests with the horizontally translating rigid walls are designed. Particle image velocimetry is used to study the movement and shear strain during the active failure of soil with height H and friction angle ϕ. The test results show that there are 3 stages of soil deformation under retaining wall translation: the initial stage, the expansion stage and the stability stage. The stable sliding surface in the model tests can be considered to be composed of two parts. Within the height range of 0.82H–1.0H, it is a plane at an angle of π/4+ϕ/2 to the horizontal plane. In the height range of 0–0.82H, it is a curve between a logarithmic spiral and a plane at an angle of π/4+ϕ/2 to the horizontal. A new method applicable to any sliding surface is proposed for active earth pressure with the consideration of arching effect. The active earth pressure is computed with the actual shape of the slip surface and compared with model test data and with predictions obtained by existing methods. The comparison shows that predictions from the newly proposed method are more consistent with the measured data than the predictions from the other methods.

为了确定活动土压力在挡土墙上的分布，设计了一系列使用水平平移刚性墙的模型测试。粒子图像测速是用来研究土壤活性失败与高度中的运动和剪切应变ħ和摩擦角φ。试验结果表明，挡土墙平移下土体变形分为初始阶段，膨胀阶段和稳定阶段三个阶段。在模型测试中，稳定的滑动表面可以认为由两部分组成。在0.82 H– 1.0 H的高度范围内，它是一个与水平面成π/ 4 + ϕ / 2角的平面。在0–0.82 H的高度范围内，它是对数螺旋线和与水平线成π/ 4 + ϕ / 2角的平面之间的曲线。考虑拱效应，提出了一种适用于任何滑动面的主动土压力新方法。用滑动面的实际形状计算有效土压力，并将其与模型测试数据以及现有方法获得的预测结果进行比较。比较表明，与其他方法相比，新提出的方法的预测与实测数据更加一致。