Seismic active earth pressure in nonhomogeneous and anisotropic soils

In previous studies, estimates of the seismic active earth pressure for cohesive soils have typically assumed a constant cohesion strength. However, soils in practical scenarios frequently display considerable nonhomogeneity and anisotropy. In this paper, the authors employed a kinematic framework combined with a rotational failure mechanism consisting of a logarithmic spiral. This study incorporates seismic effects by integrating horizontal seismic coefficients into the equations through the pseudo–static model. From the work–energy balance principle, a closed-form formulation for seismically active earth thrusts was developed. An optimization program was utilized to identify the most critical solution. The effectiveness of the proposed approach was verified by contrasting it with established research methodologies. The analysis revealed that accounting for soil anisotropy yields a notable decrease in the active earth pressure, while accounting for the nonhomogeneity of the soil has a minor effect. This paper accounts for more realistic soil effects, which offers an efficient methodology for determining seismic active earth pressures in nonhomogeneous and anisotropic soils.