A novel progressive framework for seismic active pressure coefficients on battered walls

A new theoretical procedure for the determination of seismic active earth pressure is developed by adopting a modified logarithmic spiral trace following a limit equilibrium-based pseudo-static approach. Explicit expressions are derived and expressed in the normalised form for the assessment of variation of parameters under the influence of wall soil backfill parameters. A detailed analysis emphasising the non-linear distribution of active earth pressure is discussed under the impact of critical and conventional directions of seismic load, prioritising discussions on the critical angle of the failure surface. A generalised moment-based equation is adopted to determine the point of application considering surcharge and cohesion under seismic effect. Seismic coefficients for active earth pressure corresponding to unit weight, surcharge and cohesion components are determined and design charts for the variation of backfill inclination and wall batter angles on the active earth pressure are demonstrated. The results obtained from the present study are found to be in good agreement with the literature studies.