General axisymmetric active earth pressure obtained by the characteristics method based on circumferential geometric condition

Existing solutions for axisymmetric active earth pressure are based on certain hypotheses of the circumferential stress, lacking of strict basis. This article presents a technique for deriving the actual circumferential stress according to the circumferential geometric condition, the Drucker-Prager criterion and incremental theory. Based on the actual circumferential stress, a new characteristics method for determining the axisymmetric active earth pressure in plastic flow is developed in this article. In this new method, the inclined angle of boundaries, interface friction of contact interface, dilatation effect and flow velocity of soil are considered at the same time. The validity of the new method is confirmed using several sets of experimental data from the literature. The pressure coefficients are investigated individually in detail, and some different conclusions are found. Finally, a practical formula for calculating axisymmetric active earth pressure is presented based on the linear superposition principle, and related tables of coefficients are also provided for engineering application.