Lateral earth pressure is the pressure that soil exerts against a structure in a sideways, mainly horizontal direction. The common applications of lateral earth pressure theory are for the design of ground engineering structures such as retaining walls, basements, tunnels, and to determine the friction on the sides of deep foundations.
To describe the pressure a soil will exert, an earth pressure coefficient, K, is used. K is a function of the soil properties and has a horizontal component Kh and a smaller vertical component Kv. Kh has a value between 0 (completely solid) and 1 (completely liquid). Horizontal earth pressure is assumed to be directly proportional to the vertical pressure at any given point in the soil profile. K can also depend on the stress history of the soil. Lateral earth pressure coefficients are broken up into three categories: at-rest, active, and passive.
The pressure coefficient used in geotechnical engineering analyses depends on the characteristics of its application. There are many theories for predicting lateral earth pressure; some are empirically based, and some are analytically derived.
Read more about Lateral Earth Pressure: At Rest Pressure, Active and Passive Pressure, Bell's Relationship, Coefficients of Earth Pressure
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