Simplified passive earth pressure element

Abstract

In this paper, a simplified but efficient passive earth pressure element for modeling a soil-foundation cap system is presented. The proposed element can be used effectively by practicing engineers to account for the passive-earth-pressure contribution to the nonlinear soil-structure interaction. This feature is useful in the implementation of the newly proposed Performance-Based Seismic Design and Assessment Methodology. The modified hyperbolic function provides an adequate means of representing the passive earth pressure-deformation behavior of surrounding soils. An experimental work on the pile cap is used to illustrate the model characteristics and verify the model accuracy.