Practical excavation engineering method for calculating loading and deformation of retaining structures

In excavation engineering, the horizontal coefficient of subgrade reaction is irrelevant to horizontal displacement of retaining structures in the elastic subgrade reaction method. Reflecting this, a nonlinear soil reaction model was established reflecting nonlinear interaction between soil reaction and retaining structure displacement. Based on this model, an elastic subgrade reaction method considering nonlinear interaction between soil and retaining structure was developed for excavation engineering. In this method, the process of excavation was simulated by introducing a lateral earth pressure removal method in front of the retaining structure. Softening of the stiffness of soil spring induced by excavation and the redistribution of stress and additional deformation caused by softening were also considered. Then a computer program was written to calculate loading and deformation of the retaining structure during different construction stages in a given situation. The results calculated show the retaining structure displacements derived by this method are closer to actual displacements than those derived by the method suggested in the design code. Furthermore, these calculation parameters can be conveniently obtained.