Static pressure distribution beneath granular wedges sloped at angle of repose

Static friction in granular wedges can stabilize own weight on a horizontal plane without lateral supports. This sort of problem provides fundamental knowledge about pressure distribution along the foundation of earth works which have a long triangular shape in particular. The present study reviews the authors' recent development on an analytic model of a sand heap which adopted Nadai's hypothesis on the major principal stress orientation and a framework of below-yielding limit. Because deformation analyses of many geotechnical engineering problems often require the magnitude of coefficient of lateral earth pressure at-rest K-0 to describe in situ lateral earth pressure, emphasis is placed on the evaluation of stress ratio under the apex of sand heap which represents Jaky's basic assumption on the derivation of K-0 in the prismatic sand heap sloped at an angle of repose. Comparison of the analytical stress ratio along the central plane of granular wedge with Jaky's expressions was reported.