ECRETAIN - Reinforced Concrete Retaining Wall Design

This part of user manual describes how to use ECRETAIN for the design of Reinforced Concrete Retaining Wall. ECPlus applications are designed as wizard type which is a step by step guided input procedure. If you are new to ECPlus applications, click here for general guidance.

Prerequisites: The user is expected to have a basic understanding of foundation design concepts.
The minimum input data required to use this application is as follows:

• ❶ Dimension and Material Properties
• ❷ Concrete and Reinforcement Grades
• ❸ Allowable safety factors
• ❹ Crack width and its limit

Following sections are presented with various input pages of ECRETAIN application with descriptions:

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Stem

This page allows to enter stem details for the retaining wall.

Height of Stem - h_s

Enter the height of the stem.
↔ Range: 1000 to 20000 mm

W_type

▽ Uniform: Select this option to design wall with uniform thickness.
▽ Varying Inside: Select this option to provide bottom wall thickness higher than top wall thickness with varying thickness inside.
▽ Varying Outside: Select this option to provide bottom wall thickness higher than top wall thickness with varying thickness outside.

Top Wall Thickness - T_tw

Enter the thickness of wall on top.
↔ Range: 150 to 1000 mm

Bottom Wall Thickness - T_bw

Enter the thickness of wall on bottom.
↔ Range: 150 to 1000 mm

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Base and Shear key

This page allows to enter base and Shear key details for the retaining wall.

Base

Length of Toe - L_t

Enter the length of the toe.
↔ Range: 10 to 10000 mm

Length of Heel - L_h

Enter the length of the base heel.
↔ Range: 10 to 10000 mm

Base Thickness - T_b

Enter the thickness of base.
↔ Range: 150 to 1000 mm

Shear Key

☐   Shear Key

Enable this option to provide shear key to the retaining wall.

Depth of Shear Key - S_d

If shear key above is enabled, enter the depth of the shear key.
↔ Range: 10 to 1000 mm

Shear Key Thickness - T_sk

If shear key above is enabled, enter the thickness of the shear key.
↔ Range: 150 to 1000 mm

Position of Shear Key from Toe - S_p

If shear key above is enabled, enter the location of the shear key, from bottom left of base.
↔ Range: 0 to 10000 mm

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Construction

This page allows to enter construction data for the retaining wall.

Angle of Soil Surface - β

Enter the angle of soil surface.
↔ Range: 0 to 50 Deg

Depth of Water Table - h_water

Enter the depth of water table from bottom of base.
↔ Range: 0 to 20000 mm

Depth of Ground Cover - d_c

Enter the depth of ground cover from top of base.
↔ Range: 0 to 5000 mm

Minimum Ground Cover - d_mn

Enter the minimum ground cover from top of base.
↔ Range: 0 to 5000 mm

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Reinforcement

This page allows to enter reinforcement data for the retaining wall.

Clear Cover for Reinforcement - C_c

Enter the clear cover for reinforcement.
↔ Range: 15 to 80 mm

Reinforcement

Click this popup to open reinforcement details popup.

Reinforcement

Click the reinforcement button to open the reinforcement details pop-up for retaining wall.

Size

Select the size of bar used in stem, base bottom, base top and shear key.
↔ Range: 4 to 50 mm

Spacing

Select the spacing between bars used in stem, base bottom, base top and shear key.
↔ Range: 20 to 450 mm

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Surcharge Loads

This page allows to enter surcharge loads for the design of retaining wall.

Surcharge Dead Load on Plan - P_d

Enter the surcharge due to dead load.
↔ Range: 0 to 100 kN/m²

Surcharge Live Load on Plan - P_l

Enter the surcharge due to live load.
↔ Range: 0 to 100 kN/m²

Line Dead Load - W_d

Enter the line dead load.
↔ Range: 0 to 100 kN/m²

Line Live Load - W_l

Enter the line live load.
↔ Range: 0 to 100 kN/m²

Distance of Line Load from Wall - V_l

Enter the distance of line load acting from wall.
↔ Range: 0 to 10000 mm

Direct Loads on Wall

This popup allows to enter any direct loads acting on wall.

Vertical Load on Wall - V

Enter the vertical dead, live and wind load acting on the wall.
↔ Range: 0 to 1000 kN/m

Horizontal Load on Wall - H

Enter the horizontal dead, live and wind load acting on the wall.
↔ Range: 0 to 1000 kN/m

Moment on Top Wall - M

Enter the moment due to dead, live and wind load acting on the wall.
↔ Range: 0 to 1000 kNm

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Design Setting

Setting for various Design Data such as Soil, Concrete and Material and Safety Factors are presented in this section. This setting pop-up can be accessed by clicking the bottom panel below the left navigation.

Soil

Allowable Bearing Pressure - SBC

↔ Range: 50 to 500 kN/m²

Angle of Friction ( Retained Material ) - δ

↔ Range: 0 to 90 Deg

Angle of Friction for Base Material - δ_b

↔ Range: 0 to 50 Deg

Cohesion of Base Material - c_b

↔ Range: 0 to 100 kN/m²

Co-efficient of Friction ( Base & Soil ) - µ

↔ Range: 0.1 to 1

Density of Retained Material - Ɣ_m

↔ Range: 10 to 50 kN/m³

Density of Base Material - Ɣ_mb

↔ Range: 10 to 50 kN/m³

Submerged Density of Retained Material - Ɣ_s

↔ Range: 10 to 50 kN/m³

Material Properties

Concrete Grade - f_cu

↔ Range: 12 to 100 N/mm²

Main Reinforcement Grade - f_y

↔ Range: 200 to 600 N/mm²

Density of Concrete - Ɣ_conc

↔ Range: 16 to 30 kN/m³

Density of Water - Ɣ_W

↔ Range: 1 to 15 kN/m³

Modulus Elasticity of Steel - E_s

↔ Range: 50 to 300 kN/mm²

Factor of Safety

F.O.S against Sliding - γ_Slide

↔ Range: 1 to 5

F.O.S against Overturning - γ_Over

↔ Range: 1 to 5

Material Safety Factor

Concrete in Compression - γ_mc

↔ Range: 1 to 2

Reinforcement - γ_ms

↔ Range: 1 to 2

Concrete in Shear - γ_mcs

↔ Range: 1 to 2

Crack Width

This popup allows to select options for crack width calculation.

☐   Check for crack width
Enable this option to include crack width check in calculation.

Maximum Allowable Crack Width - W_k

Select the maximum allowable value for crack width from the drop down.

Passive Resistance

☐   Include Passive Resistance
Enable this option to include passive resistance in calculation.

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Error Handling

Errors and Warnings are generated to prevent any inadvertent error in the input data. This section describes how to handle the errors and warnings. These errors are displayed at the bottom of the input page when the data in one or more input fields invalidate each other.