LAUSR

ABSTRACT This paper presents a simplified mathematical formulation for a set of closed-form solutions to compute static and seismic active and passive earth pressure on a retaining wall with bilinear backface. The concept of the method of stress characteristics in the framework of hyperbolic partial differential equations has been employed for the intended purpose. The advantage of varying the wall geometry for obtaining an economical design is briefly discussed. This mathematically robust but elementary procedure may be useful as a predecessor for obtaining an efficient and economical design of a retaining wall to palliate the earthquake damage.