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What is the function of shear keys in the design of retaining walls?

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Question ajoutée par Hamza Muhammad Bakhsh , Quantity Surveyor , Engeering Kinetics (pvt) ltd.
Date de publication: 2018/01/15
Mohammed سلطان
par Mohammed سلطان , Infrastructure and Project Management Engineer , United Nations Office for Project Services

A retaining wall can have following four types of failure mechanisms-

  1. Compression
  2. Tension
  3. Sliding
  4. Overturning

To prevent sliding failure, the only resistive force we have is friction. If sliding force is greater than friction force provided by the weight of the wall, we have to prevent it using a shear key.

However, in practice, it is common to provide a shear key even if there is no possibility of sliding failure.

Ahmed Fawzi Khalil
par Ahmed Fawzi Khalil , Lead Senior Cost Manager , ValueMetric Consultants

Resistance to the shear forces

Badusha Nalakath
par Badusha Nalakath , Quantity Surveyor , Ghantoot Gen.Contracting LLC

Shear key is a structure or a part used in footings of retaining waalls to resist the sliding of retaining walls. It is more better idea to resist the Slip. It is mostly good in seismic regions.

sleem  orabi
par sleem orabi , Site Project Manager , Sarayya construction company

shear key in retaining walls to safey sliding

Jalal Hussein Ali Musa Al'omari
par Jalal Hussein Ali Musa Al'omari , Civil Engineer , Local Office

To increase the sliding resistance of retaining walls, other than providing a large self-weight or a large retained soil mass, shear keys are to be installed at the wall base. The principle of shear keys is as follows:

The main purpose of installation of shear keys is to increase the extra passive resistance developed by the height of shear keys. However, active pressure developed by shear keys also increases simultaneously.

The success of shear keys lies in the fact that the increase of passive pressure exceeds the increase in active pressure, resulting in a net improvement of sliding resistance.

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