Amin Keshavarz - Assistant professor, School of Engineering, Persian Gulf University, Bushehr, Iran
Zahra Pooresmaeil - Graduate Student, School of Engineering, Persian Gulf University, Bushehr, Iran

Stability of retaining walls is a concern for geotechnical engineers. In this paper, the Zero Extension Lines (ZEL) method has been used to assess the stability of retaining walls in passive case. The backfill soil is considered a non-cohesive soil. The equilibrium equations along the zero extension lines have been solvedby the finite difference method. A computer code is prepared to calculate the ZEL net and the distribution of the passive lateral earth pressure behind the retaining wall. For associative soil where the friction and dilation angles are equal, the results are the same as the stress characteristics method. The effects of dilation angle on the passive earth pressure coefficient and failure zone have been evaluated.

Zero Extension Lines, Passive lateral earth pressure, Retaining Walls