Effect of density and compressibility on K0 of cohesionless soils

This paper revisits the earth pressure coefficient at rest K ₀ of granular materials, with the focus being placed on the variation of K ₀ with the internal friction angle, density and compressibility of soils. Following laboratory tests that are carried out to determine K ₀ of two granular materials, the experimental data are interpreted using the original hypoplasticity model for sand proposed by von Wolffersdorff [49]. K ₀ is generally a function of void ratio, stress level and the critical state friction angle; it can be alternatively related to the compressibility of soil. The results show that Jáky’s equation may still be considered as a reasonable representation of K ₀ for granular soils statistically, even though it may not be able to reproduce the experimental data of a specific soil.