Effect of density and compressibility on K0 of cohesionless soils

This paper revisits the earth pressure coefficient at rest K0 of granular materials, with the focus being placed on the variation of K0 with the internal friction angle, density and compressibility of soils. Following laboratory tests that are carried out to determine K0 of two granular materials, the experimental data are interpreted using the original hypoplasticity model for sand proposed by von Wolffersdorff [49]. K0 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 K0 for granular soils statistically, even though it may not be able to reproduce the experimental data of a specific soil.