本文所介紹之設計方法以基脚趾、踵二端之土壤反力爲參數,因此文中根據力學平衡條件深入探討懸臂式擋土牆基脚尺寸與土壤反力之關係,推導其相容條件,並將穩定條件轉換爲對基脚長度之要求,此二類條件共有五個判別式,此五式均爲所設基脚二端土壤反力之函數,而五式聯合形成基脚長度之上、下限,若在所界定之範圍內選擇基脚長度,則可求得對應之牆身位置,滿足平衡與穩定條件。若所界定之範圍爲空集合,則必須修正所設趾、踵二端土壤反力,以便重新開始,而二端土壤反力修正量之爲正爲負與相對大小亦能根據上述判別式之特性加以選擇。故本法步驟簡單明確容易撰寫程式,而且方便比較各種可能之設計。
A new procedure for sizing a cantilever retaining wall is proposed. First, soil pressures at both ends of the base are assumed instead of the sizes of the base members as in traditional procedure. Then, in terms of the assumed soil pressures, five discriminants for base length are derived from stability conditions against sliding and overturning as well as compatibility conditions for sizes of the base members. Some of the discriminants are upper bounds for the base length and some are lower bounds. A feasible range for the base length is thus set by the discriminants. In case the range defines an empty set, the soil pressures have to be revised and the procedure repeats. Whether the revision is to increase or decrease the soil pressures can be judged from the discriminants. Therefore, the base length discriminant procedure is ideal for comparing different designs.