If the retaining wall yields, then ?

first increases considerably and thereafter

always less so (Fig. 5-68).
�These two phases in the behaviour of the retaining wall-backfill system
are designated the first and second phases of active earth pressure�
[Terzaghi, 1925, p. 309]. In the initial stadium of the second phase, the
slip plane starts to form at ?I � 0.26 and manifests itself through an abrupt
forward thrust of the retaining wall which had even been observed
by G. H. Darwin (1883); in Fig. 5-68 this thrust appears as an almost vertical
branch. According to Terzaghi, the cross-hatched area 0.24 = ? = 0.26
in Fig. 5-68 represents the area already researched. When ? = 35�, using
Prony�s formula (eq. 5-72) the coefficient of active earth pressure is calculated
as ? = ?a = 0.27, which lies roughly in the transition from the first to
the second phase. According to Fig. 5-68, initial sliding begins at ?1 � 0.21,
a figure that corresponds to 50% of the earth pressure coefficient at rest
(?0 = 0.42).
According to Terzaghi, the modified Coulomb earth pressure theory is
suitable for calculating the effective earth pressure in the initial stadium
of the second phase. He refers here to the earth pressure experiments of
Heinrich M�ller-Breslau and Jacob Feld, who proved that the modified
Coulomb earth pressure theory was superior to other theories. In the end,
Terzaghi poses the question of �whether Coulomb�s principle can also be
used for calculating the lower bound of the earth pressure (end of second
phase, complete breakdown of equilibrium in backfill)� [Terzaghi, 1925,
p. 320]. Terzaghi also answers this question with yes and points to the
experiment. The prerequisite is, however, that the slope angle is no longer
equated with the angle of internal friction ?, and the angle of internal
friction has to be measured indirectly for
� the boundary between the first and second phases (?I),
� the first slip (?1), and
� the complete failure of the backfill (?II).
For Terzaghi, the model experiments form �an indispensable tool for researching
the physics of earth pressure which has not been adequately acknowledged
so far. Such research cannot be avoided, because it is the only
way of uncovering the nature of earth pressure phenomena and supplying
the principles required to provide a scientific footing for applied research�
[Terzaghi, 1925, pp. 326�327].
Therefore, Terzaghi�s plan for a phenomenological earth pressure theory
progressed to become the model of the style of theory in soil mechanics
which several researchers would take as their starting point during the