The State of the Art Report on Arching Effect

Arching effect is one of the most universal phenomena encountered in soils both in the field and in the laboratory. The arching phenomenon is known to engineers as the reduction of stresses experienced by yielding underground structure. Arching plays an important role in structure interactions such as excavation, retaining structures, pile group effects, tunnel boring machines, culverts and various underground facilities. Arching effect can also be found in the natural landscape. For example, the arching phenomenon in karst terrain can be observed easily and widely. This literature study reviews past researches related to the arching effect and attempts to sort the available information for future research use. The following five categories are covered in this study: (1) Relevance and Application of Arching in Soil Mechanics, (2) Classical arching theories, (3) Analytical approaches, (4) Empirical methods, and (5) Experimental investigations. During this paper the techniques researchers used in their studies are discussed and as a final outcome, the proposed new research field on arching effect is presented.