Abstract: To investigate the influence of the soil arching effect on the non-limiting active earth pressure of clay behind a retaining wall under displacement conditions,this study examined the distribution of earth pressure and the development characteristics of tensile cracks under variations in cohesion,internal friction angle,horizontal shear stress,and wall displacement. Using the horizontal slice method and static equilibrium principle,a theoretical formula for non-limiting active earth pressure was derived,incorporating wall displacement,soil arching effect,inter-layer horizontal shear stress,and tensile crack depth at the wall top. The proposed method was validated through comparison with laboratory tests and existing theoretical solutions,demonstrating good agreement with both experimental measurements and prior models,thereby confirming its effectiveness in calculating non-limiting active earth pressure in clay considering soil arching. The results indicate that as displacement increases,the potential rupture angle(β)increases and the potential failure surface evolves into the actual critical failure surface. The depth of tensile cracks under the intermediate active state is influenced by the soil arching effect and wall-soil interface cohesion. Non-limiting active earth pressure decreases with increasing cohesion(c)and internal friction angle(φ). Cohesion and the wall-soil interface friction angle(δ)are key factors affecting the position of the soil arch. Due to clay cohesion,arching,and wall displacement,a tensile crack zone forms near the wall base. With increasing displacement,the average lateral earth pressure coefficient(K_awn)continuously decreases,while the average shear stress coefficient(K)increases and eventually stabilizes.