Bearing capacity

Special cases
The bearing capacity equations presented before involve cases in which the soil supporting
foundation is homogeneous, horizontal and extends to considerable depth. However, in
practice, some of the following cases can be encountered:
Rigid layer at shallow depth
Foundation on layered soils
Foundation near slope
Foundation on a slope
Foundations on rock
Bearing capacity for footings on layered soils
Footing on layered soils (stronger soil underlain by weaker soil)
It may be necessary to place footings on stratified deposits where the rupture zone will extend
into the lower layer(s) depending on their thickness and require some modification of q
u
.
Bearing capacity for footings on layered soils
Continuous footing on layered soils (stronger soil underlain by weaker soil)
Bearing capacity for footings on layered soils
Continuous footing on layered soils (stronger soil underlain by weaker soil)
Bearing capacity for footings on layered soils
Continuous footing on layered soils (stronger soil underlain by weaker soil)
Bearing capacity for footings on layered soils
Rectangular footing on layered soils (stronger soil underlain by weaker soil)
t
s
f
a
b u
q H
B
K
H
D
L
B
H
B
H c
L
B
q q s
|
.
|

\
|
|
|
.
|

\
|
+
|
.
|

\
|
+ +
|
.
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\
|
|
.
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+ + =
1
1
2
1
tan
2
1 1
2
1
f

Bearing capacity for footings on layered soils

Exercise
Bearing capacity for footings on layered soils
Solution
Bearing capacity for footings on layered soils
Solution
Bearing capacity
Combined footings
Under normal conditions, spread footings (square, rectangular, circular) and strip footings are
economical to support columns and walls.
However, under certain circumstances (restrained by property line) it is desirable to construct a
footing that support a line of two or more columns.
Rectangular Combined Footing
Trapezoidal Combined Footing
Cantilever Footing
Bearing capacity
Rectangular combined footings
Location of the resultant of the column loads, X:
For a uniform distribution of soil pressure: the
resultant load should pass through the centre
of the foundation. Thus,
Once the L is determined, L2
Assume B and calculate net allowable bearing pressure, q
net(all),
using Meyerhof Bearing
Capacity Theory and FoS.
Bearing capacity
Trapezoidal combined footings
Bearing capacity
Cantilever footing
Cantilever footing uses a strap beam to connect eccentrically loaded column foundation to
the foundation of an interior column.
Cantilever footings may be used in place of rectangular or trapezoidal combined footings
when the allowable bearing capacity is high and distances between columns are large
Field tests in foundation system
Plate load test
Plate load test is used in the field to determine the ultimate bearing capacity
Test details:
Size of steel plate:
- thickness is 25 mm
- Circular( Diameter (B) =150 ~750 mm)/ Square (300 X 300 mm)
Excavated width 4B
Excavated depth D
f
(D
f
depth of proposed foundation)
Field tests in foundation system
Plate load test
Field tests in foundation system
Plate load test
The use of this equation is not recommended unless the B
f
/B
p
is not much more than about 3. When the
ratio is 6 to 15 or more the extrapolation from a plate-load test is little more than a guess that could be
obtained at least as reliably using an SPT or CPT correlation
Bearing capacity from SPT
The SPT is widely used to obtain the bearing capacity of soils directly. One of the earliest
published relationships was that of Terzaghi and Peck (1967). This has been widely used,
but an accumulation of field observations has shown these curves to be overly conservative.
Meyerhof (1956, 1974) published equations for computing the allowable bearing capacity
for a 25-mm settlement. These could be used to produce curves similar to those of Terzaghi
and Peck and thus were also very conservative.
Considering the accumulation of field observations and the stated opinions of the authors and
others, this author adjusted the Meyerhof equations for an approximate 50 percent increase in
allowable bearing capacity to obtain the following:
q
a
= allowable bearing pressure for DH
0
=25-mm
Kd =1 +0.33D/B <1.33
Bearing capacity from SPT
q
a
= allowable bearing pressure for DH
0
=25-mm
K
d
=1 +0.33(D
f
/B) <1.33
In these equations N is the statistical average value for the footing influence zone of
about 0.5B above footing base to at least 2B below
Bearing capacity from CPT
Some empirical equations have also been proposed to correlate between qult
and the cone penetration resistance (qc) as follows:
A- sand:
B- Clay: