1.

0 Bearing Capacity

Ultimate Bearing Capacity

2.0 The load per unit area of the foundation at which shear failure in soil occurs is called the ultimate
bearing capacity.

Local Shear Failure:

 Common in sand or clay with medium compaction.
 Significant settlement upon loading.
 Failure surface first develops right below the foundation and then slowly extends outwards with
load increments.
 Foundation movement shows sudden jerks first (at qu1) and then after a considerable amount of
movement the slip surface may reach the ground.
 A small amount of bulging may occur next to the foundation.
Principal Modes of Failure

Punching Failure:
 Common in fairly loose sand or soft clay
 Failure surface does not extends beyond the zone right beneath the foundation
 Extensive settlement with a wedge shaped soil zone in elastic equilibrium beneath the
foundation. Vertical shear occurs around the edges of foundation.
 After reaching failure load-settlement curve continues at some slope and mostly linearly.
 Terzaghi’s Bearing Capacity Theory

Assumption
 L/B ratio is large plain strain problem
 Df ≤ B
 Shear resistance of soil for Df depth is neglected
 General shear failure
 Shear strength is governed by Mohr-Coulomb Criterion