CE455

Foundation and Earth Design

1

Dr. Hatem Gasmi

 Lecture Topic

Introduction to Foundation Engineering

Site Exploration For Foundation Design

Shallow Foundations: Ultimate Bearing Capacity

Vertical Stress Increase in Soil

Settlement of Shallow Foundations

Mat Foundations

Pile Foundations

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 Shallow Foundations:
Ultimate Bearing Capacity

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 1. Introduction
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 To perform satisfactorily, shallow foundations must have two main

characteristics:
1. They have to be safe against overall shear failure in the soil
that supports them.
2. They cannot undergo excessive displacement, or settlement.

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

--Dr. H. Gasmi-- --College of Engineering-- --CE455--

 2. General Concept
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 Consider a strip foundation with a width of B resting on the surface
of a soil. if a load is gradually applied to the foundation, settlement
will increase.
 The variation of the load per unit area on the foundation (q) with
the foundation settlement is also shown in Figure.
 At a certain point—when the load per unit area equals qu— a
sudden failure in the soil supporting the foundation will take place,
and the failure surface in the soil will extend to the ground surface.
 This load per unit area, qu, is usually referred to as the ultimate
bearing capacity of the foundation.

--Dr. H. Gasmi-- --College of Engineering-- --CE455--

 When such sudden failure in soil takes place, it is called
general shear failure.

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 On the basis of experimental results, Vesic (1973) proposed a
relationship for the mode of bearing capacity failure of foundations
resting on sands.

Dr : relative density of sand

Df : depth of foundation measured from
the ground surface

where
B : width of foundation
L : length of foundation

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 3. Terzaghi’s Bearing Capacity Theory
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 According to Terzaghi theory, a foundation is shallow if its depth, Df,

is less than or equal to its width.
 Later investigators, however, have suggested that foundations with Df
equal to 3 to 4 times their width may be defined as shallow foundations.
 Terzaghi suggested that for a continuous, or strip, foundation (i.e.,
one whose width-to-length ratio approaches zero), the failure surface in
soil at ultimate load may be assumed to be similar to that shown in
Figure.
 The effect of soil above the bottom of the foundation may also be
assumed to be replaced by an equivalent surcharge, q = γDf

--Dr. H. Gasmi-- --College of Engineering-- --CE455--

 The failure zone under the foundation can be separated into three
parts :
1. The triangular zone ACD immediately under the foundation
2. The radial shear zones ADF and CDE, with the curves DE
and DF being arcs of a logarithmic spiral
3. Two triangular Rankine passive zones AFH and CEG
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 The angles CAD and ACD are assumed to be equal to the soil friction
angle Φ’.
 Note that, with the replacement of the soil above the bottom of the
foundation by an equivalent surcharge q.
 The ultimate bearing capacity, qu, of the foundation now can be
obtained by considering the equilibrium of the triangular wedge
ACD.
 If the load per unit area, qu, is applied to the foundation and general
shear failure occurs, the passive force, Pp, will act on each of the
faces of the soil wedge, ACD.

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 Considering a unit length of the foundation, we have for equilibrium:

Where : b = B/2
W : weight of soil wedge ACD =
C : cohesive force acting along each face, AD and CD, that is equal to

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where Nc, Nq, and Nγ : bearing capacity factors.

where Kg, Kc, and Kq are earth pressure coefficients that are
functions of the soil friction angle.

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To estimate the ultimate bearing capacity of square and circular
foundations:

 In square, B equals the dimension of each side of the foundation;

 in circular, B equals the diameter of the foundation.

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 4. Factor of Safety
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 Calculating the gross allowable load-bearing capacity of shallow

foundations requires the application of a factor of safety (FS) to the
gross ultimate bearing capacity, or

 However, some practicing engineers prefer to use a factor of safety

such that :

--Dr. H. Gasmi-- --College of Engineering-- --CE455--

 The net ultimate bearing capacity is defined as the ultimate pressure
per unit area of the foundation that can be supported by the soil in
excess of the pressure caused by the surrounding soil at the
foundation level.
 If the difference between the unit weight of concrete used in the
foundation and the unit weight of soil surrounding is assumed to be
negligible, then

where qnet(u) : net ultimate bearing capacity and

So

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 Example 1
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--Dr. H. Gasmi-- --College of Engineering-- --CE455--

Solution
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 Example 2
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Refer to Example 1, Assume that the shear-strength parameters of the

soil are the same. A square foundation measuring B × B will be subjected
to an allowable gross load of 1000 kN with FS = 3 and Df = 1 m.
Determine the size B of the foundation.

--Dr. H. Gasmi-- --College of Engineering-- --CE455--

Solution
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 5. Modification of Bearing Capacity Equations
for Water Table
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Case I. If the water table is
located so that 0≤D1 ≤ Df,
q= D1γ + D2 (γsat - γw)
where
γsat : saturated unit weight of soil
γw : unit weight of water

Case II. For a water table

located so that 0≤d ≤ B,
q = 𝛾 Df
In this case, γ must be replaced by

Case III. When the water table is located so that d > B, the water will have
no effect on the ultimate bearing capacity.
--Dr. H. Gasmi-- --College of Engineering-- --CE455--
 6. The General Bearing Capacity Equation
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 The Previous ultimate bearing capacity equations are for continuous,

square, and circular foundations only; they do not address the case of
rectangular foundations (0 < B/L < 1).
 Also, the equations do not take into account the shearing resistance
along the failure surface in soil above the bottom of the foundation.
 in addition, the load on the foundation may be inclined.
 To account for all these shortcomings, Meyerhof (1963) suggested the
following form of the general bearing capacity equation:

--Dr. H. Gasmi-- --College of Engineering-- --CE455--

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 6.1 Bearing Capacity Factors
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 The basic nature of the failure surface in soil suggested by Terzaghi

now appears to have been borne out by laboratory and field studies
of bearing capacity (Vesic, 1973).
 However, the angle a shown in first Figure is closer to 45 + f’ /2 than
to f’.
 If this change is accepted, the values of Nc, Nq, and Ng for a given
soil friction angle will also change from those given in Table.1.
 With a =45 + f’ /2 , it can be shown that :

--Dr. H. Gasmi-- --College of Engineering-- --CE455--

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6.2 Shape, Depth, and Inclination Factors
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--Dr. H. Gasmi-- --College of Engineering-- --CE455--

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 Example 3
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--Dr. H. Gasmi-- --College of Engineering-- --CE455--

Solution
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 7. Effect of Soil Compressibility
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In this equation, Fcc, Fqc, and Fgc are soil compressibility factors
calculate by the following steps:

Step 1. Calculate the rigidity index, Ir, of the soil at a depth

approximately B/2 below the bottom of the foundation, or

Where Gs : shear modulus of the soil

q' : effective pressure at a depth of Df + B/2

--Dr. H. Gasmi-- --College of Engineering-- --CE455--

Step 2. The critical rigidity index, Ir(cr), can be expressed as

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Step 3. If Ir ≥ Ir(cr), then Fcc = Fqc = Fgc = 1
However, if Ir < Ir(cr), then

For f > 0,

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 Exemple 4
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--Dr. H. Gasmi-- --College of Engineering-- --CE455--

Solution
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8. Eccentrically Loaded Foundations
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--Dr. H. Gasmi-- --College of Engineering-- --CE455--

 The nominal distribution of pressure is :

Where Q : total vertical load

M : moment on the foundation

The distance e is the eccentricity :

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 Note that, in these equations, when the eccentricity e becomes B/6,
qmin is zero.
 Fore > B/6, qmin will be negative, which means that tension will
develop. Because soil cannot take any tension, there will then be a
separation between the foundation and the soil underlying it.
 The value of qmax is then

Nature of failure surface in soil supporting a foundation

subjected to eccentric loading
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 8.1 Ultimate Bearing Capacity under Eccentric
Loading—One-Way Eccentricity
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Effective Area Method (Meyerhoff, 1953)
Step 1. Determine the effective dimensions of the foundation :
B’ : effective width = B - 2e
L’ : effective length = L

Step 2. the ultimate bearing capacity:

Step 3. The total ultimate load that the foundation can sustain is

where A’ : effective area.

Step 4. The factor of safety against bearing capacity failure is

--Dr. H. Gasmi-- --College of Engineering-- --CE455--

  It is important to note that
q’u is the ultimate bearing
capacity of a foundation of
width B’ = B-2e with a
centric load (Figure.a).

 However, the actual distribution of soil

reaction at ultimate load will be of the type
shown in Figure.b.
 qu(e) is the average load per unit area of the
foundation.
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 Example 5
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A continuous foundation is shown in Figure. If the load eccentricity is

0.2 m, determine the ultimate load, Qu, per unit length of the
foundation. Use Meyerhof’s effective area method.

--Dr. H. Gasmi-- --College of Engineering-- --CE455--

Solution
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8.2 Bearing Capacity—Two-Way Eccentricity
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--Dr. H. Gasmi-- --College of Engineering-- --CE455--

Case I. eL/L ≥ 1/6 and eB/B ≥ 1/6

Case II. eL/L < 0.5 and 0 < eB/B < 1/6.

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Case III. eL/L < 1/6 and 0 < eB/B < 0.5

Case IV. eL/L < 16 and eB/B < 16

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Case V. (Circular Foundation)

In the case of circular foundations under eccentric loading, the

eccentricity is always one way

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 Example 6
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A square foundation is shown in

Figure, with eL = 0.3 m and eB =
0.15 m. Assume two-way
eccentricity, and determine the
ultimate load, Qu.
 Solution
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--Dr. H. Gasmi-- --College of Engineering-- --CE455--

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