FOUNDATION ENGINEERING

Kousik Deb
Associate Professor
Department of Civil Engineering
IIT Kharagpur

Lecture 21: Shallow Foundation : Design I

 Allowable Bearing Capacity

• The allowable bearing capacity is the maximum bearing capacity that can be applied on
the soil such that the following requirements are satisfied

(a) adequate factor of safety with respect to shear failure

(b) settlement within the permissible limit are satisfied.

• It is always governed by the settlement criterion unless the footing is narrow or the soil is
loose.
 Granular soil
1. Peck, Hanson and Thronburm (1974)

q a − net = 0.044 C w N S a t / m2 (From settlement consideration)

(Isolated foundation)
where Sa= permissible settlement in mm
Cw= correction factor for water table position
N= SPT blow counts
 Dw 
Cw = 0.5 + 0.5 
D +B
 f 
Dw= depth of water table below ground surface
Df= depth of foundation
B= width of foundation

q a − net = 0.088 C w N S a t / m2 5 ≤ N ≤ 50 (For raft foundation)

2. Meyerhof’s Correlation (1974):
qa − net = 0.049 NRD1 S a t / m 2 for B ≤ 1.2m
or = 0.49 NRD1 S a kN / m 2
2
 B + 0.3 
q a − net = 0.032 NR D 2   Sa t / m 2 for B > 1.2m
 B 
2
 B + 0.3  2
or = 0.32 NR D 2   S a kN / m
 B 
D
Where, RD1= Depth correction factor = 1 + 0.2 ≤ 1.2
B
D
RD2= Depth correction factor = 1 + 0.33 ≤ 1.33
B
Sa= Permissible settlement in mm
N= SPT blows
B= width of foundation in m
 3.Teng’s Correlation (1962)
• The safe bearing pressure is given by
2
 B + 0.3 
′ 
q np = 0.14 ( N − 3) Rw  CD Sa t / m2
 2B 
2
 B + 0.3 
or ′ 
= 1.4 ( N − 3) Rw  CD Sa kN / m 2
 2B 
where B= width of foundation in m
R′w= water table correction
CD= Depth correction factor
Sa= Permissible settlement in mm
N= corrected SPT blows = N field × C N
 Df
CD = 1 + ≤2
B

 1.75 
C N =   for 0 < po < 1.05
 po + 0.7 
 3.5 
=   for 1.05 < po < 2.08
 po + 0.7 
po = effectiv eoverburden stress in kg / cm 2

Dw′
′
Rw = 0.5 + 0.5 ≤1
B
D’w= depth of water table from base of footing
 Permissible values as per IS: 1904-1978
Footing type Sand and hard clay Plastic clay
Max. Settlement Differential Angular Max. Differential Angular
Settlement Distortion Settlement Settlement Distortion
1. Isolated footing

1.1 Steel Structure 50 mm 0.0033L 1/300 50 mm 0.0033L 1/300

1.2 RCC Structure 50 mm 0.0015L 1/666 75 mm 0.0015L 1/666

2. Raft foundation

2.1 Steel 75 mm 0.0033L 1/300 100 mm 0.0033L 1/300

Structure
2.2 RCC structure 75 mm 0.002L 1/500 100 mm 0.002L 1/500

* L is the length of deflected part of wall/raft or c/c distance between columns. F.O.S= 2.5 to 3
Example: Determine the net allowable bearing capacity or pressure of a square footing of size 3m
x 3m resting on sand with the following properties. Water table is located at a depth of 2.5 m from
the ground surface. Depth of foundation is 1.5 m. The permissible settlement is 50mm and factor
of safety against bearing is 2.5.

EL. (m) Corrected N value (SPT)

-1.5 16
-2.25 22
-3.0 20
-3.75 27
-4.5 29
-5.25 30
-6 32
-6.75 32
-7.5 33
-8.25 35
-9.0 40
 Bearing capacity of granular soils based on SPT (Standard Penetration Test)

Teng (1962)

qnu =
1
6
[
3 N 2 BRw' + 5(100 + N 2 ) D f Rw ] For strip footing

1 2 '
[
qnu = N BRw + 3(100 + N 2 ) D f Rw
3
] For square and circular footing

qnu = net ultimate bearing capacity in kN/m2

N = average N value corrected for overburden pressure
Df = depth of footing in m; if Df > B take Df = B
 Ranjan and Rao,1991
Dw = depth of water table below the ground surface limited to the depth equal to Df
D’w = depth of water table measured from base level of the footing with a limiting value equal
to the width of footing B
Method based on SPT (IS 8009-Part 1-1976)

Settlement computed from SPT value

Actual settlement =
Correction factor (W ′)

Not Finished. Continued in Next Class

 FOUNDATION ENGINEERING
Kousik Deb
Associate Professor
Department of Civil Engineering
IIT Kharagpur

Lecture 22: Shallow Foundation : Design II

Example: Determine the net allowable bearing capacity or pressure of a square footing of size 3m
x 3m resting on sand with the following properties. Water table is located at a depth of 2.5 m from
the ground surface. Depth of foundation is 1.5 m. The permissible settlement is 50mm and factor
of safety against bearing is 2.5.

EL. (m) Corrected N value (SPT)

-1.5 16
-2.25 22
-3.0 20
-3.75 27
-4.5 29
-5.25 30
-6 32
-6.75 32
-7.5 33
-8.25 35
-9.0 40
 Bearing capacity of granular soils based on SPT (Standard Penetration Test)

Teng (1962)

qnu =
1
6
[
3 N 2 BRw' + 5(100 + N 2 ) D f Rw ] For strip footing

1 2 '
[
qnu = N BRw + 3(100 + N 2 ) D f Rw
3
] For square and circular footing

qnu = net ultimate bearing capacity in kN/m2

N = average N value corrected for overburden pressure
Df = depth of footing in m; if Df > B take Df = B
 Ranjan and Rao,1991
Dw = depth of water table below the ground surface limited to the depth equal to Df
D’w = depth of water table measured from base level of the footing with a limiting value equal
to the width of footing B
Method based on SPT (IS 8009-Part 1-1976)

Settlement computed from SPT value

Actual settlement =
Correction factor (W ′)

Finished the previous class example

Isolated footing

Combined footing
Design of Isolated Footing on Clay

Not Finished. Continued in Next Class

 FOUNDATION ENGINEERING
Kousik Deb
Associate Professor
Department of Civil Engineering
IIT Kharagpur

Lecture 23: Shallow Foundation : Design III

Isolated footing

Combined footing
Design of Isolated Footing on Clay

Finished the previous class example

 If for Flexible Foundation If for Rigid
Foundation
Shape Centre Corner Average

Circle 1.0 0.64 0.85 0.86

Square 1.12 0.56 0.95 0.82

Rectangle
L/B= 1.5 1.36 0.68 1.2 1.06

L/B= 2 1.52 0.76 1.3 1.2

L/B= 5 2.10 1.05 1.83 1.70

L/B= 10 2.52 1.26 2.25 2.10

L/B= 100 3.38 1.69 2.96 3.40

Ranjan and Rao, 1991
 Types of soil μ

1. Clay , saturated 0.4-0.5

2. Clay, unsaturated 0.1-0.3

3. Sandy clay 0.2-0.3

4. Silt 0.3-0.35

5. Sand(dense)

5.1 Coarse(e=0.4-0.7) 0.15

5.2 Fine grained 0.25

6. Rock 0.1-0.4
Ranjan and Rao, 1991
 Corrections
1. Corrections for the effect of 3-D consolidation
S c (3 D ) = ηS c (1D )
where η= correction factor. In absence of data regarding pore water pressure parameter
A, following values can be taken:
η = 1-1.2 very sensitive clay
=0.7-1.0 Normally consolidated clay
=0.5-0.7 Over consolidated clay
=0.3-0.5 Heavily over consolidated clay
IS :8009 (Part I) -1976
Fox’s correction for
settlement of flexible
rectangular footing of
L x B at a depth D

IS :8009 (Part I) -1976

 FOUNDATION ENGINEERING
Kousik Deb
Associate Professor
Department of Civil Engineering
IIT Kharagpur

Lecture 24: Shallow Foundation : Design IV

Isolated footing

Combined footing
Combined
Rectangular
Footing
Design of Raft Foundation on Clay

Not Finished. Continued in the next class

 FOUNDATION ENGINEERING
Kousik Deb
Associate Professor
Department of Civil Engineering
IIT Kharagpur

Lecture 25: Shallow Foundation : Design V

Design of Raft Foundation on Clay

Finished previous class example

 Young’s Modulus Calculation
Type of soil SPT (N) or CPT(qc)

Sand (NC) E= 500( N+15)

Sand (OC) E= 250( N+15)

Sand( Saturated) E= 250( N+15)

Gravely Sand E= 1200( N+6)

Clayey sand E= 320( N+15)

Silty sand E= 300( N+6)

Soft clay E= 5 to 8 qc
Ranjan and Rao, 1991
* E is in kN/m2.
 Cohesive soil

• Field tests have limited relevance to the cohesive soils for the reason that these
test being short duration can not reflect in a realistic manner.

• Both the safe bearing capacity as well as settlement are determined by

appropriate shear strength and consolidation parameter obtained from
laboratory tests on undisturbed sample of clay.
 • Select the assumed dimensions of foundations on basis of net safe bearing
1 capacity.

• The net safe bearing capacity is determined fro most critical situation, i.e.
φu=0.
2 • Undrained shear strength is determined either from in situ vane shear test or
unconsolidated undrained test or unconfined compression test.

• The net safe bearing capacity is then assumed to be the load intensity acting
on soil at base of footing .
3 • Then the settlement is estimated using compressibility parameter of soil.

• If estimated settlement is within the permissible limit, dimensions of foundation

assumed for analysis are adequate. If it is not within the permissible limit, then
4 dimensions will be increased and above method is repeated.