Course : S0484/Foundation Engineering

Year : 2007
Version : 1/0

Session 5 – 6
BEARING CAPACITY OF SHALLOW
FOUNDATION
 SHALLOW FOUNDATION

Topic:
• General
• Terzaghi Model
• Meyerhoff Model
• Brinch Hansen Model
• Influence of multi layer soil
• Influence of ground water elevation
• Shallow Foundation Bearing by N-SPT
value
TYPES OF SHALLOW FOUNDATION
TYPES OF SHALLOW FOUNDATION
 TERZAGHI MODEL

Assumptions:
• Subsoil below foundation structure is
homogenous
• Shallow foundation Df < B
• Continuous, or strip, footing : 2D case
• Rough base
• Equivalent surcharge
 TERZAGHI MODEL

FAILURE ZONES:
1. ACD : TRIANGULAR ZONES
2. ADF & CDE : RADIAL SHEAR ZONES
3. AFH & CEG : RANKINE PASSIVE ZONES
 TERZAGHI MODEL
(GENERAL FAILURE)

• STRIP FOUNDATION
qult = c.Nc + q.Nq + 0.5..B.N
• SQUARE FOUNDATION
qult = 1.3.c.Nc + q.Nq + 0.4..B.N
• CIRCULAR FOUNDATION
qult = 1.3.c.Nc + q.Nq + 0.3..B.N
 
Where:  e 23 / 4 / 2 tan 
Nc  cot   1
 2. cos2    
  
c = cohesion of soil
 
q =  . Df ; Df = the thickness of foundation  4 2  
embedded on subsoil e 23 / 4 / 2 tan
Nq 
 = unit weight of soil   
2. cos2   
 4 2
B = foundation width
1  K py 
Nc, Nq, N = bearing capacity factors N    1  tan 
2  cos  2
BEARING CAPACITY FACTORS

GENERAL
FAILURE
BEARING CAPACITY FACTORS

GENERAL
FAILURE
 TERZAGHI MODEL
(LOCAL FAILURE)

• STRIP FOUNDATION
qult = 2/3.c.Nc’ + q.Nq’ + 0.5..B.N’
• SQUARE FOUNDATION
qult = 0.867.c.Nc’ + q.Nq’ + 0.4..B.N’
• CIRCULAR FOUNDATION
qult = 0.867.c.Nc’ + q.Nq’ + 0.3..B.N’
 
 e 23 / 4 '/ 2 tan ' 
Nc  cot '   1
Where:  2. cos2    
  
'
 
c = cohesion of soil  4 2  
e 23 / 4 '/ 2 tan '
q =  . Df ; Df = the thickness of foundation Nq 
  ' 
embedded on subsoil 2. cos2   
4 2
 = unit weight of soil 1  K py 
N    1  tan  '
B = foundation width 2  cos  ' 
2

Nc, Nq, N = bearing capacity factors ’ = tan-1 (2/3. tan)

BEARING CAPACITY FACTORS

LOCAL FAILURE
BEARING CAPACITY FACTORS
GROUND WATER INFLUENCE
 GROUND WATER INFLUENCE

• CASE 1
0  D1 < Df  q = D1.dry + D2 . ’

• CASE 2
0  d  B  q = dry.Df
the value of  in third part of equation is
replaced with
 = ’ + (d/B).(dry - ’)
 FACTOR OF SAFETY

qu
qall 
FS qnet(u )  qu  q
qnet ( u ) q   .D f
qall ( net ) 
FS
Where:
qu = gross ultimate bearing capacity of shallow foundation
qall = gross allowable bearing capacity of shallow foundation
qnet(u) = net ultimate bearing capacity of shallow foundation
qall = net allowable bearing capacity of shallow foundation
FS = Factor of Safety (FS  3)
 NET ALLOWABLE BEARING CAPACITY

PROCEDURE:
1. Find the developed cohesion and the angle of friction
c  tan  
cd  d  tan 1   FSshear = 1.4 – 1.6
FS shear  FSshear 

2. Calculate the gross allowable bearing capacity (qall)

according to terzaghi equation with cd and d as the
shear strength parameters of the soil
Ex.: qall = cd.Nc + q.Nq + ½ .B.N
Where Nc, Nq, N = bearing capacity factor for the friction angle, d

3. Find the net allowable bearing capacity (qall(net))

qall(net) = qall - q
 EXAMPLE – PROBLEM

A square foundation is 5 ft x 5 ft in plan. The soil

supporting the foundation has a friction angle of
 = 20o and c = 320 lb/ft2. The unit weight of soil,
, is 115 lb/ft3. Assume that the depth of the
foundation (Df) is 3 ft and the general shear
failure occurs in the soil.
Determine:
- the allowable gross load on the foundation with
a factor of safety (FS) of 4.
- the net allowable load for the foundation with
FSshear = 1.5
 EXAMPLE – SOLUTION

Foundation Type: Square Foundation

EXAMPLE – SOLUTION
 GENERAL BEARING CAPACITY EQUATION

Meyerhof’s Theory

Df

qu  c.Nc.Fcs .Fcd .Fci  q.Nq.Fqs .Fqd .Fqi  (0.5). .B.N .Fs .Fd .Fi
 BEARING CAPACITY FACTOR

 
Nq  tan 2  45  e . tan
 2
Nc  Nq  1 cot
N  2( Nq  1) tan 
SHAPE, DEPTH AND INCLINATION FACTOR
 EXAMPLE 2

Determine the size (diameter) circle foundation of tank structure as

shown in the following picture

P = 73 ton

Tank
dry = 13 kN/m3
sat = 18 kN/m3
c = 1 kg/cm2 2m
 = 20o

Foundation
GWL

With P is the load of tank, neglected the weight of foundation and use
factor of safety, FS = 3.5.
 EXAMPLE 3

SQUARE FOUNDATION

B = 4m dry = 13 kN/m3

DETERMINE THE FACTOR OF SAFETY FOR:

-CASE 1 : GWL LOCATED AT 0.3m (MEASURED FROM THE SURFACE
OF SOIL)
-CASE 2 : GWL LOCATED AT 1.5m (MEASURED FROM THE SURFACE
OF SOIL)
ECCENTRICALLY LOADED FOUNDATIONS
ECCENTRICALLY LOADED FOUNDATIONS
 ONE WAY ECCENTRICITY
Meyerhof’s step by step procedure:
• Determine the effective dimensions of the foundation as :
B’ = effective width = B – 2e
L’ = effective length = L
Note:
– if the eccentricity were in the direction of the length of the foundation, the value
of L’ would be equal to L-2e and the value of B’ would be B.
– The smaller of the two dimensions (L’ and B’) is the effective width of the
foundation
• Determine the ultimate bearing capacity
qu  c.Nc.Fcs .Fcd .Fci  q.Nq.Fqs .Fqd .Fqi  0,5. .B.N .Fs .Fd .Fi
to determine Fcs, Fqs, Fs use effective length and effective width
to determine Fcd, Fqd, Fd use B
• The total ultimate load that the foundation can sustain is
Qult = qu’.B’.L’ ; where B’xL’ = A’ (effective area)
• The factor of safety against bearing capacity failure is
FS = Qult/Q
• Check the factor of safety against qmax, or,
FS = qu’/qmax
 EXAMPLE – PROBLEM

A Square foundation is shown in the following figure.

Assume that the one- way load eccentricity e = 0.15m.
Determine the ultimate load, Qult
 EXAMPLE – SOLUTION

With c = 0, the bearing capacity equation becomes

TWO-WAY ECCENTRICITY
TWO-WAY ECCENTRICITY – CASE 1
TWO-WAY ECCENTRICITY – CASE 2
TWO-WAY ECCENTRICITY – CASE 3
TWO-WAY ECCENTRICITY – CASE 4
 BEARING CAPACITY OF LAYERED SOILS

STRONGER SOIL
UNDERLAIN BY
WEAKER SOIL
BEARING CAPACITY OF LAYERED SOILS

 2c H   2D f  K s tan 1 
qu  qb   a    1H 2 1      1H
 B   H  B 

qb  c2 N c ( 2) Fcs( 2)   1 D f  H N q ( 2) Fqs ( 2)   2 BN ( 2) Fs ( 2)

1
2

1
q1  c1 N c (1)   1 BN (1)
2
1
q2  c2 N c ( 2)   2 BN ( 2)
2
BEARING CAPACITY OF LAYERED SOILS

 2c H   2D f  K s tan 1 
qu  qb   a    1H 2 1      1H  qt
 B   H  B 

qb  c2 N c ( 2) Fcs( 2 )   1 D f  H N q ( 2) Fqs ( 2 )   2 BN ( 2) Fs ( 2)

1
2
1
qt  c1 N c (1) Fcs(1)   1 D f N q (1) Fqs (1)   1 BN (1) Fs (1)
2

Rectangular Foundation
 B  2c H   B  2 D f  K s tan 1 
qu  qb  1   a    1H 2 1  1      1H  qt
 L  B   L  H  B 

1
q1  c1 N c (1)   1 BN (1)
2
1
q2  c2 N c ( 2)   2 BN ( 2)
2
BEARING CAPACITY OF LAYERED SOILS

SPECIAL CASES
– TOP LAYER IS STRONG SAND AND BOTTOM
LAYER IS SATURATED SOFT CLAY (2 = 0)
– TOP LAYER IS STRONGER SAND AND BOTTOM
LAYER IS WEAKER SAND (c1 = 0 , c2 = 0)
– TOP LAYER IS STRONGER SATURATED CLAY (1
= 0) AND BOTTOM LAYER IS WEAKER
SATURATED CLAY (2 = 0)

Find the formula for the above

special cases
 BEARING CAPACITY FROM N-SPT VALUE

A square foundation BxB has to

be constructed as shown in the
following figure. Assume that  =
105 lb/ft3, sat = 118 lb/ft3, Df = 4
ft and D1 = 2 ft. The gross
allowable load, Qall, with FS = 3
is 150,000 lb. The field standard
penetration resistance, NF values
are as follow:

Determine the size

of the foundation
 SOLUTION

Correction of standard penetration number

(Liao and Whitman relationship)
SOLUTION