Foundation Engineering

CE 424

4. Shallow Foundation
CE 424 - Foundation Engineering - 1. Introduction

Engr. Cristopher A. Benito

Department of Civil Engineering
University of Southern Mindanao
 Shallow Foundations
Bearing Capacity

• The problems of soil mechanics can be

divided into two principal groups -
stability problems and elasticity
problems
- Karl Terzaghi, 1943
Karl Terzaghi (1883-1963)

• Father of modern soil mechanics

• Born in Prague, Czechoslovakia
• Wrote “Erdbaumechanik auf
Bodenphysikalischer Grundlage (The
Mechanics of Earth Construction Based
on Soil Physics)” in 1925
• Taught at MIT (1925-1929)
• Taught at Harvard (1938 and after)
Karl Terzaghi at Harvard, 1940
Bearing Capacity Failure
Transcosna Grain Elevator Canada
(Oct. 18, 1913)

West side of foundation sank 24-ft

Stability Problem
Bearing Capacity Failure
Bearing Capacity Analysis
• How do we estimate the maximum
bearing pressure that the soil can
withstand before failure occurs?
Bearing Capacity Failures

Types/Modes of Failure
◼ general shear failure
◼ local shear failure
◼ punching shear failure
General Guidelines

◼ Footings in clays - general shear

◼ Footings in Dense sands ( D r> 67%)
-general shear
◼ Footings in Loose to Medium dense
(30%< D r < 67%) - Local Shear
◼ Footings in Very Loose Sand ( D< r 30%)-
punching shear
Ultimate Bearing Capacity, qu
➢ The least pressure that would cause shear
failure of supporting soil immediately below
and adjacent to a foundation

Craig, 6th Ed.

Terzaghi’s Theory

Craig, 6th Ed.

▪ strip footing of infinite length and width B

▪ uniform surcharge, q0 on surface of
isotropic, homogeneous soil
▪ Rankine active wedge, ABC: forces 
▪ Passive zones, ADE () & BGF (→)
 Craig, 6th Ed.

▪ transition between  & : ACD & BCG

(zones or radial shear or slip fans)
▪ above EDCGF: plastic equilibrium
▪ below EDCGF: elastic equilibrium
▪ the more general case is a footing at
depth D

Craig, 6th Ed.

▪ Neglecting the shear strength of the soil

above depth D implies that this soil is a
surcharge: q0 = gD
▪ Terzaghi’s general equation:
qu = 0.5gBNg + cNc + gDNq
Contributi Soil Self Shear Surcharge
on of: Weight Strength
Terzaghi Bearing Capacity Formulas
For Continuous foundations:
qult = cNc +  zD N q + 0.5g BNg

For Square foundations:

qult = 1.3cNc +  zD N q + 0.4g BNg

For Circular foundations:

qult = 1.3cNc +  zD N q + 0.3g BNg
Terzaghi Bearing Capacity Factors
Page 139 of 7th
edition by Braja
Das.
 TERZAGHI MODEL
(GENERAL FAILURE)

◼ STRIP FOUNDATION
qult = c.Nc + q.Nq + 0.5.g.B.Ng
◼ SQUARE FOUNDATION
qult = 1.3.c.Nc + q.Nq + 0.4.g.B.Ng
◼ CIRCULAR FOUNDATION
qult = 1.3.c.Nc + q.Nq + 0.3.g.B.Ng
Where:  
 e 2(3 / 4− / 2 )tan 
c = cohesion of soil Nc = cot  − 1
 2. cos2    
 +  
q = g . Df ; Df = the thickness of   4 2  
foundation embedded on subsoil
e 2(3 / 4− / 2 )tan
Nq =
g = unit weight of soil   
2. cos2  + 
 4 2
B = foundation width
1  K py 
Nc, Nq, Ng = bearing capacity factors Ng =  − 1  tan 
2  cos  2
Terzaghi Bearing Capacity Formulas

◼ DB
◼ No sliding between footing and soil
◼ soil: a homogeneous semi-infinite mass
◼ general shear failure
◼ footing is very rigid compared to soil
Groundwater Table Effect
Groundwater Table Effect;
Case I
1. Modify ′zD
2. Calculate g′ as follows:

g  = gb = g −gw
Groundwater Table Effect;
Case II
1. q = gd.Df
2. the value of g in third
part of equation is
replaced with
Groundwater Table Effect;
Case III
1. No change in ′zD
2. No change in g′

g=g
EXAMPLE 1
EXAMPLE 2
EXAMPLE 3
A square footing has a dimension of 1m x 1m
has its bottom 2.5 m below the ground surface. Angle
of friction of the soil foundation is 30˚. Unit weight of
soil is 18.1 kN/m3 with a cohesion of 15.7 kN/m2 .
Saturated unit weight of soil is 19.3 kN/m3 . Factor of
safety is 3.0.
a. Compute the value of the bearing capacity factor
Nq.
b. Compute the net allowable load that the footing
could carry if the ground water table is located
0.20 m below the foundation footing.
c. Compute the net allowable load that the footing
could carry if the ground water table is located 1.2
m below the ground surface.
Bearing Capacity Factors
 Further Developments
◼ Skempton (1951)
◼ Meyerhof (1953)
◼ Brinch Hanson (1961)
◼ De Beer and Ladanyi (1961)
◼ Meyerhof (1963)
◼ Brinch Hanson (1970) See Extra Handout
◼ Vesic (1973, 1975)
 Vesic (1973, 1975) Formulas
qult = cNc sc dcicbc gc +  zD N q sq d qiqbq g q + 0.5g BNg sg dg ig bg gg

Shape factors….… Eq. 6.14, 6.15 and 6.16

Depth Factors ……. Eq. 6.17, 6.18 and 6.19
Load Inclination Factors …. Eq. 6.20, 6.21 and 6.22
Base Inclinations factors .. Eq. 6.25 and 6.26
Ground Inclination Factors…. Eq. 6.27 and 6.28
Bearing Capacity Factors …. Eq. 6.29, 6.30 and 6.31
Vesic Formula Shape Factors

 B  N q 
sc = 1 +   
  c 
L N

B
sq = 1 +   tan  
L
B
sg = 1 − 0.4 
L
Vesic Formula Depth Factors
−1 D
k = tan  
B

d c = 1+ 0.4k
d q = 1 + 2k tan  (1 − sin  ) 2

dg = 1
 Bearing Capacity of
Shallow Foundations
◼ 6.3 Groundwater Effects
◼ 6.4 Allowable Bearing Capacity
◼ 6.5 Selection of Soil Strength Parameters
◼ 6.6 Local & Punching Shear Cases
◼ 6.7 Bearing Capacity on Layered Soils
◼ 6.8 Accuracy of Bearing Capacity Analyses
◼ 6.9 Bearing Capacity Spreadsheet
Allowable Bearing Capacity

qult
qa =
F
◼ qa ….. Allowable Bearing Capacity
◼ F …. Factor of safety
Factor of Safety

Depends on:
▪ Type of soil
▪ Level of Uncertainty in Soil Strength
▪ Importance of structure and
consequences of failure
▪ Likelihood of design load occurrence
Minimum Factor of Safety
 Selection of Soil Strength
Parameters
▪ Use Saturated Strength Parameters
▪ Use Undrained Strength in clays (Su)
▪ Use Drained Strength in sands, c and  
▪ Intermediate soils that where partially
drained conditions exist, engineers have
varying opinions; Undrained Strength can
be used but it will be conservative!
 Accuracy of Bearing Capacity
Analysis
▪ In Clays …..Within 10% of true value (Bishop
and Bjerrum, 1960)
▪ Smaller footings in Sands…. Bearing capacity
calculated were too conservative – but
conservatism did not affect construction cost
much
▪ Large footings in Sands … Bearing capacity
estimates were reasonable but design was
controlled by settlement
Accuracy; Bearing Capacity Analysis
Bearing Capacity Spreadsheet

▪ Can be downloaded from

http://www.prenhall.com/coduto
▪ See Appendix B (page 848) for further
instructions
References:
1. Das, Braja. Principles of Foundation Engineering, 7th edition. CENGAGE
Learning, 2011.
2. Budhu, Muni. Soil Mechanics and Foundations, 3rd edition. JOHN WILEY
& SONS, INC. 2011
3. Arora, K.R., Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, 6th edition.
2003.
4. Khitoliya, R. K. (2015). Foundation engineering. I K International Publish.
5. Baxter, I. (2023). Foundation engineering. NY Research Press.
6. Jirásko, D. (2017). Foundation engineering. Czech Technical University in
Prague.
7. Baxter, I. (2023a). Foundation engineering. NY Research Press.
8. Simons, N. E., &amp; Menzies, B. (2001). A short course in foundation
engineering. Telford.
9. Site investigation. (2015). Foundation Engineering for Expansive Soils,
59–73. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118996096.ch3 .
10. Review of soil mechanics concepts and analytical techniques used in
foundation engineering. (2013). The Foundation Engineering Handbook,
15–70. https://doi.org/10.1201/b15592-5.
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