SOILS AND FOUNDATIONS Vol. 37, No. 1, 73-88, Mar.

1997
Japanese Geotechnical Society

CENTRIFUGE MODEL TESTS ON BEARING CAPACITY AND DEFORMATION OF

SAND LAYER OVERLYING CLAY

MITSU 0KAMURAi), JIRO TAKEMURAii) and TSUTOMU KIMURAiii)

ABSTRACT
A series of centrifuge model loading tests on dense sand overlying soft clay was carried out to investigate its bearing
capacity and associated deformation including the failure mechanism. The effects of the thickness of sand, the
strength of underlying clay and the width, shape and embedment of footings on the bearing behavior of the sand were
studied. It was found that the bearing capacity increases with increasing sand thickness-footing width ratio until it
reaches that of uniform sand, which can be considered as the upper limit of the bearing capacity of the layered soil.
The bearing capacity also increases linearly with both the strength of the clay and the overburden pressure at the foot-
ing base. For cases with bearing capacity smaller than that for uniform sand, punching shear takes place, where a trun-
cated cone shaped sand block between the footing base and the clay surface penetrates into the clay. The side angle of
the sand block to the vertical increases with increasing sand thickness-footing width ratio and overburden pressure,
and decreasing clay strength. It was confirmed that this variation of the angle should be taken into account in the bear-
ing capacity calculation.

Key words: bearing capacity, (centrifuge model test), deformation, (failure mechanism), (sand overlying clay), shal-
low footing (IGC: E3 /E10)

troduced between the footing base and the interface of

INTRODUCTION
the sand and clay. These methods can be divided into two
In the coastal areas of Japan and in Southeast Asia, categories according to the shape of the sand block. One
soft clays are deposited extensively at relatively shallow is the so-called projected area method in which a trun-
levels in the subsoil profile. They not only form uniform cated cone was used as the sand block (Yamaguchi, 1963;
thick clay layers, but also multi-layer profiles with sand Yamaguchi and Terashi, 1971; Baglioni et al., 1982; Kraft
or gravel. Large structures constructed on soft clay are and Helfrich, 1983). In this method, the bearing capacity
usually founded in stiff or dense thick layers with large of the footing was determined by the ultimate bearing
bearing capacities. When such a good bearing layer does pressure of underlying clay and the base area of the cone
not exist at a shallow level, an evaluation of the possibil- (Fig. 1(a)). The other method was proposed by Meyerhof
ity of a relatively thin dense sand occurring at a shallow (1974) and Hanna and Meyerhof (1980) in which a verti-
level being used as a bearing layer might be considered in cal side column was used with shearing resistance along
the design of the foundation for a structure. In addition, the side surface of the column being taken into account
the bearing capacity of a thin layer of sand underlain by a (Fig. 1(b)). In these methods, side angles of the block to
weak clay layer is a significant problem in the stability of the vertical a were assumed to be constant. This method
the temporary foundations of offshore structures, such did not consider conditions of geometry and soil
as jack-up drilling platforms (Baglioni et al., 1982). strengths except for the one proposed by Baglioni et al.
Extensive research work has been done both experimen- (1982) which used the angle of shear resistance ¢' as the
tally and analytically on the bearing capacity of sand side angle of the sand block.
overlying soft clay. All analytical methods proposed by In Japan, projected area methods are widely employed
previous researchers to obtain the bearing capacity were in the design standards of many organizations (e.g.
based on limit equilibrium methods. Imaginary rigid Architectural Institute of Japan, 1988; The Japan Port
sand blocks like columns or truncated cones were in- and Harbor Association, 1991). The bearing capacity cal-

i)Research Associate, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 0-okayama 2-12-1, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152.
Associate Professor, ditto.
ii)
iii) President, ditto.
Manuscript was received for review on September 7, 1995.
Written discussions on this paper should be submitted before October 1, 1997 to the Japanese Geotechnical Society, Sugayama Bldg. 4F, Kanda
Awaji-cho 2-23, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101, Japan. Upon request the closing date may be extended one month.

73

This is an Open Access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license.

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74 OKAMURA ET AL.

sand: y', <!>'

cuNc +Po'
Ks: punching shear coefficient

(a) projected area method (b) Hanna and Meyerhof ( 1980)

Fig. 1. Mechanisms adopted in existing methods of analysis

culated from these methods depends on the assumption lated in the 1In scaled model subjected to a centrifugal
used, that is, the shape of the sand block and the stresses acceleration n times the earth's gravitation.
acting on the surface of the block. The side angles of the In this study, a series of centrifuge model loading tests
block proposed by various researchers, however, differ on sand overlying soft clay was carried out to investigate
from each other, for example, 30° for Yamaguchi and bearing capacity and associated deformation including
Terashi (1971}, tan- 1 (112) for Kraft and Helfrich (1983) the failure mechanism. The effects of the thickness of
and ¢' for Baglioni et al. (1982). In order to verify the sand, the strength of underlying clay and the width,
validity of these methods, experimental study must be un- shape and embedment of footings on the bearing behav-
dertaken. Not only bearing capacity but also the assump- ior of the sand were studied.
tions used should be investigated. In the literature,
however, information from small scale model tests and
full scale tests is very limited (e.g. Brown and Paterson, TEST CONDITIONS AND PROCEDURES
1964; Meyerhof, 1974; Dembicki and Odrobinski, 1973; Non-Dimensional Parameters
Craig and Chua, 1990, 1991). From the failure mechanism in which a sand block
The bearing capacity of a relatively thin sand layer beneath a footing penetrates into the lower clay and
overlying soft clay must depend on the strengths of both punching shear develops as shown in Fig. 1, the follow-
soils. Hence, in the model of the layered subsoil profile ing quantities can be determined as factors that might
with a scale geometrically reduced by 1 In, the ratio of influence the bearing capacity of the sand layer overlying
the strengths of two soils should be identical to that of the clay in the centrifuge model:
the prototype. Since the strength of sand is approximate-
B: width or diameter of footing
ly proportional to its stress level and its mobilized shear
H: thickness of sand layer
strength in the scaled model in the gravitational field (i.e.
ny': effective unit weight of sand in the centrifugal ac-
1g) is about 1In times smaller than that of the prototype,
celeration field n times the earth's gravitation
the strength of the clay in the model should be reduced
(ng)
by 1 In from the prototype. It follows that if the clay of
¢': angle of shear resistance of the sand
the prototype is soft or the scale factor n is relatively
co: undrained shear strength at the surface of the
large, a clay with extremely small strength, such as
lower clay
slurry, is required in the model. This makes it very
k: gradient of the increase in undrained strength
difficult to perform the test with reasonable accuracy. If
with depth in lower clay
the clay with the strength equivalent to that of an actual
Po: effective overburden pressure at the footing base
soft clay is used in the 1g model, the model may cor-
level
respond to a prototype consisting of sand and underlying
stiff clay. In addition, as the mechanical characteristics of Bearing capacity factor Nc for clay with strength increas-
soils depend very much on the stress level acting on them, ing linearly with depth is given as a function of non-
the mechanical behavior of soils in a large scale founda- dimensional parameter kBI Co (Davis and Booker, 1973).
tion cannot be modeled properly in the small scaled 1g If the underlying clay could be assumed to have the same
model. Centrifuge model testing can overcome the prob- effective unit weight as the overlying sand and to be nor-
lems of the small1g model test. The effect of self-weight mally consolidated, co and k are (ny' H +Po)(culp) and
similar to that of a large scale foundation can be simu- ny'(culp) respectively, where (cui p) is the undrained

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 BEARING CAPACITY OF SAND OVER CLAY 75

strength increasing ratio. Therefore, kB I co can be ex- Table 1. Soils properties

pressed as;
Toyoura sand
kB ny'B
(1) Specific gravity 2.64
co ny'H+p6 ·
Average particle size (mm) 0.17
The value of kB I co is equal to 0 for clay with a uniform Uniformity coefficient 1.47
strength and to be maximum for a normally consolidated
clay without overlying sand. For the case of HI B greater Maximum void ratio 0.940
than 0.5, kB/ co varies between 0 and 2 and corre- Minimum void ratio 0.609
sponding bearing capacity factors Nc given by Davis and
Booker (1973) and Houlsby and Wroth (1983) are as fol- M20
lows:
Specific gravity 2.68
6.1 sNes7.6 (circular footings) (2) Liquid limit(%) 40.0
5.1 sNes7.6 (strip footings) (3) Plastic limit (%) 20.2

Since variations of Ne are relatively small, it is difficult to Plasticity index 19.8

examine the influences of kB I co on the bearing capacity Void ratio at a~c=98 (kPa) 0.826
from the model tests. In this study the product of Ne and
Compression index Cc 0.239
co which represents the bearing capacity of the lower clay
was adopted as one of the influential quantities. Dimen- Swell index Cs 0.026
sional analysis with six quantities derived based on this Coefficient of consolidation
0.080
consideration, i.e., B, H, ny', ¢',coNe andp6, gives four at a~=200(kPa) (cm2 /min.)
independent non-dimensional parameters as follows: Strength increasing ratio cufp 0.395
(1) HI B: relative thickness of sand layer
(2) coNe/ ny' B( = A.e): normalized bearing capacity of Critical state parameter M 1.37
lower clay
(3) p6/ ny' B( =A.p): normalized overburden pressure
at footing base loading plate and a bellofram cylinder under a pressure
(4) ¢' of 10 kPa. After completion of preconsolidation of each
In the case where a relatively thin sand layer is considered layer lead shot targets were placed on a line of the clay
as a bearing layer, high strength and dense conditions are surface crossing the center of the container at intervals of
at least required. In the tests made in this study only 10 mm. After completing the preconsolidation of the
dense condition was used for the sand and the influences lOth layer, small pressure cells, which were used to meas-
of non-dimensional parameters from (1) through (3) on ure total vertical stresses, were set at the surface of clay,
the bearing capacity and deformation were studied. In ad- and clay was then reconsolidated under the maximum
dition, the effect of the shape of footing was also investi- preconsolidation pressure a~e· The thickness of the lower
gated by using both strip and circular footings. clay was 100 mm for all the tests.
After completion of the consolidation under a~e, sand
Model Preparation was placed on top of the clay by compacting sand layers
Toyoura sand and an artificial mixture termed M20 with thickness of 10 mm in water using a rigid plate and a
were both used in the tests. Physical and mechanical vibrator layer by layer until the total predetermined thick-
properties of the soils are listed in Table 1. M20 was ness of sand was obtained. Void ratios of the sands
made by mixing Kawasaki clay with crushed Toyoura which were observed ranged between 0.644 and 0.660,
sand so that the coefficient of consolidation was greater corresponding to relative densities between 90% and
than that of the Kawasaki clay. Based on extensive stud- 86%. Lead shot targets were also placed on each sand
ies on the mixtures done at the Tokyo Institute of Tech- layer at intervals of 10 mm and small pressure cells for
nology, it was found that the mechanical properties of horizontal stress measurement were set at predetermined
M20 were almost the same as those of Kawasaki clay positions. Two layered models prepared with this proce-
(Nakase and Kamei, 1983; Kamei, 1985). dure are shown in Figs. 2(a) and (b).
A cylindrical soil container with internal dimensions of For three layer models (clay-sand-clay) in which only a
455 mm diameter x 400 mm deep was used for the tests circular footing was used, the clay slurry was consoli-
with circular footings and rectangular container of 500 dated on the sand under a pressure of 40 kPa. After this
mm long x 150 mm wide x 350 mm deep was used for consolidation, a part of the clay layer was cut vertically
tests with strip footings. After placing a drainage layer at with a thin wall tube having a diameter 1 mm larger than
the base of the containers (Takemura et al., 1995}, a the model footing, and the model circular footing was in-
deaired clay slurry was poured into the container and stalled on the sand. Two vertical drains of coarse sand
preconsolidation was carried out for each layer with with a diameter of 20 mm were provided in the clay layer
some 10 mm thickness by compressing the clay with a near the side wall of the container to maintain the

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76 OKAMURA ET AL.

circular root:m!Z·t--1 circular footing:···

ekfu pre1ssur·e( I
earth pressure
1 cell
pore pressure •
cell
drainage layer
cylindrical soil container

(a) SC series (b) SS series (c) EC series

Fig. 2. Test setup

drainage condition in the sand layer. A layer of lead preconsolidation pressure on the laboratory floor a~c·
shots was placed on the surface of the upper clay to give a For NC clay, a~c was equivalent to the effective vertical
surcharge pressure of 10 kPa (Fig. 2(c)). pressures at the clay surface in the centrifuge and the un-
After preparation of the model subsoil, a loading jack derlying clays were normally consolidated at 50g field.
accommodated with a load cell and a LVDT was mount- OC08 clay, OC2 clay and OC4 clay were all overconsoli-
ed on the container as shown in Fig. 2. The whole setup dated in the centrifuge, which had been consolidated un-
was then taken to a centrifuge and the model subsoil was der a~c of 78, 196 and 392 kPa, respectively. For the NC
consolidated under its own weight in a centrifugal acceler- clay, undrained shear strengths of clays increase linearly
ation field. Having confirmed 90% of degree of consolida- with depth and the strength at the surface Co were propor-
tion, a load test was conducted by pushing the footing tional to the thickness of the overlying sand H. While for
with the loading jack vertically at a rate of 1 mml min. OC08, OC2, OC4 clay, the ratio of strength increase
until the settlement of the footing was approximately with depth k was less than that of the NC clay and co was
40% of the footing width. Once the loading sequence higher than that of the NC clay, meaning that the clay
was completed, the centrifuge was stopped. Soil samples layers had uniform strength~ (kBI co<0.12). Test condi-
were obtained to investigate the water content distribu- tions for SC series are summarized in Table 2. Circular
tion of clay and radiographs were taken to detect the posi- footings with diameters B of 30, 40 and 60 mm, corre-
tions of lead shot targets in the model. The model was sponding to prototype diameters of 1.5, 2.0 and 3.0 m, re-
then cross sectioned and the deformation of the subsoil spectively, were used. The relative thickness of sand layer
around the footing was observed. HI B and the normalized bearing capacity of lower clay
For all tests the bottom of the footings was roughened Ac ranged from 0 to 3 and from 2 to 36 respectively. In the
by gluing with sand. For all the tests with embedment, test of OC08 clay with HI B = 0, lead shots were placed
silicone grease was smeared on the side surface of the on the clay surface. This gave a surcharge pressure of 34
footing to reduce the skin friction. The footings without kPa, which is roughly equal to the effective vertical pres-
embedment were fixed to the loading jack, while the foot- sure on the clay surface in the other OC08 clays and a
ings with embedment were not fixed but prevented from similar strength profile to the others.
rotation using a loading ram (Okamura et al., 1993). (ii) SS series: In this series, bearing capacity tests of
strip footings without embedment on sand layer over-
Test Conditions lying OC08 clay were performed at 50g to study the effect
Centrifuge tests conducted in this study consisted of of footing shape (Fig. 2(b )). Test conditions are summa-
three test series on the layered soils and a series of tests rized in Table 3. Strip footings with widths B of 20, 30
on the sand with sufficient depth corresponding to the and 40 mm were used. In the test with HI B=O, the lead
case with HI B of infinity. shots surcharge was also applied on the surface as ex-
(i) SC series: In this series, bearing capacity tests of plained earlier.
circular footings on a sand layer overlying clay without (iii) EC series: Bearing capacity tests of circular foot-
embedment were conducted at 50g centrifugal accelera- ings with embedment, which rested on the surface of the
tion field to investigate the effects of non-dimensional sand layer, were conducted for various footing embed-
parameters HI B and Ac on the bearing capacity and ments to investigate the effect of normalized overburden
deformation (Fig. 2(a)). Four types of clay with different pressure Ap (Fig. 2(c)). In this series centrifugal accelera-
strengths, termed NC clay, OC08 clay, OC2 clay and tion of 40g was used because of the limitation of the
OC4 clay, were prepared by varying the maximum capacity of the loading jack (maximum 15 kN). All clays

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 BEARING CAPACITY OF SAND OVER CLAY 77

Table 2. Test conditions and results (SC series)

Type of Preconsolidation Width of Depth of ny'B Strength at clay Gradient of strength .2:!1L Q;
H/B
clay pressure u;c (kPa) footing B (mm) sand H(mm) (kPa) surface* c0 (kPa) increase* k (kN/m3 ) Nc Ac ny'B ny'Si
14.7 30 0.5 8.71 168 7.0 2.07 10.2 217
29.4 60 1.0 11.9 173 6.8 2.74 32.0 242
60 29.2
44.1 90 1.5 17.7 171 6.6 3.97 70.8 710
NC
58.8 120 2.0 22.4 174 6.5 4.97 130 940
14.7 30 1.0 8.71 168 6.6 3.91 36.9 442
30 14.6
29.4 60 2.0 11.9 173 6.5 5.25 133 1080
0 0 24.8 49 4.93 10.0 285
60 29.2
60 1.0 24.5 47 5.08 44.5 385
OC08 78.0 6.1
40 60 1.5 19.5 24.6 45 7.66 90.3 780
30 60 2.0 14.6 24.5 47 10.2 143 1040
30 0.5 44.9 60 9.31 28.9 458
60 1.0 47.2 50 9.80 58.3 742
60 29.2
90 1.5 52.2 56 10.8 103 878
OC2 196 120 2.0 53.8 57 6.1 11.2 125 1200
30 1.0 44.9 60 18.6 83.0 506
30 60 2.0 14.6 47.2 50 19.6 140 1410
90 3.0 52.2 56 21.7 147 1620
60 60 1.0 75.5 98 15.7 73.3 780
29.2
OC4 392 90 1.5 85.9 91 6.1 17.8 141 1110
30 90 3.0 14.6 85.9 91 35.7 148 1580
3
y'=9.74 (kN/m ), *:calculated from measured water content profile.

Table 3. Test conditions and results (SS series)

Type of Preconsolidation Width of Depth of ny'B Strength at clay Gradient of strength .2:!1L Q;
(kPa) surface* c0 (kPa) increase* k (kN/m3 ) Nc
H/B Ac
clay pressure u;c (kPa) footing B (mm) sand H(mm) ny'B ny'S;
0 0 22.4 39 5.90 12.0 300
40 40 1.0 19.5 21.9 37 5.77 28.5 220
40 1.0 21.9 37 5.77 32.5 250
OC08 78.0 5.1
30 60 2.0 14.6 22.4 39 7.89 78.8 310
60 3.0 22.4 40 11.8 136 360
20 9.74
80 4.0 23.0 40 12.1 222 560

y'=9.74 (kN/m3 ), *:calculated from measured water content profile.

were consolidated under a~c of 118 kPa on the laboratory with the same way used in the above three test series.
floor and overconsolidated in the centrifuge. Test condi- Combinations of the footing width and the centrifugal ac-
tions for EC series are summarized in Table 4. Circular celerations were chosen to represent the same prototype
footings with B of 20, 40 and 60 mm, corresponding to footing widths as those in the three series. In cases for cir-
prototype of 0.8, 1.6 and 2.4 m, were used and Ap ranged cular footings with embedment, both Toyoura sand and
from 1.3 to 4.8. M20 was used for soil above the level of the footing base.
(iv) Tests on uniform sand (HI B= oo ): The bearing Test conditions are summarized in Table 5.
capacity of sand is known to· depend on the size of foot- The effective unit weights of sand y' calculated from
ing (e.g. De Beer, 1965). Bearing capacity tests were con- the measured weight and thickness of the sand were in a
ducted for the uniform sand layers which were prepared small range between 9.69 and 9.76 kN/m3 for the cases

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78 OKAMURA ET AL.

Table 4. Test conditions and results (EC series)

Depth of Effective vertical

a~c B H
H/B upper clay pressure on sand
ny'B ct k*
Nc Ac Ap ~ qi
(kPa) (mm) (mm) (kPa) (kPa) (kN/m3 ) ny'B ny'S;
layer D(mm) Po
surface (kPa)
60 1.0 32.7 18 8.49 80 600
60 120 2.0 60 30.2 23.4 32.3 18 8.39 1.3 233 1420
162 2.7 35.7 19 9.25 380 1690
40 1.0 32.1 30 12.5 91 710
84 2.1 40 22.9 33.0 26 12.9 1.5 270 1900
110 2.8 33.9 19 13.2 469 2270
64 1.6 32.7 18 12.7 196 1140
40 15.6
120 3.0 60 30.1 32.3 18 12.6 1.9 550 2480
118 6.1
160 4.0 32.7 20 12.7 570 2800
40 1.0 33.0 21 12.9 106 1000
80 37.1 2.4
52 1.3 33.2 21 12.9 162 1350
40 2.0 32.1 30 25.0 363 2130
84 4.2 40 23.0 33.0 26 25.7 3.0 855 4410
20 110 5.5 7.80 33.9 19 26.4 855 4910
40 2.0 33.0 21 25.7 465 2060
80 37.2 4.8
52 2.6 33.2 21 25.9 698 2800
3
y' =9.74 (kN/m ), *: calculated from measured water content profile.

Table 5. Test conditions and results of footing on sand with a thickness greater than 60 mm, whereas for the
(a) circular footing cases with the thickness smaller than 60 mm, a large scat-
ter of y' ranging between 9.64 and 9.98 kNim3 occurred.
Centrifugal Degree of
B ny'B Clay above The accuracy in thickness measurement was of the order
acceleration saturation Ny,Nyq
(mm) (kPa) A.P footing level of 1 mm and the error of this magnitude causes a rela-
n (g) Sr(%)
tively large error in the calculated unit weights of sand
30 50 99 138 for the cases with a smaller H. In the following section,
60 25 14.6 100 160 the average value of y' for the cases with H greater than
60 25 100 157 60 mm, i.e. 9.74 kNim 3 (Dr=88%), was adopted as the
unit weight of sand.
40 50 19.5 0 100 138
60 50 98 134
BEARING CAPACITY OF UNIFORM SAND LAYER
60 50 29.2 95 127
Normalized load intensity 2q I ny' B observed in the
40 75 98 142 tests for sand (HI B= oo) is plotted against normalized
20 40 Toyoura sand 100 843 settlements of footings I Bin Fig. 3, where q and s denote
7.80 3.0 load intensity and footing settlement, respectively. Scale
20 40 M20 97 955
effects of the footing can be seen clearly in the curves for
40 40 1.9 M20 552 the cases without embedment (Fig. 3(a)); initial slopes of
40 40 15.6 M20 97 518 the curves and the normalized load intensity at peak
1.5 loads decrease with increasing ny' B. The peak load inten-
40 40 Toyoura sand 100 530
sity for strip footings is larger than that for circular foot-
40 60 1.5 Toyoura sand 100 458 ings with the same prototype width, while initial slope of
23.4
60 40 1.3 M20 400 the curve for strip footings is smaller than that for circu-
lar footings. Figure 3(b) shows the results of the tests on
(b) strip footing
circular footings with embedment, in which both sand
and clay were used as soils in the embedment. There are
no clear differences between the curves for tests with
different soils in the embedment. This means that the
y'=9.74 (kN/m 3 ) mechanical property of soils above the footing base does

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 BEARING CAPACITY OF SAND OVER CLAY 79

~ *: M20 was used as soil

->- >- in the embedment
~ 2001---- ~ 1200
~ t::t<
N N

.~
lifj

~=
..... 800
.9
"CC
¢'IS
ny'B(kPa)
14.6
.s
"CC
+++++ 19.5 ~
.~
29.2 ny'B(kPa)
"; 7.80
strip footings
--------- 9.74 ..=
0
- - - 15.6
- - 23.4
----- 19.5 z
0 10 20 30 40 10 20 30 40
Normalized settlement s/ B (%) Normalized settlement s/ B (%)
(a) circular and strip footing without embedment (b) circular footing with embedment

Fig. 3. Normalized load intensity-settlement curves for uniform sand

not influence the load-settlement relationship of circular ence in Ny between the two sands for the strip footings is
footing. Okamura et al. (1993) obtained the similar about 40. Considering the angle of shear resistance¢' of
results from the centrifuge loading tests on dry pluviated dense Toyoura sand in plane strain condition of about
dense sand with Dr~ 86%. In Fig. 4 bearing capacity fac- 45° (Tatsuoka et al., 1986), the difference observed in Ny
tors defined by Eqs. (4) and (5) are plotted against ny' B, corresponds to the difference in ¢' of approximately 1
together with the results given by Okamura et al. (1993). degree for the theoretical Ny (e.g. Vesic, 1973). This ob-
2qf
servation is consistent with the results of triaxial tests
N =- (po=O) (4) reported by Fujii (1976) that ¢' for dry Toyoura sand is
Y ny'B
slightly higher than that for a saturated one.
2qf
(po~O).
N
yq =
ny'-
B (5)
BEARING BEHAVIOUR ON SAND LAYER
The bearing capacity q1 was defined as the peak load in- OVERLYING SOFT CLAY
tensity for the curves in which a peak load was obtained,
Effects of HI B and Ac
while for the curves without peak load, q1 was deter-
Typical normalized load intensity-settlement curves ob-
mined from the load intensity at the intersection point of
tained from the tests on sand layer overlying soft clay
two straight lines extrapolated from the initial and final
without embedment are shown in Fig. 5. Initial slopes of
portions of the curve. The dry pluviated sand gives larger
the curves and the normalized load intensity 2q I ny' Bin-
Ny and Nyq than the saturated compacted sand. The differ-
crease with the relative thickness of sand HI B. The
curves for the tests with relatively small HI B show a
1200 peak and steady decrease in the load intensity after the
circular strip
footing footing
peak. This implies that once a foundation soil reaches its
1000
cby pluviated sand 0 0 failure condition under a certain load, a large penetra-
e •
~ saturated compacted sand
(A.p)
tion occurs in cases with small HI B. Relationships be-
:;{ *: M20 was used as soil in the embedment tween normalized bearing capacity 2q11ny' B and HI B
are shown in Fig. 6. 2q11ny' B of the layered soil increases
·~
COl
=-
COl
with HI B until it reaches that of uniform sand, which
"'
1:111 can be considered as the upper limit of the normalized
·E
COl bearing capacity of sand layer overlying soft clay, as
"'
..1:1
Yamaguchi (1963) and Meyerhof (1974) reported. The
~
.!:I
";! value of HI B where 2q11ny' B of layered soil reaches that
=
z'0"'
of uniform sand is defined as (HI B)*. In the case of a cir-
200
cular footing, (HI B)* increases with the decrease of the
strength of clay and varies between about 1.5 for the sub-
0 10 20 40 soil with OC4 clay and 2 for that with NC clay. In the
ny'B(kPa) cases of strip footing in which only OC08 clay was tested,
Fig. 4. Variation of bearing capacity factor with ny' B for various however, (HI B)* is about 4 and greater than that for cir-
depth of embedment cular footings. This difference due to the footing shape is

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80 OKAMURA ET AL.

250----------~~~~-------,
......... sand (a) circular footing n=50(g) ~ 200 (a) circular footing (SC series)
cq --- OC08 ny'B I
~ 200 -
I
:-
OC2 (H/B, B) 14.6(k.Pa)
~ (oo~.}~.(oo, 60)
I
.... ·:.: .. ···· (2.0, 30)
.... (2.0, 60)
c 15Qt---+-...J..-~~~g~
~60)' . 30
t988j
....
~
COI'l
150
·c 1
60 ~.
=
~
.....
~
Q..
''

60
29.2(kPa)
.5 100 ~
60
CJ 100 1----+- 0( !---+---+-- - 1 - -
"'0
~ ~ (30 1 6(40) (B(mm))
.s
"'0
~
50 ·~ (6of ec6d)
.~
~
~ 0(60)
..
e
z<:>
~
:.S
S
50 --i(60) --+--........_---+_
(60)
() (
(30)
60)
e NC
8 OC08
-1---

Normalized settlement
- (>0) I () OC2
Z
~::> 11\ e(60) + OC4
0~~~--------------·'------~~~--~
1 2 3 4 J) 00
HIB

250 (b) strip footing (SS series) --t--(20)() _

I 9.74(kPa)

0(20) 1

200t----+---+---t----+- ny'B-
19.5(kPa)
()
H/B=2.0 (40)

H/B=I.O

0 20 30 40
Normalized settlement sf B (%)
Fig. 5. Normalized load intensity-settlement curves for footing on
sand overlying clay without embedment

attributed to the fact that the stresses provided by strip

footings are distributed to a greater depth than those
from circular footings. Strip footings are more suscepti-
ble to the effect of the deeper weak layer than circular
0 1 2 3 4 JJ 00
footings.
Relationships between initial slopes of normalized HIB
load intensity-settlement curves and HI B are shown in Fig. 6. Relationship between normalized bearing capacity and HI B
Fig. 7. It can be seen that the normalized initial slopes in- for footing without embedment
crease with HI B, and the value of HI B where the initial
slope reaches that of uniform sand (H/ B= oo) is larger
than (HI B)* for both circular and strip footings. Strength profiles of clay, that is, c0 and k, were deter-
It can be said from Fig. 6(a) that in the range of H/ B mined from the measured water contents with the use of
smaller than (H/ B)*, the values of 2q1 / ny' B for the oedometer and triaxial compression test results. Un-
cases with higher clay strength and smaller footing are drained strength was determined by multiplying the
greater than those for the cases with smaller clay strength strength increase ratio cui p obtained from triaxial tests
and larger footing. Figure 8 shows relationships between by equivalent consolidation pressure Pe (Atkinson and
2q1 / ny' B and the normalized bearing capacity of lower Bransby, 1978) expressed as follows,
clay Ac (=coNe/ ny' B). The bearing capacity factor Nc of e-Gsw/ 100
lower clay for each test was obtained from slip line anal- logpe Cc (6)
yses (Davis and Booker, 1973; Houlsby and Wroth,
1983) using its non-dimensional parameter kB I co. where e is a void ratio obtained from measured water con-

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 BEARING CAPACITY OF SAND OVER CLAY 81

2000 (a) circular footing

(SC series)
I ny'B
14.6(kPa )\8I
~-

--
~
~
1500
0(30)
0(30)+
+(30)
0
-+-
0(30)
HIB=3.0+
(30)

29.2(kPa)~
~
Q,
.s
-....
""'
......
:! 1000
0(60)
(60)+ .!(30)
(30)
(60b .(60) - •
t--

....= (60)cS 6(40)

"C
(60) .(60)
-e
~
.t::l
cc 500 ,_(60) ~(30) - r--
-
z= LfS
0
(60)
•
(30)
(60)
e(60)
I
e NC
D. OC08
0 OC2 (B(mm)}
e NC
f:::::.OC08
0 OC2
+
(60) + OC4
/(
OC4

0 2 3 4 JJ 00 0 30 40
H/B
Fig. 8. Relationship between normalized bearing capacity and normal-
ized bearing capacity of underlying clay for circular footing
~-
without embedment (SC series)

~
-..._
~1500~--~--~~~~~~-
1000
l::q
;;:-
:::::
---~
N 800
0

·oc
~
Q, Ac •13
~
~ 600
Oil
·c=
cc
~
.Q
"'0 400
0 ~
.t::l
-;

-
e 25.7-25.9
Fig. 7. Relationship between normalized initial slope and HI B 20 25.0-26.4
z= 200 40 2.4 12.8-12.9
40 1.9 12.5-13.7
40 1.5 12.5-13.0
tent w with an assumption of degree of saturation of
60 1.3 8.4-9.3
100% and Gs is the specific gravity of M20. The values of
c0 , k and Nc for each test series are given in Table 2 to 4. 3 4 5 6
It should be noted in Fig. 8 that there are linear relation- HIB
ships between 2q11ny' Band Ac for each HI Bin the range Fig. 9. Relationship between 2q11ny' Band HI B for footing with em-
of 2q11ny' B smaller than that of uniform sand and these bedment (EC series)
relationships are not affected by the size of footing. This
means that by using these two parameters HI B and Ac, a
direct comparison can be made between the results in SC den pressure Ap (=pol ny' B). Differences in 2q11ny' B
series and EC series which had different prototype foot- with different Ap are more marked as HI B increases.
ing diameters. Meyerhof (1974) showed that the value of (HI B)* was
approximately 4 for strip footings and 2 for circular foot-
EJ.fects of Embedment ings, and these values did not change with footing depth.
Normalized bearing capacity 2q11ny' B for a circular It can be said therefore from Fig. 6(a) and Fig. 9 that
footing with embedment (EC series) is plotted against HI (HI B)* increases with decreasing Ac and increasing Ap·
Bin Fig. 9. 2q11ny' B increases with normalized overbur- The design standards used in Japan, for example, Ar-

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82 OKAMURA ET AL.

chitectural Institute of Japan (1988) and The Japan Port retical relationships for uniform sand and clay are also
and Harbor Association (1991), often assume that for shown in the figure with broken lines. Considering the in-
cases with HI B =:::: 2, the underlying clay can be neglected cremental form (Eq. (7)) on overburden pressure LJpfJ
and the bearing capacity of the sand layer is equal to that based on the bearing capacity formula (Eq. (8)) proposed
of the uniform sand. This observation implies that this as- by Terzaghi (1943), inclination of the broken lines equals
sumption is appropriate for circular footings without em- twice the bearing capacity factor Nq.
bedment and gives results which are not safe as the aspect
(7)
ratio and depth of footing increase.
Figure 10 shows relationships between 2q11ny' Band Ac ny'B
for the tests with HI B equal 1.0 and 2.0 in EC series, q 1=coNc+PoNq+--Ny (8)
2
together with the linear relationship obtained from SC
series (A.p=O). The length of the arrows in the figure cor- On the basis of the triaxial test results (Fukushima and
responds to the difference in normalized load intensity Tatsuoka, 1984), angles¢>' of dense Toyoura sand under
for different Ap, LJ2qtl ny' B. Relationships between pressure levels in SC series and EC series are about 40° to
LJ2q11ny' B of these tests and the difference in normalized 38° and calculatedNq values (Vesic, 1973) for each¢' are
overburden pressure LJA.p are shown in Fig. 11. The theo- about 120 to 100, respectively. Broken lines with an incli-
nation of 2 (for uniform clay) and some 240 (for uniform
sand) are therefore lower and upper bounds of the
cq

~
500

450
,.
HIB=2.0

/(4.1\ \
relationships, respectively. It can be said from the figure
that LJ2q11ny' B has a linear relationship with LJA.p for
each HI B independent of Ac· These observations may
~ I lead to a conclusion that the normalized bearing capacity
C"l
I

·cc
400 t I
of the sand layer overlying clay increases linearly with
\ (3.0) I both Ac and Ap until 2qtl ny' B reaches that of uniform
=
c. \
\
•
,_..,I
I
sand.
=
CJ
bf)
....=
-~=
..c
"0
(f-p) GROUND DEFORMATIONS
Deformations of the subsoil were observed from the in-
itial and final positions of lead shots placed in the model
~
.~ subsoiL A radiograph was taken only after the test be-
-;

-e
cause it was difficult to take a radiograph through thick
Q saturated soils before the test. Displacements of the lead
z 0 10 20 30 40 shots were therefore obtained from the predetermined ini-
tial position and the final position measured from the
radiograph. Although there were some errors between
Fig. 10. Differences in 2q1/ ny' B due to different normalized over- the predetermined and actual initial positions, the ob-
burden pressure tained displacements are reasonable and provide useful
information on the failure mechanism of the subsoil.
Displacement vectors for the cases with B of 60 mm in
SC series are shown in Fig. 12 and vertical section ex-
100--------~---------------- posed after test is given in Photo. 1. In the case with HI B
= 1 (Fig. 12(a)), a punching shear failure (Vesic, 1975)
was clearly observed. A sand block having a truncated
cone shape beneath the footing was penetrated into the
underlying clay and a relatively small lateral displace-
approx. value) ment took place in the outer sand of the block. A general
(
of "-c shear failure, which was observed in the case with HI B
=0 (Fig. 12(c)), occurred in the underlying clay. A gener-
al shear failure was observed in the overlying sand for the
case of HI B=2 as shown in Fig. 12(b), which is similar
to that for the uniform sand (Fig. 12(d)). This means that
(HI B)* is also a critical point on the failure mechanism;
the punching shear is dominant for the cases with HI B
smaller than (HI B)* and the general shear failure in
3 sand for HI B>(HI B)*.
Displacement vectors for the cases with HI B= 1 ob-
~A.P served in EC series and SS series are shown in Fig. 13.
Fig. 11. Relationship between 2LJq1/ ny' B and LJ.A.P Lateral displacements in sand under strip footings are

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 BEARING CAP A CITY OF SAND OVER CLAY 83

larger than those under circular footings. From the figure less of the shape and depth of footing. Deformation char-
and Figs. 6(b) and 9, it can be said that the punching acteristics of the soil in which the punching shear oc-
shear dominates the failure behavior as far as the bearing curred are focused on in the following discussions.
capacity q1 is smaller than that of uniform sand, regard- Figure 14 shows vertical stress increments at the clay
surface, L1Pn and horizontal stress increment in the sand

H/B=l.O
(a) (SC series OC2)

sand

clay

H/B=2.0
(b) (SC series OC2)

Photo. 1. Vertical section exposed after test (SC series, OC4 clay,
H/B=1)

A.p=l.5 HIB=l.O
(a) (EC series) circular footing
clay
·clay

(c) HIB=O. ;
(SC senes OC08)
·sand

· · · ·clay

(b) H/B=l.O (SS series)~

•. ·.·.· .·.·..·. ·•···. .·...· . tn' fi t'
~spoomg
HJB=oo
(d) ny' B=29.2(kPa) sand

' " ' - / I I. I \' " ' --- - ~ .

,_,, ,____
- ----///
/ ; II ""',---.::..-
,,--- -~-

sand clay
.......................... --- - ..
----..,.... / I
/
\
, ............. ------
......_ ......_- - - - - - -

- ... - - ..
• .. _; ........ /i ,, ... ______ _

. , , ... \ . ' ' ..............

Fig. 12. Displacement vectors for circular footing without embed- Fig. 13. Displacement vectors for cases with H / B = 1.0 in EC series
ment (B=60 mm) and SS series

I:Q . ~---

~~
.. A-
;>- '-lo

--- ---~ ~..

:>::: circular footing
~ SC series ( NC)
C"l
HIB= 1.5 B=60mm
60 16.8 300
sand
40 11.2 200 EV3
' ~ 60~EH1
e
.......
....... \
,,,~~
20
0
5.6 100
0
20
-30 40
EYNJto !ll'4
40-J.24~26_J
unit: mm clay
siB(%)
Fig. 14. Variation of vertical and horizontal stress increments, LJpz and LJph, during loading

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84 OKAMURA ET AL.

layer, LJpf,, in the case with HIB=1.5 in SC series,

together with the normalized load intensity. On the verti- EVALUATION OF THE SIDE ANGLE OF SAND
cal axis in the figure, the vertical pressure increment at BLOCK a
the clay surface normalized by the undrained surface After the load test, model soil was trimmed to inves-
strength of clay, LJpzl co, is also given. The positions of tigate the deformation of the central vertical cross section
pressure cells are also shown in this figure. The vertical around the footing. Figure 17(a) shows observed settle-
stress at the clay surface near the loading axis observed ment profiles of the clay surfaces for the cases with
by a pressure cell EV 1 shows a steady increase with the B = 60 mm in SC series in which punching shear oc-
footing settlement, which is similar to the load-settle- curred, together with lines passing through the footing
ment behavior for the uniform clay (HI B=O) shown in edges at angles 0 of 10°, 20° and 30° to the vertical. The
Fig. 5. The stresses observed by cells EV4, EV3 and EV2 width of the settlement at the clay surface increases with
show each peak at around sl B=S%, 12% and 27%, re- the decrease in the strength of the clay. The projection an-
spectively. This implies that the vertical stresses at the gle of line from the footing edge to the end of the settle-
clay surface due to the loading were concentrated ment area increases with HI B. Deformations of the clay
beneath the loading area as the penetration proceeded. In surface are limited within the line with 0=20° for the
SS series, variations of the shape of interface between the cases with HI B=0.5, while for the cases with HI B= 1.5
sand and underlying clay was observed by photographing settlement areas are wider than the line with 0=30°. The
the model in flight. Figure 15 shows the variations at settlement profiles of the cases with similar Ac and HI B,
different settlements for the case with HI B= 1. It can but different Ap are compared in Fig. 17(b). The width of
also be confirmed from this figure that the vertical dis- the settlement for the case with embedment is larger than
placement at the clay surface was gradually concentrated that without embedment. These observations are incon-
inward as the increase in the footing settlement. It should sistent with the assumption adopted in the most existing
also be noted in Fig. 14 that the lateral stress increment in methods of the bearing capacity calculation that the side
sand shown by a broken line has a peak and shows a sub- angle of sand block a is constant irrespective of the geo-
sequent decrease. metric and strength conditions of the subsoil. In this
Considering the equilibrium of a sand block beneath study an attempt was made to evaluate the side angle of
the footing as shown in Fig. 16, the decrease in the base the sand block to the vertical at the peak load.
area of the block and the lateral stress in the sand both Observed distributions of vertical stress increments
lead the decrease in the bearing load of the clay and the LJpz on the clay surface at the peak load for the cases with
shear resistance along the side of the block, respectively.
These are responsible for the steady decrease of the load --NC
after the peak in the cases with bearing capacity smaller ---- OC2
SC series .......... OC4
than that of uniform sand layer as shown in Fig. 5.

HJB=0.5

HJB=l.O
SS series H/B=I.O

s/B=lO%

~
sand

clay
(a) influences of difference in HJB and strength of clay
Fig. 15. Settlement profiles of interface between sand and clay at
different footing settlement

circular
footing H/B=l.O
Q

sand

clay
sand '----....;:::__ A.c-9.8
- f....p=O
(SC series, OC2)
clay (b) influence of difference in A. P
CoNe
Fig. 17. Settlement profiles of sand/ clay interfaces observed after
Fig. 16. Equilibrium of forces acting on the sand block loading tests

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 BEARING CAPACITY OF SAND OVER CLAY 85

NC and OC2 clay in SC series are shown in Fig. 18. The 20

stress increments in the figure are normalized by the un-
eNc
drained strength at the clay surface co. The stress incre- ~OC08
ments at EV1 and EV2 are almost identical, which are
15 0 OC2 SC series
similar to the base contact pressure response of footing ~
<1) +OC4
on clay (Meyerhof, 1951), and much larger than those at ~
'"0 0 ss s~ri~s
EV3 and EV4. This suggests that the lower end of the
s::
:,::.,. 10
sand block was located between the positions of EV2 and
EV3. A vertical section beneath the footing after the load ~f.;,
test is illustrated schematically in Fig. 19. The point on
the interface between sand and clay (C) at which vertical 5
settlement is half that at the point on loading axis (A) lo-
cated between the positions of EV2 and EV3 for all cases
shown in Fig. 18. In this study, therefore the straight line 0 10 20 30 40
connecting the point C to the footing edge (0) is assumed
to be the side of sand block at peak load and the angle of
Ac
the line to the vertical is defined as exm. Variations of exm (a) footing without embedment
with Ac and HI Bare given in Fig. 20(a) and (b) respec-
tively. The angle exm decreases with increasing Ac and in- 20
creases with both HI B and Ap. The angles obtained in the I ~~ ::.0

~~
tests vary by some 16°, from 3 o to 19°. For cases of circu-
lar footings without embedment, bearing capacity calcu-
.-,
<1)
:2
15 ~
lated from the projected area method with ex of 19° is 2.3 01.)

v~,~p
<1)
times higher than that with ex=3° for HI B= 1 and 3.9 '"0
times higher for HI B=2. This fact implies that the varia-
tion of ex can not be neglected in the bearing capacity cal- ·-s::
...._.,
~f.;,
10
(0)
culation. As seen in Fig. 18, normalized vertical stresses (0) cf (f..p)
5 ~, circular footings
e A0 =8.4
~ 0 A0 ==13
I riB 3.0 4.0
0 1.0 2.0
-=
I
~
I 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 HIB
~
~
0
:= ~0 (b) circular footing
~--
~~ Fig. 20. Variations of a.n with Ac and H/ B
=~

"0
~ .....
:S5 increment at EV1 and EV2 were higher than Nc values
=a which is given in Table 2. This is considered to be an
=~ effect of vertical stress increase at the clay surface outside
Q~
z.e
-- 15 QOC2 clay the sand block. This stress increase acts at the clay sur-
face as overburden pressure. Another possible reason for
Fig. 18. Vertical stress increment distributions at clay surface at peak this is the underestimation of kB I co value in the calcula-
load tion of Nc, in which not the diameter of base of sand
block but the footing width was used as the width of the
loading area.
In the calculation of bearing capacity using the
equilibrium condition for the sand block shown in Fig.
16, an evaluation of the shearing resistance along the side
surface of the block might be important as well as the de-
termination of the shape of block. Figure 21 shows loca-
tions of pressure cells in the sand layer and normalized
lateral earth pressures at the peak load, Phl(ny'z+p6),
for the cases in which punching shear occurred in SC and
EC series, where Ph and z denote the effective lateral
earth pressure and depth of cell from the sand surface, re-
Fig. 19. Schematic illustration of vertical section beneath footing and spectively. The normalized lateral earth pressures ob-
definition of angle a.n served range from 4.1 to 15 for the cases without embed-

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86 OKAMURA ET AL.

.,••
riB riB Ph 'j(ny' z +Po')
I I
20 15 10 05 05 10 15 20 25 0 5 10 15 20
EC series (p 0 ',. 0) 0 I SC series (p 0 ' =0) I
I
HJB=l.3-+
I
~ 0.5 ~ 0.5
+ •• A
!2l

'-1.(4~ ••
f- HJB=l.oV- ~ 1.0
-
-= Q.
~ 0
type of HIB
-
-=
fr
"C 1.0
d)x+
I
!2l

- '-
1\,) 1\,)
/..p =2.4
.=: clay 0.5 1.0 1.5 .=:
I
KJ 0
•
..v • •
1/
~ ~
NC
"il· 1.5 0 0 E 1.5
HJB=2.0.
'AP=4.8
I
I..

2.0
OC2
OC4 / !2l
2.0
•
(a) positions of cells for lateral pressure measurement (b) normalized lateral earth pressure

Fig. 21. Normalized lateral earth pressures near the side of sand block at the peak load

ment and from 2. 3 to 7. 7 with embedment. The passive ment are smaller than those with surface footings.
earth pressure coefficients of smooth and rough vertical It is difficult to determine the difference in deforma-
walls in plane strain condition are 4.6 and 21 respectively tions between the cases with different clay strength from
for cf>' =40° (Chen, 1975), which are almost equal to or the displacement vectors obtained by the procedure dis-
smaller than those in axisymmetric condition (Kezdi, cussed before. However, the difference in the lateral pres-
1975; Houlsby and Wroth, 1982). The side surface of the sure could be attributed to the difference in horizontal
sand block can be assumed to have the same angle of movement of the sand. The sand block on clay with
shear resistance as the sand. In addition, relatively small higher strength was subjected to higher vertical pressure
lateral displacements were observed in these cases as at the peak load, which might cause larger vertical com-
shown in Figs. 12(a) and 13. These facts indicate that the pression and horizontal squeeze of the sand block, than
sand outside the block did not reach passive failure in the that on clay with a lower strength.
cases with punching shear failure. For the cases with punching shear, bearing capacity cal-
Relationships between p};/ (ny'z+p6) and Ae obtained culation was carried out by using the concept of limit
from SC and EC series are shown in Fig. 22. It can be equilibrium on forces acting on truncated cone shaped
seen that the lateral earth pressures are greater for sand sand block as shown in Fig. 16. Assumptions made in the
on stiff clay than that on weak clay. This is consistent calculation were; observed Olm value was used as the side
with the results of theoretical study reported by Hanna angle of each tests, stress increments on the base of the
and Meyerhof (1980); they proposed punching shear block equal to the bearing capacity of clay, coNe, normal
coefficient (see Fig. 1(b)) increasing with the strength of stresses on the side are ten times the overburden pressures
the underlying clay. It should also be noted that the nor- ny'z+p6, which are the observed average lateral pressure
malized lateral earth pressures for the cases with embed- at peak load for circular footings without embedment,
and shear stresses on the side are tan cf>' times the normal
stress. The angles cf>' of 40° for SC series, 38° for EC
20
SC series circular footings series and 47° for SS series were used based on the results
~ HIB=0.5 of triaxial tests (Fukushima and Tatsuoka, 1984) and
0 HIB=l.O plane strain tests (Tatsuoka et al., 1986) on Toyoura sand
--::-- 15 1- 0 HIB=l.5 0 under appropriate pressure levels.
Calculated normalized bearing capacities were com-
~ I
+ pared with the observations in Fig. 23. The observed bear-
1:\1 0 ing capacities are somewhat larger than the calculated
;;:- 10 0

*}
ones for SC and SS series, while for EC series the ob-
~
li:::
:.:::: served ones were a little smaller than the calculated ones.
~ r:,
5 "- JY ->-
•
HJB= 1
f..p=2.4
:b-u\EC series These may be attributed to the differences between the as-
sumptions used in the calculation and the observations.
Observed vertical stress increments on the clay surface at
• I • H/B=2.0
f..p=4.8 the peak load are higher than coNe and observed normal-
I ized lateral earth pressures for the cases with embedment
0 10 30 40 are smaller than the assumed value. Considering these
facts, however, fairly good agreement between the obser-
vations and calculations can be found, showing that Olm
Fig. 22. Relationship between Ph I (ny' z +p 0) and Ac obtained in this study represents the overall trend of the

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 BEARING CAPACITY OF SAND OVER CLAY 87

0~
circular footing B=60mm
e NC eA.p=1.3
150 D. OC08 600 ---+---
B=40nun
Cq 0 OC2
/ D. A.P =1.5
+
--
>- r- OC4
~·+
~ 0 A.P =1.9
<,....,
~
strip footing + A.p =2.4
0
C'l 100 :

-=
"C
~

~
~0
/..D.

u
c:J
-; 50
D.
Y-
/!1 (a) SC and SS series
[L_. I
I ( I I
0 50 100 150 0 200 400 600
Observed 2qf jny' B Observed 2q1 jny'B
Fig. 23. Relationship between calculated and observed normalized bearing capacity

variations of the side angle with the parameters, Ac, Ap results are inconsistent with the assumption of constant a
and HI B. It can be concluded that reasonable evaluation which is adopted in most existing methods of bearing
of the side angle should be included with the bearing capacity calculations.
capacity calculation of sand overlying soft clay. (5) Observed vertical stresses on the clay surface
beneath the sand block at the peak load are higher than
the bearing capacity of footing on the clay.
CONCLUSIONS (6) The lateral earth pressures observed normalized
This paper describes the results of centrifuge model by effective overburden stresses near the side of the sand
tests used to investigate the bearing capacity and the block range from 4.1 to 15 for the cases without embed-
deformation mechanism of a sand layer overlying clay. ment and from 2.3 to 7.7 with embedment. These values
In the tests, the effects of three non-dimensional are larger for the sand on stiff clay than that on weak
parameters determined from dimensional analysis, such one.
as sand thickness-footing width ratio HI B, normalized (7) The bearing capacity calculations were carried
bearing capacity of clay Ac and normalized overburden out using equilibrium conditions on forces acting on the
pressure at footing base Ap were studied as well as the sand block with observed side angles am and the average
effect of footing shape. The following conclusions were of observed lateral stress ratios. The calculated bearing
drawn; capacities compared quite well with the observations.
(1) Normalized bearing capacity 2q11ny' B of sand This shows that a reasonable evaluation of the side angle
overlying soft clay increases with HI B until 2q11ny' B should be incorporated with the bearing capacity calcula-
reaches to that of uniform sand, which can be considered tion.
as the upper limit of the bearing capacity. The bearing
capacity also increases linearly with both Ac and Ap.
(2) The values of HI B where 2q11ny' B reaches that REFERENCES
of uniform sand, (HI B)*, were between 1.5 and 2.0 for 1) Architectural Institute of Japan (1988): Recommendations for De~
a circular footing without embedment and around 4 for a sign of Building Foundations, Gihodo (in Japanese).
strip footing. The value increases with increasing Ap and 2) Atkinson, J. H. and Bransby, P. L. (1978): The Mechanics of
Soils, McGraw~Hill, London.
decreasing Ac. 3) Baglioni, V. P., Chow, G. S. and Endley, S. N. (1982): "Jack~up
(3) For the cases with 2q11ny' B smaller than that for foundation stability in stratified soil profiles," Proc. 14th Offshore
uniform sand, punching shear occurs, where a truncated Technology Conference, Vol. 4, Paper OTC4409, pp. 363-369.
cone shaped sand block between the footing base and the 4) Brown, J. D. and Paterson, W. G. (1964): "Failure of an oil
storage tank founded on a sensitive marine clay," Canadian Ge~
clay surface penetrates into the clay and a general shear otechnical Jour., Vol. 1, No.4, pp. 205-214.
takes place in the clay. For the cases with 2qJI ny' B ap- 5) Chen, W.~F. (1975): Limit Analysis and Soil Plasticity, Elsevier,
proximately equals to that for uniform sand, the failure Amsterdam.
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