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
Chapter 6. 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 ( > 67%)
-general shear
Footings in Loose to Medium dense
(30%< < 67%) - Local Shear
Footings in Very Loose Sand ( < 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:
For Square foundations:
For Circular foundations:
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..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:
c = cohesion of soil
q = . Df ; Df = the thickness of
foundation embedded on subsoil
g = unit weight of soil
B = foundation width
Terzaghi Bearing Capacity Formulas
DB
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 ′ as follows:
Groundwater Table Effect;
Case II
1. q = d.Df
2. the value of in third
part of equation is
replaced with
Groundwater Table Effect;
Case III
1. No change in ′zD
2. No change in ′
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
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
Vesic Formula Depth Factors
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
….. 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,
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
