Exact bearing capacity factors for strip footings - notes

2005 C.M. Martin

According to Terzaghi's (1943) assumption of superposition, q u cNc + qNq + 0.5BN. The (conservative)
error introduced by superposition can be avoided by using the freeware bearing capacity program ABC
(Martin 2004), but the approximate approach is still widely used.
Values of Nc and Nq have been calculated using the well known closed-form expressions of Prandtl (1921)
and Reissner (1924) respectively. These factors are independent of footing roughness, and they have been
formally established as exact plasticity solutions (Shield 1954).
Values of N have been calculated by direct numerical integration of the governing ODEs originally derived
by von Karman (1926). These factors have been formally established as exact plasticity solutions by Martin
(2005), using an updated version of program ABC that will be available for download shortly.
Note that in referring to "exact plasticity solutions" for N c, Nq and N there is an implicit assumption that the
soil obeys an associated flow rule (dilation angle = friction angle ). Values of N for a non-associated flow
rule ( < ) may be significantly lower when is greater than about 30 (Frydman & Burd 1997, Erickson &
Drescher 2001).
All of the factors in the table below are correct to 6 significant figures. This level of precision is obviously not
necessary (or appropriate) for design, but it can sometimes be useful when checking the accuracy of other
calculation methods.

References
Erickson, H.L. & Drescher, A. (2002). Bearing capacity of circular footings. J. Geotech. Geoenv. Eng. 128(1), 38-43.
Frydman, S. & Burd, H.J. (1997). Numerical studies of bearing-capacity factor N . J. Geotech. Geoenv. Eng. 123(1), 20-29.
Martin, C.M. (2004). ABC Analysis of Bearing Capacity v1.0. Software and documentation available online from
www-civil.eng.ox.ac.uk/people/cmm/software/abc
Martin, C.M. (2005). Exact bearing capacity calculations using the method of characteristics. Issues lecture, 11th Int. Conf. of IACMAG,
Turin, in press.
Prandtl, L. (1921). ber die Eindringungsfestigkeit (Hrte) plastischer Baustoffe und die Festigkeit von Schneiden. Zeit. angew. Math.
Mech. 1, 15-20.
Reissner, H. (1924). Zum Erddruckproblem. Proc. 1st Int. Conf. Appl. Mech., Delft, 295-311.
Shield, R.T. (1954). Plastic potential theory and Prandtl bearing capacity solution. J. Appl. Mech. 21, 193-194.
Terzaghi, K. (1943). Theoretical soil mechanics. New York: Wiley.
von Karman, T. (1926). ber elastische Grenzzustnde. Proc. 2nd Int. Conf. Appl. Mech., Zurich, 23-32.

Exact bearing capacity factors for strip footings

2005 C.M. Martin

Nc

Nq

()
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60

/ = any
5.14159
5.37926
5.63160
5.89977
6.18504
6.48882
6.81264
7.15820
7.52736
7.92217
8.34493
8.79814
9.28461
9.80746
10.3701
10.9765
11.6309
12.3381
13.1037
13.9336
14.8347
15.8149
16.8829
18.0486
19.3235
20.7205
22.2544
23.9422
25.8033
27.8605
30.1396
32.6711
35.4903
38.6383
42.1637
46.1236
50.5855
55.6296
61.3518
67.8668
75.3131
83.8583
93.7064
105.107
118.369
133.874
152.098
173.640
199.259
229.924
266.882
311.752
366.660
434.421
518.805
624.924
759.793
933.170
1158.83
1456.54
1855.10

/ = any
1.00000
1.09390
1.19666
1.30919
1.43250
1.56770
1.71604
1.87892
2.05790
2.25475
2.47144
2.71019
2.97351
3.26423
3.58556
3.94115
4.33511
4.77215
5.25764
5.79771
6.39939
7.07076
7.82112
8.66119
9.60339
10.6621
11.8542
13.1991
14.7199
16.4433
18.4011
20.6308
23.1768
26.0920
29.4398
33.2961
37.7525
42.9199
48.9333
55.9575
64.1952
73.8969
85.3736
99.0143
115.308
134.874
158.502
187.206
222.300
265.497
319.057
385.982
470.304
577.496
715.074
893.484
1127.44
1437.96
1855.52
2425.08
3214.14

N
/ = 0
0.00000
0.0106339
0.0242179
0.0408212
0.0607622
0.0844649
0.112443
0.145304
0.183757
0.228629
0.280879
0.341627
0.412173
0.494036
0.588986
0.699096
0.826793
0.974928
1.14685
1.34653
1.57862
1.84869
2.16332
2.53035
2.95919
3.46108
4.04956
4.74097
5.55510
6.51599
7.65300
9.00208
10.6074
12.5237
14.8188
17.5771
20.9049
24.9357
29.8388
35.8302
43.1866
52.2656
63.5316
77.5929
95.2519
117.576
145.996
182.449
229.584
291.056
371.967
479.523
624.024
820.392
1090.56
1467.23
2000.05
2765.60
3884.45
5550.24
8081.21

/ = 1/3
0.00000
0.0110586
0.0257878
0.0443525
0.0672331
0.0950574
0.128586
0.168723
0.216532
0.273262
0.340379
0.419603
0.512957
0.622817
0.751982
0.903758
1.08205
1.29147
1.53753
1.82673
2.16686
2.56721
3.03892
3.59535
4.25262
5.03017
5.95158
7.04550
8.34686
9.89841
11.7527
13.9744
16.6437
19.8603
23.7485
28.4643
34.2044
41.2180
49.8224
60.4242
73.5471
89.8703
110.280
135.943
168.401
209.715
262.657
330.993
419.882
536.469
690.752
896.883
1175.14
1554.95
2079.65
2814.00
3856.36
5358.81
7560.90
10847.9
15853.6

/ = 1/2
0.00000
0.0112596
0.0265319
0.0460261
0.0702954
0.100057
0.136180
0.179693
0.231807
0.293945
0.367775
0.455253
0.558674
0.680737
0.824616
0.994049
1.19345
1.42803
1.70397
2.02861
2.41065
2.86050
3.39057
4.01573
4.75384
5.62641
6.65942
7.88433
9.33941
11.0713
13.1371
15.6069
18.5673
22.1254
26.4145
31.6012
37.8947
45.5591
54.9296
66.4339
80.6214
98.2022
120.100
147.525
182.075
225.876
281.784
353.662
446.795
568.482
728.912
942.480
1229.77
1620.59
2158.80
2909.77
3972.74
5500.86
7735.20
11063.0
16120.6

/ = 2/3
0.00000
0.0114539
0.0272506
0.0476371
0.0732293
0.104821
0.143368
0.190002
0.246050
0.313066
0.392867
0.487578
0.599689
0.732111
0.888264
1.07216
1.28852
1.54291
1.84190
2.19325
2.60618
3.09162
3.66260
4.33468
5.12649
6.06038
7.16328
8.46773
10.0132
11.8475
14.0294
16.6306
19.7393
23.4649
27.9427
33.3421
39.8748
47.8083
57.4811
69.3250
83.8937
101.902
124.280
152.243
187.396
231.874
288.541
361.270
455.359
578.119
739.755
954.679
1243.49
1636.04
2176.18
2929.35
3994.80
5525.73
7763.26
11094.7
16156.5

/ = 1
0.00000
0.0118240
0.0286045
0.0506295
0.0785916
0.113371
0.156020
0.207770
0.270054
0.344540
0.433164
0.538175
0.662191
0.808259
0.979939
1.18139
1.41748
1.69393
2.01746
2.39600
2.83894
3.35737
3.96449
4.67604
5.51080
6.49131
7.64467
9.00358
10.6076
12.5050
14.7543
17.4275
20.6131
24.4203
28.9849
34.4761
41.1059
49.1416
58.9219
70.8787
85.5656
103.697
126.203
154.300
189.592
234.213
291.026
363.907
458.150
581.067
742.863
957.947
1246.92
1639.63
2179.93
2933.25
3998.85
5529.93
7767.58
11099.1
16161.0