BEARING CAPACITY

OF
SHALLOW FOUNDATIONS
of
Shallow Foundation

A foundation is required for distributing the

loads of the superstructure on a large area
The design of foundations of structures such as
buildings,
bridges,
dams,
etc.
generally
requires a knowledge of such factors:
1.
2.
3.
4.

The
The
The
The

load of the superstructure

requirements of the local building code
behavior of stress strain of soils
geological conditions

To perform satisfactorily, shallow foundations

should be designed with two main
characteristics:
They have to be safe against overall shear failure in
the soil that supports them.
They cannot undrgo excessive settlement (settlement
is within acceptable level)

Foundation Engineering is
a clever combination of soil
mechanics, engineering
geology and proper judgment
derived from past experience.
To a certain extent, it may be
called an ART.

The aim
of
Geotechnical (Foundation) Engineer
is to determine
The

most economical
Foundation type

The foundation types for structures

have two main categories:

1.Shallow Foundation
2.Deep Foundation

Shallow Foundation
When Df / B 3 to 4
Ground Surface

Deep Foundation

weak
soil
bed rock

When Df / B < 3 to 4

Ultimate Bearing
Capacity
The load per unit area of the
foundation at which shear
failure in soil occurs

General Concept
Modes of Failure of Soil
under a Foundation

Modes of shear Failure :

Vesic (1973) classified shear failure of soil under a
foundation base into three categories depending
on the type of soil & location of foundation.
1)General Shear failure.
2)Local Shear failure.
3) Punching Shear failure

General Shear failure

The load - Settlement curve in case of footing resting on surface of dense sand or
stiff clays shows pronounced peak & failure occurs at very small strain.
A loaded base on such soils sinks or tilts suddenly in to the ground showing a
surface heave of adjoining soil
The shearing strength is fully mobilized all along the slip surface & hence failure
planes are well defined.
The failure occurs at very small vertical strains accompanied by large lateral
strains.

LOCAL SHEAR FAILURE

When load is equal to a certain value qu(1),The foundation

movement is accompanied by sudden jerks.
The failure surface gradually extend out wards from the foundation.
The failure starts at localized spot beneath the foundation &
migrates out ward part by part gradually leading to ultimate failure.
The shear strength of soil is not fully mobilized along planes &
hence failure planes are not defined clearly.
The failure occurs at large vertical strain & very small lateral strains

PUNCHING SHARE FAILURE

The loaded base sinks into soil like a punch.

The failure surface do not extend up to the ground surface.
No heave is observed.
Large vertical strains are involved with practically no lateral
Failure planes are difficult to locate.

deformation.

dr. isam jardaneh / foundation

engineering / 2010

dr. isam jardaneh / foundation

engineering / 2010

Terzaghis Bearing Capacity Theory

for
General Shear Failure
Terzaghi (1943) analyzed a shallow
continuous footing by making some
assumptions

The failure zones do not extend above the horizontal

plane passing through base of footing
The failure occurs when the down ward pressure
exerted by loads on the soil adjoining the inclined
surfaces on soil wedge is equal to upward pressure.
Downward forces are due to the load (=qu B) & the
weight of soil wedge (1/4 B2 tan)
Upward forces are the vertical components of resultant
passive pressure (Pp) & the cohesion (c) acting along
the inclined surfaces.

The failure area in the soil under the

foundation can be divided into three
major zones, they are:

For equilibrium:
Fv = 0
1/4 B2tan + quxB = 2Pp +2C Li sin
where Li = length of inclined surface CB
( = B/2 /cos)
Therefore,
qu B = 2Pp + BC tan - B2tan ------ (1)
The resultant passive pressure (Pp) on the surface CB & CA
constitutes three components i.e. (Pp)r, (Pp)c & (Pp) q,
Thus,
Pp = (Pp)r + (Pp)c + (Pp)q

qu B= 2[ (Pp)r +(Pp)c +(Pp)q ]+ Bctan-

B2 tan

Substituting; 2 (Pp)r - rB2tan1 = B

BNr
2 (Pp)q
= B D Nq
& 2 (Pp)c + Bc1 tan1 = B C1 Nc;
We get,
qu =CNc + Df Nq + 0.5 B N
This is Terzaghis Bearing capacity
equation for determining ultimate bearing

ULTIMATE BEARING CAPACITY EQUATION FOR

CONTINUOUS FOOTING (GENERAL SHEAR
FAILURE)

TERZAGHIS BEARING
CAPACITY THEORY
FOR
LOCAL SHEAR FAILURE

EFFECT OF WATER TABLE

ON BEARING CAPACITY
The equation for ultimate bearing capacity by Terzaghi
has been developed based on assumption that water
table is located at a great depth.
If the water table is located close to foundation; the
equation needs modification.

Examp
le
For soil

Find the allowable gross load on the

given foundation

=
18KN/m3
C=
16KN/m2
= 20
Assume:
General shear
failure
Factor of safety
3.5

2m
1.5x1.5m

For square footing

qu= 1.3 C Nc + q Nq + 0.4BN

For = 20 Nc = 17.69
Nq = 7.44
N = 3.64

qu =

1.3{(16)(17.69)}+{(2x18)(7.44)}+{(0.4)(18)
(1.5)(3.64)}=
367.952
+
267.84
+ 39.312 =
675.104KN/m2

qall = qu / FS = 675.104/3.5 = 192.89KN/m2

The General Bearing Capacity

Equation

Terzaghis bearing capacity equations

have the following shortcomings:
They don not address the case of rectangular
foundations.
They do not take into account the shearing
resistance along the failure surface in the soil
above the bottom of foundation.
They do not take in account inclined load.

Meyerhof (1963) suggested the general form of

general capacity equation:

Bearing Capacity Factors for General Bearing

Capacity Equation

Effect of Soil Compressibility

Gs = Es/2(1+s

Example
For the soil
= 16KN/m3
1.5
C =0
m
= 30
For the foundations
square footing
Factor of safety 4

Q = 150KN

Find B

1.0
m
0.5
m

=2
0

qu=CNcFcsFcdFci+qNqFqsFqdFqi+0.5BNF
sFdFi
Because C=0

qu=qNqFqsFqdFqi+0.5BNFsFdFi
For =30

Nq= 18.4
N=22.4
Fqs= 1+(B/L)tan= 1+0.577 = 1.577
Fs=1-0.4(B/L)=0.6
Fqd= 1+2tan(1-sin)2 Df/B= 1+0.433/B
Fd= 1

Fqi= (1- /90)2 = (1-20/90)2 = 0.605

Fi= (1-

/ )2 = (1-20/30)2 = 0.11

q = 1x 16 +0.5 (16-9.81 ) = 19.095

qu=qNqFqsFqdFqi+0.5BNFsFdFi
qu
=(19.095)(18.4)(1.577){1+(0.433/B)}
(0.605)+(0.5){(16-9.81)}(B)(22.4)(0.6)(1)(0.11)
=
335.216+145.148/B + 4.575B
qall = qu/FS = 83.804+36.287/B+1.144B
Q=qall*B2
qall = 150/B2
150/B2 = 83.804+36.287/B+1.144B

Bearing Capacity of Eccentrically Loaded Foundation

Ultimate Bearing Capacity under Eccentric

Loading Meyerhofs Theory
In 1953, Meyerhof proposed a theory that is generally
referred to as the effective area method.
The following is a step by step procedure for
determining the ultimate load that the soil can support:

Step 4.

the factor of safety FS= Qult/Qall

Exampl
e
For the soil
= 18
C=0
= 30

1.5m
1.8*1.8m

For foundation
e= 0.15m

Find
Qult

qu=CNcFcsFcdFci+qNqFqsFqdFqi+0.5BN
FsFdFi
For
qu=qNqFqsFqdFqi+0.5BNFsF
C=0
dFi
Step 1
B = B-2e = 1.8
(2x0.15) = 1.5m
L
= 1.8m
For = 30
Nq= 18.4
N=22.4
Fqi=
Fqs= 1+ (B/L)tan = 1.48
1
Fs=1-0.4 (B/L) = 0.66
Fqd=
1+2tan(1-sin)2Fi=
Df/B=
1
1+0.24=1.24
Fd= 1
Use B
q= 1.5 x 18 = 27KN/m2

Step
qu=qNqFqsFqdFqi+0.5BNFsFdFi
2
qu =(27)(18.4)(1.48)(1.24)(1) + (0.5)(18)(1.5)(22.4)
(0.66)(1)(1) =
Step
3

911.7 + 199.6 = 1111.3 KN/m2

Qu =

qu x A

Qu = 1111.3 x ( 1.8 x 1.5 ) = 3000.5 KN

HOMEWORK