CIVE 2004

Lecture 8 –
Shallow Foundations
 Principles of Foundation Design
• Evaluation of the ability of ground to support structural
loads.

• Designing the proper structural element (foundation) to

transmit the loads into the ground.

• The design should be economical, with due safety against

failure and without unacceptable movement either during
or after construction.
 Types of Foundations
• Shallow foundations (also called spread footings) are
located near the ground surface.
– The founding depth, D, is less than the width, B, of the
footing and less than 3m.
– They include pads, strip footings and rafts.

• Pad foundations are used to support individual point loads

such as that from a column. They may be square,
rectangular or circular.
Pad Foundation
 Types of Foundations
• Strip foundations are used to support line loads, either
from a load-bearing wall, or from a line of columns which
are so close to each other that individual pad foundations
are not appropriate.
 Types of Foundations
• Raft foundations are used to spread the loads from a
structure over a large area, normally over the entire
footprint of a building. They are used when column and/or
other structural loads are close together. A raft foundation
normally consists of a concrete slab but it may be stiffened
by ribs or beams incorporated into the foundation.
Types of Raft Foundations
Raft Foundation
 Types of Foundations
• Deep foundations
– When the soil immediately below a given structure is
weak, the load of the structure may be transmitted to a
greater depth.

– They include piles, pile walls, diaphragm walls and

caissons.
 Requirements of a satisfactory foundation
• 3 main design criteria:
– Adequate depth: foundation structure must be located at
a depth which will not be subjected to any future
influence which could adversely affect its performance.

– Adequate factor of safety against shear failure (ultimate

limit state).

– Limiting settlement: foundation must not settle or

deflect excessively so as to damage the structure or
adversely affect its serviceability (serviceability limit
state).
 Modes of bearing capacity failure
• Failure mode depends generally on the size and shape of
the foundation, the relative density/compressibility of the
soil, drained or undrained behaviour and the relative
stiffnesses of the soil and footing/structure. Shear failure
can take place in three different modes (Whitlow – P 456
& 457):

• General shear occurs in dense or overconsolidated soils

of low compressiblity. At failure, a plastic yield surface
develops under the footing, extending outward and
upward to the ground surface. Catastrophic collapse
and/or rotation of the foundation occurs.
 General Shear Failure
qu or qf = ultimate bearing
capacity, the bearing pressure
at which the ground fails in
shear.
 Local Shear Failure
• Local shear failure occurs
in medium dense or
moderately compressible
soils.
• Local yielding causes
some bulging of the soil
but shear planes do not
extend to the ground
surface.
• There is very little tilting
of the foundation.
 Local Shear Failure
• q′u, is referred to as the
first failure pressure.
• qu or qf is the ultimate
bearing capacity.
 Punching Shear Failure
• Punching shear failure occurs
in soft or loose soils of high
compressibility.
• Failure takes place by small
sudden vertical movements of
the foundation. There is no
visible collapse nor substantial
tilting.
• qu or qf is the ultimate bearing
capacity.
 Definitions
• Ultimate bearing capacity, qf, - bearing pressure at which
the soil fails in shear.
• Safe bearing capacity, qs, - bearing pressure that the soil
will safely support following the application of a factor of
safety.
• Allowable bearing capacity, qa, - bearing pressure that the
soil will safely support and satisfies a limiting settlement.
 Definitions
• Gross bearing pressure, q, - total pressure applied by the
foundation at founding level.
• Net bearing pressure, qn, - net increase in pressure at
foundation level. It is the pressure that causes shear failure
and settlement.
• In terms of total stress, qn = q – so where so is the
overburden pressure
• In terms of effective stress, q'n = q – s'o where s'o is
the effective overburden pressure
 Definitions
• Factor of safety is a factor applied to the net ultimate
bearing capacity to obtain a safe net bearing pressure.

qnf qf  so
• Total/undrained stress case: F 
qn q  so

qnf qf  s ' o
• Effective/drained stress case: F  
qn q  s ' o
 Definitions
• Design bearing capacity or gross safe bearing capacity =

qnf
qs   so
F

so = s'o, for effective stress cases

 Ultimate bearing capacity
Terzaghi’s general equation for a strip foundation of width
B:
Gross ultimate bearing capacity
1
qf  cNc  soNq  BN
2
Cohesion term Foundation
weight term
Surcharge term

Net ultimate bearing capacity

1
qnf  cNc  soNq  BN  so
2
Terzaghi bearing capacity factors
 Other bearing capacity factors
Whitlow: Table 11.2

Eurocode 7:

Nq = eptanf' tan2(45o + f'/2)

Nc = (Nq – 1) cotf'

N = 2(Nq – 1) tanf'
 Ultimate bearing capacity
• Effect of foundation shape: shape factors (Whitlow –
Table 11.3)

• Eurocode 7:
sq = 1 + (B' / L') sinf' for a rectangular shape
sq = 1 + sinf' for a square or circular shape

s = 1 – 0.3 (B' / L') for a rectangular shape

s = 0.7 for a square or circular shape

sc = (sq x Nq -1)/(Nq -1)

 Ultimate bearing capacity
• Effect of inclination of foundation base
• Effect of load inclination
• Effect of eccentric loading
 Ultimate bearing capacity
• Effect of ground surface inclination
 Ultimate bearing capacity
• Foundations on saturated clays and silts
• Undrained conditions:

Strip footing: qf = cu Nc + so (since Nq = 1 and N = 0)

qnf = cu Nc

• Effect of depth and shape, use Skempton’s chart or

equation 11.9(c) (Whitlow, P467)

Do Problems 11.1, 11.2, 11.3, 11.5, 11.6, 11.7

 Ultimate bearing capacity
Skempton’s chart
 Stress distribution beneath foundation loads
• External loadings from buildings, bridges, embankments and other
structures produce increases in vertical stresses in a soil mass.

• The increase in vertical stresses at any point within the soil mass must be
estimated so that settlement under a structure can be predicted.

• Theory of elasticity is commonly used to estimate the changes in vertical

stress.

• The first elastic formulae for point loads acting at the surface of a semi-
infinite elastic half-space were developed by Boussinesq (1885) .

• These solutions have been extended for external loadings acting on a finite
area.
 Stress distribution beneath foundation loads
• In developing these formulae, it is assumed that the soil mass is linearly
elastic, homogeneous and isotropic. The soil is weightless.

• Stresses under
• vertical point loads
• line loads
• uniform strip loads
• uniform circular loads
• uniform rectangular loads
Fadum’s chart

• Influence factors for the

vertical stress beneath the
corner of a rectangular
loaded area

• To determine the change in

stress at any point other
than a corner, use the
Principle of Superposition
Approximate 2:1 stress distribution method
Pressure bulbs

A bulb of pressure is a line

joining points of equal
vertical stress