Lecture 2 -

ShallowFoundations
 Shallow Foundations

Shallow Foundations are used

whenever possible; they are the
most economical foundation system.

Need to consider:
• soil strength (i.e., bearing capacity)
• settlement
Shallow Foundations: Definitions

• Individual (isolated) footing – supports

single column
• Combined footing – supports group of two
or more columns
• Continuous (wall) footing –supports wall
• Mat (or raft) supports entire structure (or
portion of structure)

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 Bearing Capacity Theory
Ultimate Bearing Capacity: refers to the
applied stress that will just cause a shear
failure of the soil (qult)

Allowable Bearing Pressure: refers to the

applied stress the soil can safely support
(qall = qult/FS).

Footing design must be safe against:

– Foundation failure (bearing capacity)
– Excessive settlement (often controls) 12
Foundation Engineering
 General
Shear

Local Shear

Punching
Shear

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 General Shear Failure
• Well defined shear surface & failure pattern
• Continuous slip surface
• Sudden and catastrophic failure
• Failure accompanied by tilting
• Bulging on both sides of footing
• Typical for dense soils

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 Local Shear Failure
• Failure pattern defined only under footing
• Bulging at sides of footing
• Large vertical settlement, but no collapse or tilting
• Settlement = 3%-15% B

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 Punching Shear Failure
• Failure pattern difficult to observe
• As load increases, soil under footing
compresses
• Soil outside footing remains relatively
uninvolved
• No movement of soil outside of footing
• Small, sudden jerks of vertical movement, but no
collapse or tilting
• Typical for loose soil
• Settlement = 3%-15% B
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Bearing Capacity Simple Model

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Terzaghi’s Bearing Capacity
Theory
• Based on classical theory of plasticity

• Based on Prandtl solution for

punching of a rigid base into a softer
material (1920)

• Based on material with rigid plastic

behavior. Therefore, solution is strictly
limited to “general shear failure”

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Terzaghi’s Bearing Capacity Theory
Assumptions:

• Soil is rigid plastic material

• Shearing resistance of overburden is
neglected
• Overburden soil is modeled as a surcharge load
• Length/width (L/B) is large; i.e., continuous
footing
• Soil strength modeled as Mohr-Coulomb

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Terzaghi’s Bearing Capacity

For Terzaghi Df<B. Others: Df<4B

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 Terzaghi: Φ , Vesic: 45°+ Φ/2

Shear strength of this soil is not considered by

Terzaghi
Terzaghi’s Bearing Capacity
Nγ ?

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Terzaghi’s Bearing Capacity for square
and circular foundations

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 Arena Seca

𝜸𝒅 c´=0 ∅′

 Arcilla saturada en el largo plazo o arena saturada

𝜸′ c´ ∅′

 Arcilla saturada en el corto plazo

𝜸 𝒔𝒂𝒕 cu ∅=0

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General Bearing Capacity Equation
(Meyerhof, Hansen and Vesic) Ver Bowles
Meyerhof:

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Meyerhof:

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Hansen

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Hansen (H)

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Hansen (H)

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Hansen (H)

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Vesic (V)

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Vesic (V)

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Vesic

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General Bearing Capacity Equation
(Das recommendations)

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Continúa…
|

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|

Continúa…
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Modifications for Water Table

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Modifications for Water Table

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Modifications for Water Table

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Eccentrically Loaded Foundations

 x   x centric   x bending
Para una zapata rectangular:
P My
x  
A I
Eccentrically Loaded Foundations
Ultimate Bearing Capacity under Eccentric
Loading —One-Way Eccentricity
Effective Area Method (Meyerhoff, 1953)

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Ultimate Bearing Capacity under Eccentric
Loading —
One-Way Eccentricity
Effective Area Method (Meyerhoff, 1953)

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Ultimate Bearing Capacity under Eccentric
Loading — Hansen or Vesic (Alternative)

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Ultimate Bearing Capacity under Eccentric Loading
Two-Way Eccentricity

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Ultimate Bearing Capacity under Eccentric Loading
Two-Way Eccentricity

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Continúa…
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Continúa…
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BEARING CAPACITY FOR
FOOTINGS ON LAYERED SOILS

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 If H is large
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Stratified soils
 Método de parámetros promedios (REVISAR Bowles, pág.
254):

Estos valores se reemplazan en las ecuaciones asumiendo suelo

homogéneo

Universidad del Norte87