Building Research Congress, 1951 : The Bearing Capacity of Clays . A. W. Skempton . : (University Render in Soil Mechanics at Insperial College, London) 1, Introduction The first criterion which must be sutisiee in any successful foundation design is that there shoud be an adequate factor of safety’ against a complete shear failure in the wnerlying “This is obviously a necessary condition Ing, th general, itis not a sifcient condition, Tn auiitidn, the foundations shonld. be Gesigned in such a way Ghat the settlements, and particularly the differential settlements® of thestructure, remain within tolerable Tints, Except for footings or piers with a breadth of only afew feet, the settlement criterion controls the allowable pressures on sands and gravels. Consequently, methods for estimating the ultimate bearing capacity of cohesion less soils have a somewhat restricted value. In contrast, the ossibility. of a complete shear failure in. clays iz ary real one, and frequently in practice it is con. sidered necessary, for economic reasons, to work with faciors of safety ‘against ultimate failure of not more than 3. Therefore, since these factors are of a similar magnitude to those used in structural materials such a5 steel and reinforced concrete, it is desirable. to possess methods of calculating the wltimate. bearing capacity of clays with the same order of accuracy 4s the methoils sed in structural design. But in many cases the use of a love faetar of safety” om the failure siterion Jeads 10. very considerable. settlements, and it is necessary for the designer tobe aware at Teast of the order of the settlements. He cam then adept suitable {ype of structure which can safely withstand the “deformations eonsequent aspon tke” anavement of the fondations. Yet the modern forme of con rruction involving continuions beans, portal frames, reinforced concrete shells and rigid or seahi-rigid frames sitive to dlifferential settlements, forms are usually more seonomical fn materials and_more elegant indesign than the older. forms: particularly’ in steel and reinforecd concrete bridges. The "tC iS often more satisfactory to restrict the nents by using’ a higher factor of safety. This will increase the cost of the foundations, but will not necessarily’ increase the cost af the whole structure Moreover, so far as buildings are concerned, the interior plastering and esterior panelling are themselves sensitive to settlement. By’ reducing” the deformations, the occurrence of ujsightly’ cracking in .tlvese elements of ‘the building is. also prevented, thereby reducing maintenance charges and enhancing the appearance stmetuy 2. General Considerations On opening up the excavation, the presstie. at foundation hel Ie raduted to 2000 trem ie orginal to the weight er onit ea of the soll ca) This tence rah tp the ring, terete The saber the fame prosine und water above this level, sve A pressure canses the soil to When the structural Toad bevomies ¢ For the selation between averages sand ditferential wetiement se dhe Smmportant japer be Viserahil,Linftations ef ape ‘stiet the present dimenion to average settlement, n And these the is gy and, if the ground were perfectly elastic and fo llr content ches nad eee es at be mus! ton, and, moreover, these movements could be calculated: However, the magnitude of ws consoled by. many practieal fictorsy and even “approsimate aimee ie ifn 3 wy Hough ae Fe may bo said that 4p i of the same Wider ay) -fee pela bi igh Once, the foundation pressure exceeds p the ground is subjected to strewes in excess ‘of those ating por to excavation, and it fs the settlements resulting From these excess stresses that ace calculated by the present methods. of ‘settlement analysis, Stmlath, Bre factor of safety against ultimate fature must Ge expressed in terms of the so-called = nett pressive"; that is, the preasire at foundation level ik eases of the original ovecburden ‘AL the end of emistraction the nett settkanent may be'considered as heing mace up of two partes ("the "Smmediate™ settlement, due to deformation of the sol taking place without change in water contents Gi) the consolidation settlement, dve to a volume Feduction ‘caused by the extrusion of some of the pore water from the soi Owing te the presence of the extremely smal parties of which elays are composed, the rate-of comity is very slow ‘andy in_Kenerl, the elastic sotionree is considerably the greater of the two compre at the end of constriction, “There is; nevertheless sail decrease ‘in sater content in the clay beneath ihe foundation," ant this will eause a cordesporien ral iorease iy strength, But for the peony fatimating the factor of safety against shar ang, assumption iy generally hae that thiscinereas in strength fs neigible, “That assumption 3 not eae conservative but italso leas to a great shopliheaes inthe calculation, Por saturated clays (and ost clays are saturated) behave with respect to Soplicd stecos if they were purely cohesive, non feieiicel materates provided ‘hat no water content ehange takes pce Under the applied stresses. That is to se, they exit snvangle of thesring resistance @ qual to goon “The assumption that a= 0 forty the baste ofall normal calculations of ultimate bearings Capi. wy lays, Only in special cases, with prolnges footiae Periods of hwith Very sity clays, iS the Sosumption Saeienty far Trom the truth to justly a more aboot analysis Tn) the course of time, however, the consolidation becomes” smportant, sind Ieads. to" the. shavsctersee feature of foundations on clays’ namely the longs continued settlements increasing, “althovgh tae Ereasng rate, for years or decades after Sonstruetion The principal ebjeete of 9 settlement. anata ee therefore to obtain {a fensonable catnnte ef the nett final" setlement pm coorespaning ty & Une ‘shew consolidation iy virally eapphete ate) Ti)ae " ot the progress af tthement at the end of Censtre ton fs of tinoreomseence 9 most page AM! settlement ‘aleations. ares at tle presgot tne based! on the elssial eoiation there of Penge or an extensions of thks theory 3DIVISION 1 aK WY. Shempton : 3. Ultimate Bearing Capactty of Clays (0) GConerat Ja the xeneral casr, the allowable foundation pressure nay be expressed in'the form” Qavennnte = whe 7 7 [: Rew pu (Ny— 1) 4 — "| ek 2 ny red factor of safety. ent cohesion of the soil the ak © app pe = effective overburden pressure at founda: tion level p= total overinirden pressure at foundation level Y <= density’ of soil beneath. the foundation ity’ if foundation is submerged der Sow wSter | breadth of foundatic a. Ny == factors depending upon the angle hearing. resistance * of the soil the ratio of length L to breadth # of the foundation and the ratio of tie depth D to the breadth of the foundation # (see Fig. 3) the term in square brackets, is the nett ultimate bearing capacity. should extend either to the hottom of t or toa depth where thestreses: pressures are negligible. Uneontined compressio preferably, “undrained teiasial tests" ried out on specimens’ cut ifm and oy are the major and minor prineipal stresses at failure, then i those were sonth unpling) sec the shear strongth directv in-situ, by: means vane test then inal oft clays, inc sensitivity, the vane test is; more econo! 3 tive to to aneasuee of the If only the shear strength is required ing those of fow or medivin 1 than undisturbed sampling and laboratory tests. But, in ‘general, sampling recommended since cGnsolidation {ests can also be carried out on the samples, and these are required for making the settlement analysis. Fortunately, disturbance is less important in on the consolidation characteristic strength of clays, It is not possible, in this summary, to. discuss in detail the procedure’ for estimating the value of ¢ to be used where the strength varies appreciably with depth. It must suffice to menti strength within a depth of approx: foundation level does not vary. by more’ ths per cent. of the average strength in Oat that if the shear ely 273 B beneath ‘about depth, then this average value of e may he nsed in eqitation Falue of Ne : ‘The values, suggested for the factor Ne are given 2. As ail example consider a foundatio Aa 15 it, L = 23 ft, and D = oft of Xe for a' square Tooting with DIB = ols = 7.2, from the upper eurce in ‘Ne for the actual rectangular footing with B:L— is given by the expression (0.84 $0.16 X'0.65) 7.2 = 6.8 with ‘Then the value 0.60 is ig. 2. Thus the required ~ 312 Fig. ,-Settlementoffoundations—General definitions With the condition that @ othe f rs Ny and Ny are equal to wnity and zero respectively. Thus equation (1) reduces to the simple form etd on @a . F and the ultimate bearing capacity is ae. Net p Fe (ab ‘The problem of “cateulating the vullimate “bearing « ce of clays is therefore solved when the apparent « (usually referred to as the "shear strength ") of the clay has been determined and the factor Ne hhas been evaluated for the particular values of B, and D. Measurement of ¢ Fo determine the shear strength of the clay disturbed sa ples are taken from borchotes, which Fig. 2—Rearing capacity factors for founda inclay (o = 0) Since ai i to these of their derivation will be given of the paper. Before doing convenient to consider the a fon the ultimate te assembled in wportant part of the research work h of clays, t once be see ues of Ne is of recent origin, a discuss nthe following seet it will be lable field evidence * ‘This is.” wn that, the evidence, although limited to six eases and although | ‘For a recent account of triaxial tesling methoc intespretation, see @ paper by Skempton and Bishops aad+ in front of its Building Research Coxgress, 195 wer | average 5 FT ouNihon hawt EE eforence | piesaaceat | ote Detoak | eres, ger | Mita” | enh prom) gat etat | aqartomiiee | founda ES etongtes” | I Tnsatad 45 G5 | o flowerlimity 7 vena | 0.075 (vanelf | Odenstad Comp ToShing tests {Rfeppertnnt) o.ceytesnpe} Calling end rae i paeac i [Otenbed nso Rippen ss 2a6 60 | | Skempton (aoa i 2 | oe In Reap - " 18.6) 90 | Swanton ereve tinder i [enous Newport (ineloy t SRS SSE | [win ise haven t ivan oteeepede on 1949 oitrank so aeeaHlIEEaias enorme i i rrarthouse et» Fountain (1907) «a2 extrapolation from load-seltiement curve, subject to the usual lack of precisioi inherent in any Bet nbservatiots, provides a maisactory contention oF the suggested. Nates mf Ne Buster inet Contin ll be considered fa the serbia oa lose Tn thot eiaes Ht is possible to use Fig 2 dteetly in the estimation of bering eapnelty. But for sone purposes it is desirable #9 havea st of simple rales ‘which ean easily be remembered, ‘The following rules ae be put forward: iil AP the surface, here D. Vne 5 for strip footing 8, Nei = b for square or circular footings. (i) At depths where D'R<2}? Neo = (1+ 0.2 DIB) Now Gil) At depths where DBS 251 New = 1-3 New (ivy At any’ depth ‘the bearing capacity of a rectangular footing is [ste it | Xess ". (rectangle) 4. Derivation of the Bearing Capacity Factors Theoretical Results ‘The analysis of the bearing capacity of strip footings fon the surface (D r= 0) is due to Prandtl? who showed that Ne == 2 + = = 5.14. The mechanisin of failure assumed in this analysis is that the footing pushes Ifa “dead” wedge of clay which, in ideways and ins tum, pushes the adjacent material upwards, “Model tests in the laboratory’ intlicate that this mechanism is a reasonable approxintion When the footing is placed ata considerable depth the slip surfaces no Jonger rise np to ground level Meverhuf* lias evolved a modilied form of Piandtl’s auilysis in which the slip surfaces curve back on to the sides of the foundation. For stripy fhotings. th vortesponding value of Ne is $.33 but this i elealy, aun upper limit since it Involves too great a length of ‘depth 2 = 5/38, eTallare by ding, shear surface. It may be noted that the values of Ne for steip footings are independent of the ainount of shar mobilised along the base of the footing, : For circular footings with a smooth base, on the surface of a clay, a rigorous solution has been obtained. by Lshlinsky Ne being 5.08, ‘The mere practical condition of a rough-based ciicular footing of the surface of a clay stratum has been solved by Meyerhol, using an approximate* analysis, This leads to the result Nu-x6.2, For circular footings located at a considerable depth Rengath te surface thee seatons are avaliable With assumptions concerning. slip surfaces similar te thse bed aoe aaa fan upper limit. A completely different approach {hat originated by Bishop, Hilf and Mott, for neal, and extended to clays by Gibson" using the lang strain theory of Swainger. In this analysis itis _ assumed that the penetration of the footing, at ultimate failure, is equivalent to expanding a spherical hole in the’elay, of diameter equal to the diameter of the footing, HF isthe Toone’ moSate oe ie Bag JE a plastic zone is devised, of raging — "= peyona which the clay is still in the elastic state. for Nc, according to Gibson, is 4 E A = Pisce = + Per aL. For materials with stress-strain curves of the type exhibited by clays it is convenient to define E as the secant modulus at a stress equal to one-half the value, (see Fig. 3). With this convention the range of Ele for the great majority of undisturbed lags ‘The expression Ne 71 fat the smote Dice civele, an Den Sox,es ¥ig. 3.—Ultimate bearing capacity factors for deeply buried circular footings in w= 0 materials ‘Theoretical values and laboratory teste Laboratory test results Yor model footings in remoulded Landon lay’ is from 50 to 200. The corresponding values of in equation (4) are 7.6 and gig. Thus, even with this four-fold Variation in E/e the change in Ne is only: £ 10 per cent., and it js therefore suficientiy accurate to say that the Mott-Gibson, theory leads to the result Ne= 8.5 for undisturbed clays. Finally, Guthlac Wilson" has spproached the problem of the Bearing capacity of a clay loaded at depth by 2 rigid circular plate, by finding the foundation pressure necessary to bring about the merging of the two plastic zones ofiginating from the edges of the footing. ‘The tesalt depends to a slight degtee on the depth of the footing and on the original state of stress in the elay, 3s indicated by the coefficient of earth pressure at rest Ks. but for practical purposes Ne may be taken 288.0, when D is greater than 4B. Each of these three approaches to the problem i& by no means an exact analysis. And, indeed, the dificabtes in the way of producing a rigorous solution for the bearing capacity factor for deep foundations are great. Yet it is remarkable that all three theories lead'to values for Ne within the ro per cent, range covered by the Mott-Gibson apaiysis for clays. Experimental Results The first published results obtained from motel footing tests un clay, the shear strength of which was also measured, appear to be those of Golder, These Were carried ‘out on footings 3 inches. square ant inches 7 18 inches long, on the surface of remoukled London clay. The tests were of a preliminary nature, but they showed that Ne was about 6.7 for the square footings and 5.2 for the long footings. More recently, model tests have been cartied ont at Imperial College by Meigh** and Yassin'® on both emoulded and undisturbed clays, Careful guttestions were anscle for the effects of sinall drereases of water Gontent in he lay beneath the Foetings, veto the dlision of the high pore pressures cet up by the lod, and for the effects of different rates of stoi int Foaling. teste and the unconfined compression tes 1k eas found that, if the foad-setthement plotted inthe dimensionfess form shown these curves were almost heat used in the experiments aud for all values of he seas strength of the-clay under. investigation. Secondl: it was found that alter penetrating about four or f dlinmieters the footings continued to settle Under a constant nett pressure. ‘The ratio of this: pressure to the shear strength of the clay is clearly the Falus of for eirevlar footings at a considerable depth beneath the surface, and the experimental results are (plotted Jn Fig. 3, ‘Of the clays, " Horten ” and’ Loridon = ssere remoulded and “ Sheilhaven ” was undisturbed. The value for plasticine was wbtained by Meverhol (private ‘commanication) and ‘that for. copper was determined by Bishop, Hill and dott. For ppl aly the Mott-Gibson theo limit of Ne = 9.3 hav experimental pot two theories and, for the practical range of Ie for undisturbed clays (50 to. zoo), it will be seen that, as previously suggested (Skempton 1930), a value of Ne = 9.0 is a very reasonable average from the theoretical and experimental reslts Similarly, for deep buried strip foctings, N a reasonable average valve 4. the al for all sizes of foutings netsation A typical relation between q’e ant PERSON i a footing pushed inte the lay from the surface fs Shove by the line Oa! bY cra ia Fig, 4. Tie ne also the envelope of all loading tests for footings in MEY go= 7 Fig. S.—Load settlemént curves for model footings in remoulded London clay buried at any depth Di the toad-settlement curves for such footings being b bt ct dec et dte and dade. Tt is evident that, for the test starting at D =: 17, the shear strength of the clay’ is progressively mobilised as the pressure is raised from zero until, at the paint bY “Tests on moved scrowelinors, with nde foo, four and sis hits, iye Wilson len Value of Ne" of shut 9-5 for remanded Landon etay this result fs profubiy litle ton highs since hn vorrecthons ails for pore pressire difasion fromm tho clay hnmnedvtcl the blades. The actual strength of the elay wat therelor at greater than thet measured. by" compression. texts fon sainples taken from the Bull el elsy in ths teat containess4 fon the envelope, the strength is fully mobilised, Similarly, for the test starting at D = 1.5 B the shear strength ‘of ‘the clay is. fully mobilised "at point e% Moreover, it will Le seen that the "envelope" may. be extrapolated to the axis of zero penetration at a value of yle = 6.2, ‘This is Meyerhot’s value of Ne for a sireular footing on the surface, and in his theory, as in that of Prandtl for a strip footing, it is tacitly sumed that faifure oceurs at deformations negligibly small compared with the breadth of the footing. ‘The experimental results in Fig. § therefore confita® the theoretical surface values of 6.2, and s0 also do the tests on strip footings ; he envelope in these experiments extrapolating back to gle = ertheless, since the penetrations required to mobilise full shear in the clay are, in the laboratory tests, equal to about 0.4 B, itis logical to take the valucy of ge at the points a! b! and c* as the values of Ne for the appropriate foundation depths D = 0, 0.5 Band 4.5 B. In this way the relation between Ne and D/B shown by the " step-back "curve in Fig. 4 is obtained, Thus, for a surface circular footing on remoulded London clay ultinade failure occurs (Le, the full shear strength of the clay is mobilised), when gfe = Ne = 6.8: and Similarly for any other value of D. Bui, as will be seen from Table x, ultimate failure takes place in some undisturbed clays at a penetration of only 0.x B or even less. Therefore, although the " step-back " curve in Fig. 4 is undoubtedly the logieal interpretation of the particular test results expressed in that graph, yet in practice it may be an erfor not fon the side of Safety to assume that such high values of Ne can be used. Clearly, the most conservative aption is to use the “envelope” itself, since this hat full. shear strength is mobilised after penetration of the footing. It may, of course, well be trve that with more brittle clays the envelope ‘is itself higher than that obtained for the remoulded ‘London clay. But the tests on undisturbed Shellhaven clay did not indicate any: substantial difference. Consequently the most reasonable rocedure, for the present ai least, until more evidence 4s forthcoming, is to take the average envelope from the available test data and assume that this gives the required relation between ‘Ne and depth of the footing. This average envelope for circular footings is, “ in fact, that shown by the upper curve in Pig. 2 Ie may be noted that Isboratorytests™ (Meigh 1950) showed no significant difference between square and circular footings. The information on strip footings is less complete, the tests $0 far carried out being limited to London clay, But, since the ratio of Ne for the strip to that for the ‘rcle is 0.84 both at depth and at the surface, it is unlikely that any appreciable error will be involved in the assumption that this ratio applies for all values of DB. ‘The ordinates of the " strip” curve in Fig. 2 are therefore simply 0.84 x Ne (square). It is further assumed that the value of Nz for a rectangular footing may be obtained by linear inter polation according’'to the formula: alone eof the cone, Sariy stages of the text, the dissipation af pore protaure anal the depression orelewation of Uiewlay surtaee during penctenthon, all influence the results. "The tnoat thst ean be said at pent is that the values of Xp deduoud frinn cone tests fae eice fan attempt has heen inade to npply tiese carscetioes) We the range 3.0 to Jew for most cage Building Research Congress, 1951 . 2 He gcnes = [oss p00] i bag £ @) Simmary Clearly there is scope for developing a more-satis factory thant forthe beating apachy See eel in chy, but the sembenaprtat ealuc, of 8 ses loceifcaler and step fokngsare probasiy suds accurate for pracitl purposes “Abo the heepekake formula, equation (@) eaves experinee eh toh theoretical iventgation. ‘ie Smporfent, the oat, sfc given n Bigs save probably foneelat eon {vert rue work aay ead to gnproveness respect." Neverthe the conpariot of te eeths fapecity factors as given in Fig wath the mate field da, in Tabi, Se docy encour 5 Load-Settement Gurves in Fig. 5 some of the observed points cn the individual Joadacttement carver aa? be at (Ghown in Tig. a) are potted vith a common writs Ee onlinates bring expresed asthe ratio ofthe presen 4 tothe ultimate bearing capacity gr ae Sopra by points ay be te. ThE results of tape ta ee alship footing (i 0.3) are alse pleted re fame annec AS rough sppronimation al he mites He'on the seme curve and Wi interesting to exes the measure of agrcipent between these expernnened points and. the load-settioment curve. as" predied From simple theoretical considerations Now, irom the theory of elasticity ¥ fe known that the iméan settlement of @ foundation, of breadth By on the surface of semtnfnie soldi given by oe saa Ble ee ee infsence vduc depending upon the sha and rigidity of the foudation, a = Polson’ sath of the ooh oe For the present purpose equation (if moro con- veniuntly Witten i ae fee cd ee ne tof 8, gaa eeeear ee er In satbrated ‘lays with né_ water content chonge under applied stew (ihe 0 o eondltog) Ponaate Tatio is equal to f antl for a Tgtd cheat Yoon the surface Ip - Moreover, from the experiments’ previously described, gife = 6.8. ‘Thus for the model esis with chcular foliage of the eons ae : o BE a Vth footings buried at some depth bet the surface the influence vale 1 decreases (Ken, but the ee capacity actor Ne ~ pufe necewcs ae shear te and toa frat approstneon the prodect Fon hse i Constant. Therefore equation “G) hala good eet the eater Pati tea Further, in an undrained compression test the axial stiain under & deste stress (one aise bon (1 —«) where 7 Tp Pau (8) E where J is the secant Young's modulus at the stress (o1 — 3).under applied stress —*—" AMUN LPAI EA Sieemipiton 185 eau (10) Fle” (aye From a comparison of equations (7) and (20) it witt fore be seen that, for the same ratio of appliat stress to ultimate stress, the strain in the loading tests is related to that in ‘the compression ‘test bythe equation rf sea. eT) B The average stress-strain curve for all the compression fests carried out on the remoulded London lay” used in the model loading tests fs shown in Fig. 6 (a). From “| tsperinental points’ is “moderately. good this curve the values of 2/8 ean immediately be calculated from equation (21)'; and the fesut is showe by the dotted line in Fig. 5. “The agreement with the scept for high values of glgr. But the simple theory leading fo equation (11) cannot be expected to yield accurate results in this range, since at loads nest the ultimate beating capacity’ ‘a’ considerable zone. of the cny beneath the footing is subjected towstrains greater than those at the ultimate stress in the “compeescion test. The containér in which the circular footings were ‘uniiistarbea clays (Bje ~ 100) As before, equation (8) is more conveniently sritten in the form. fa me Ble In saturated clays: with no water content change (a oe i = 2.0, Thus Figs G—"Equivatent "stress etrain. curves for tested had a depth of at Feast 8B. Theoretically? the settlements should therefore be about 7 percent. less than the values calculated from equation (32) ‘This is of no consequence, in view of the very approxi: mate nature of the derivation of the strain Telationship. However, the container in which the strip footings Neve tested had a depth of about 6B. ‘This is adequate (2) for investigating ultimate failure: but the settlements would be 30 per cent. less than the vatnes calculated from the theory of semi-intin ind the corresponding Value of J:..N is only about 20 per cent. greater than that used in tquation (7), whereas, on the assumption of a semi-infinite solid, the product z x 3 ik veesron n [a | somes fagianeeree] “ee S [ mf [a ea E a sorinvoonenn fw fue | o 5 E as 8 @ = Sco ee 3 = Goan ‘ana — ater | ERE gu reer Fits 7-—“"Immediate ™ settlements In Held loading tests on’ saturated clays (@ 6)180 Jy. is about 65 per cont. greater for the 20:1 strip Feo ie mee clos Hence de ebserved fact of roughly than ft eet at the same factors of safety for Cee eee aP foating, which might, at fret glance the 1 TBS mousse nccounted for within’ the seen 1 Oe Slay the few tests carried auton strips wits of sec foregoing conceptions to full-scale foe UPAR Eccessorys to take into aecount the to od the grat warty of the cettlement Je due to Straing in the clay within @ depth of not more bs du to te palow the bese ofthe footing, At greater tan aon’ ear stresses are less than about 5 per cant dyes he station presse, andthe coreesponding ofthe ne (oun pically. 39. t0.80 per cont. greater vali ot tiated at em fen, Moreover, the steength an ely incteasce appreeiably with dept af the clay eat relatively great depths ate one-half Thos the SES ge aecording to simple elastic theory, 2 ee Pont my uation (0), equal fo thal we ae tith of 2-3 Beneath the footing in @ PU tues ot Ze given by Tevzaghi?_ and iG sroshenko™ the following results are obtained for shank ance of aires onde areas, if ine below 4B are neglected. Thas, to a degree of approxim! comparable with, the accuracy of the (ce 20 per cent.) assumptions, SPARe be taken that equation (11) applies to a circular for any’ rectangutar footing. 2 or torinvestigate. this relationship in pract Mey to Know the shape of the stress-strain ii wrtor undisturbed clays, and to compare the SuMiatedd settlements. with, field observations. | Fbr SAS purpose the stress-strain curves of a number of ts Pate plotted inthe form shown in Fig. 6 (>) Mite Pram afew exceptional eases, al the Vaivhient "stress-strain. curves were foanc! to, He eave hadied zone shown in this graph. The ra tthettement, curve ealewated from equation (12) tovdteoan the, average eptivalent stresestrain cure’ aan Mey pyr the solid Be in. Fg. 6 (b), is plotted in Bi arn joad-settlement curve s therefore a crate Bik Tiee of the theoretical curve for undisturbed clays em oe Ntoo., The settlements at any given factor seen ee (ce gaalga) will be inversely proportional to Gc wteal the curves for Efe == 50 and 200 are also shown in Fig. 7. THe Zaehor is aware of loading tests at six sites for nich sufficient data are available to enable the for ito be. plotted in Fig. 7. Three of these tests reals Jen to failure, and qa/ger is therefore, known Media in the othire three c0se5 gor has been calculated cineca Cand the shear strength of the clay. The front Caliable tests were those carried out by Sip Joh most Sfiaw oh thie piers of his brides over the Thames Haven Cros and Cannon Street, The former A RTO jee nmadredl yards assay from Waterloo Bridge, where exten ons. were recently’ ee an the London clay, ach of the exlinders Crone Bridge were loaded before building the deck, 1. Tn auldition, the the sinking of the Forming the piers of Charing With 456 tons oF 700 CONS, find the settlements were obser aoe eietion was meccered dutin Building Research Congress, 1721 cylinders, Sirilary at Cannon, Street Bridge the Siners were, testloaded swith 850 tons. For un- Gturbel London clay Ele = 50 and the stress-strain tee govely eumilar to that shown by the full line Be 6 Oye It is therelore interesting to note the seeeeable degree of comparison between the field TeeenaTons end, the approsimate theoretical Toad: Seoment curve in these esses. “The clay’ at Boston" sy ereet cot sbout 40 or 50, whereas the loading test ea Sra of the order 80. This discrepancy sree thae partly to the fact that the test vas caried ad at the bottom of a 40 ft, shaft, and the clay’ had Ott fore been considerably “prestressed: the test wofnar iv efect, reloading ofthe clay. At Sheihaven’*, being cult to make any direct comparison, since the say tants ested on a3 fe, crust of fara clay’ overlying oi days the crust had litte effect on the witimate Fo ty she cank, but i would appreciably reduce failure ements, Moreover, the soit clay is, extrac wee and the laboratory value of Ee = Bo may. sense? Sneiderably 00 Tow on account of sampling Weaken “Por the tests on. the screw extindee disteencees the resills agree reasonably well with Me ene Bye for the clay, which vas about Go, No a eee ie uvuilabie forthe clay beneath the WSlitder teved. by Morgans” but the load-settlement cant dseates about go and this fof the order often Treasured in normally consolidated silty clays. Seaeing. this Held. evidence, it may. therefore De und that mone of the data is seriously at varlanes ve Fine toproximate theory expressed by’ equation (22) we le a while the tests on the Thames bridges are eas to confirm this theory and als, by implication, see toag capacity factors given in Fig. 2 for circular FonJations ata depth of about 33D to 228. 6. Factor of Safety ‘As a minimum requirement for the stability criterion it Rasual to specify a factor of safety of not less than aoe mor general purposes, experience has indicated That ite desirable to use a factor of safety of 3 (Terzaghi that Packe), Thus, quite distinct from any settlement UiMleia, the allowable nett pressure should not exceed cased of the nett pressure causing ultimate failore. see ath ‘a factor of safety of 3, although there can Meine possibility of complete failure, or even of any Ueprecible over-stressing® in the clay, the settlements weer ye excessive. Consequently, it” i necessary 10 Eine at least_a brief consideration to the settlement to be oblem if the subject, of bearing capacity } wg capacity, KCen in proper perspective, 7. Final Settlement Where the clay exists as’a relatively thi Denwath the foundation, or where the foundati fon sand or gravel underlain by clay, the setiiements are small, owing to. the 1 restraint Imposed. on the clay by the adjacent rigid or com Palatively rigid materials, In such cases the fins! Paldlement, and also the rate of settlement, can be seitutated’ with sufficient accuracy from Teranghts theory of one-dimensional consolidation. ‘The procetire Tor eclculating settlements by this theory can be found Inldhe standard text-books, stich as Terzaghi and Peck Md need not be considered further in this papers, “AT ine pakt foundation pocswure To onecthird of that causing we ae ae soi nam: rhear stress in the clay. doce ultimate are ie yr cent, of the shear strength, Thos, mot exceed Ht OP Pty ultimate failure corresponds 10. & factor of Sac oF Ze Teast. 1] on overstressing Mmeglecting {iStated” strane concentrations) rT,sts directly on a relatively: thick beat of clay the problen is snore eoinphieated, “As rst approximation, however, the nett final settlement incluling “hth “immediate * and" consolidation settlement) may be calculates from the equation " te Mee ted aan (2) is. Qe.Be Le petal) where ni i the compréssiility of the elay: at'a depth 2 heneath the foundation as measured in oedosneter tests gn undisturbed samples; the compressibility. being dl over the range of pressure {rom ps, the original effective overburden. pressure at depth f, t0 (e+ 2) where ox is the inerement of vertical pressure set up at this depth by the nett foundation pressure. Miso, im these equations z, is the maximuin depth of the clay beneath the foundation or, if the clay. is very thick, 2, is some depth such as 4b" beneath which the settlements are negligible, and Zp is the infuence value for settlements in a depth 2,. Uf the clay structure was elastic then this conventional method would underestimate the final settlement, since it implies the assumption that Poisson's ratio ¥ 33 zero, But the compressibility Ce of the clay structure is greater than the expansibility Cy. (both expressed in terms of effective stress) and if this fact is taken into account* it is found that the conventional method Jeads to final settlements, which may be either lower or higher than those calculated. from more comprehensive theory ; but nol lffering by imore than ck 40 per-cent,,’ as shown’ in Table 3. The "theoretical " ‘final settlements have, so. far, only been evaluated for the centre of a. uniformly loaded cireular footing, and the determination of Ce, Cy and nsfor the clay structive is experimentally © felt mater. The purpose of the thkory Ie tefefore mot provide a method of settlement analyse, but moves to enable the order of error in the conventional aru to be examined, 5, in practice, structural design often does not justify ‘am ditempe’ to predict setllenents hh “ee Accuracy greater than that implied by the results i Tale 9, {Uns be conde hat the conan method (equations ¥2 and 13) 1s adequate for eating the al dthmeat af odtatgeteas Sera “ly. Feld observtions justly this conchtonts Tn order to obiain. a relationship. between, Foal setlement (rom the conventional method) sad factor of safety against ultimate feilure, equation (13) may be written in the form fe fe at me Te oe a a 3), where Ke = moduhis of compressibility measured in cedomete, de gt Te eae US) Bog ¢ "Kyle and equation (15) is analogous to the corresponding equation (6) for “immediate” settlements ; except that equation (15) cannot be expected to hold good for values of gular of more than about 0.5, since al greater values of this ratio the clay will be overstressed. Values of Tp can be found from data given by Terzaghi* and Timoshenko", and values of guife are “The few tesla at present available show that the com: peessiblity ratio 2, les In the range 0.1 to 0-5 (Shemptonsy) given in Fig. 2. From these values it can be shown ‘that the order of the average nett final settlement 13 given by the expression, eee Bo Kise ge Equation (16) enables a study to be made of the relationship between the factor of safety against ultimate failure and the average nett final settlement of a foundation ou a deep bed of clay. In evaluating equation (16) it is, however, essential to know the value of the ratio Htsje. A preliminary examination of the published data indicates that for over-consolidated clays Kile lies approximately in the range from 70 to 209, while for normally-consolidated’ clays the Fange is approximately from 23 to 80. In each class Hele tends to be higher for clays with a lower lig Timit. | These values must be taken as being only indicative, but they enable certain interesting de. ductions fo be made. In order to clarify the basis of these deductions, equation (16) has been. plotted Fig. 8 for sever Soha of Kyje. Also on this, Soot aE sy staph points hav’-byn plotted representing the results oT etl obuervatioh@un'ten steuctoses ‘The firt inference fom Tig. 8 is. that the field abservations in. tho six cases where Ivfe is known agree roughly with equation (26,) ‘The second lufesence is that, for any given clay, the settlement is appross ately’ proportional to the width B, at the same factor af safety. This result was frst predicted by Tersaghioe, and there is considerable supporting ‘evidehee rom loading tests, But the observations summarised ta Fig. 8 show that it holds good also for the final settlement of large foundations, "It therefore follows that, con: versely, the allowable nett foundation: pressive" on any given clay will “decrease in direct” proportion to the foyndation width, if it is required fo Fest the settlement to some’ specified magritude-+ The factors of safety corresponding “to vatious settlements for several typical values of Tele ate given TABLE 4 rhe Factar of salty 1a his pint ace an exeent general wentat by FTO,18 Hiuitding Kescarch Congress, 195t ts C7 spe sapien Fig. 8--'' Final settlements of foundations in saturated clays ble 4. “Where the Tactor of safet equation (16) is.tess than 3, the stability criterion, ontrols the design. These eases are distinguished. in 4 by the number 3 in brackets, Hf itis desired to limit the average seitlement to one inch, then it will be seen that ‘the stability criterion is’ relevant only for small footings on over-consolidated clays, In all other cases the design is governed by settlement considerations. With a limiting average settlement of three inches, the stability criterion applies to all footings on over-consolidated clays and to sinall footings on most normally-consolidated clays. But for raft foundations the settlement criterion is still of controlling, importance’ in all clays except those which are over= consolidated, with high values of, Kyje. Settlements of more than threé inches are not usually tolerated in buildings, but in bridge design settlements of six inches or more are often permissible, especially’ where provision exists for maintaining the correct elevation of the deck by means of jacks (as at Waterloo Bridge and elsewhere). In such eases, the factor of safety depends upon ‘stability considerations in all clays except those with a very low value of Kyje, unless: the piers are unusually wide.’ The importance of width in controlling the design of foundations on clay is therefore clearly. demonstrated, and also the inter dependence of the vo criteria, But a further inference ion of Table 4, namely fa neeessary to Timit the settlements to 2 few inches on normally-consolidated clays, with all but the smallest footings, are so large to be outside practical possibility. Therefore, unless settlements of many inches, or even a few (eet can be tolerated, it is not feasible’ to found directly on such clays, especially if the liquid limit is high, This. point has previously’ been made by Terayghi and Peck?, Dut it requires re-emphasis, since there appears to be as given by an-increasing tendeney to accept a factor of safeiy: of 3 as being adequate, for the design of fontings of any clay. Table 5 shows that this is not even appro nately correct for clays with low values of IGsfe if the | settlements are to be restricted to # reasonably sinall magnitude, Conclusion Jn conclusion, it may be said that, so far as the present evidence is concerned, the values of Ne given in Fig. 2 are sufficiently accurate for the deter of the ultimate bearing capacity of deep. beds telatively homogeneous clay: A factor of safety. of at least 3 is desirable in estimating allowable bearing capacity, But in many cases the foundation design will | be controlled by’ settlement considerations, and the engineer may be compelled to use, factors’ of safely very considerably greater than 3, in order to restrict the settlement ‘toa magnitude compatible with structural requirements. Acknowledgements The theory on which Table 3 is based was derived by the author while on the staff of the Building Researel Station, and he is indebted to the Director of Building Research (Department of . Scientific and Industrial Research) for permission to quote this work, and for permission to use the data r at Elstree aud Chelse Hid ing rmuch of the information given in this paper the author has een helped by personal comme WS. Hana, W. Kjellman, hol, We He | on, G. P. 1d Guthtae ishop, of Imperial College, initiated | if tests, and has given much valuableReferences 138. The Aetual Factor of Safety in Fs ee age tan "Peeeaat nla STergaahi, K.ty43. Theoretical Soil Mechanios, Sew Vark : 148. Determination iy sit of the Shar Scents vo Chulistuticd Cay: by Means of «Rotation angers ae ae Bey. case, sant Sth yan ‘skempton, A. Woe a948. Vane Tests in the Alluvial Pain of the Hever iurity Nar Geangemunth, wherruensisen ta Aceuling, fa and 8. Onlensta, tage The Wane Borce pace “Skene, Ac Wand Hishohe A, Wa, 1090, Phe Measurement ‘of thr slivar Strength ul Bolle Gevrecaarae oes Prandtl, i, igse.” Uber die, Harte. platcekor Korper, AGH GHWILL, Wht. CorTINGES. ATIFIMYS! Mle Sy “Meserhot, GG, 1030. & General Thenty af Heating Capacity seipbise wrskikeh Farias Sore Nore hyo ‘tshlinsky, A. Jo, 2044,. The Axial Spantntrical Peoblem ia Plasticity and the Brinel Test, ). ave ansin AND tke, Coeae Bishop. R. F. Mil, R, and X. entation and Hardneay Tests. Gibson, 181, 1950. Discussion on Paper hy Gutman ea (o9y0). J. iNet. Se. 95 335 "Swninvers KH i347. StrossSteain Greatly Delorned Ergineeriog Metals. SAUisan, € Mott, 1945. The Theory Koc. MHS. Soe. 5721 Compatibility in SAG aR Yaa uso. The Bearing Capacity of Seren Pies gad Scrowerete'Calindrs, J. 18a Cre fe ‘Gules, HQ. togie The Eiithaie Bearing Pressure Ngctonzulae Fuptings. 3. sere. tps iN, ‘iMfeigh. A. C1950. ‘Model Hunting Tests ov Clay M.Sc. tig), Cakes of London Library 7 ptanine d. 8. tase, Medel Studies on Bearing Capacity of Piles, “Thesis VhD. (Eng, University of Penden Liosary BFos, FN. 3048. “The Mean’ Plastic, Settlement of Vniformly Loaded Arca at a Depth Below the Grund sorface seTimashenko, Su 1954. Theory of Mlasticity, MeGemwe Hil ‘Cooling, L. Band A. W. Skempton, 1942, Stody of London Clays riser. en. tye 35h) H'adumn, Re E1548. Concerning tha Physical Properties of Chay. enod. 2p Tce, Conn soe met 1 See Hixon, 1. Ru, 1949. = @ Analysis, ceotmensgvn, 12 208 andr 274. Rutledge, B.C, 1944 to Laboratory Testing, ‘fe C These: cw Yorke: A Laboratory Relation of Uadisturbed Sampling an soe, CE. et 1955, 285 Blea HT. tay. The Design af Wharvesen Soft Grouma Joust en ast's. apiTerauhi, i. Aint He, Peck, 1948. Soil Mechanies in Engineering Practice, New Vor Mskempton, Av Wey 139 2Skemmpton, A. W., wissen Etfetive Stresses in Saturated fae Joha Wiley. A Thovry of Settiement, tay Strained ai Comstat Vela, wn Pischetintarion, GoW amd J. 1k, Cann paris of the Extent uf Hjstur ing Biles tte Matic Chet ie Dist lance SUawson, RB. and We Ey Simpson, sof8, Settlement Kecords of ‘Structures in the Texas Gull Coast Ares oneet 2D INT. CONE. Sit MCI, $7 43s Hanna, “W'S. 1930.” Setitement Studies io Ray cuorechicigua, 47 33, °Teczayhl, K. 1629. ‘The Science of Foundations, fe Present and Fotite, ‘ant Sue, e2 9y 290. Stayton, D. We s9% Nous Yor’ Joba Wig Modenstad, 5. 2948 ang, cox. soit nivel 3: ton" Skempton, Av Wey tos An Invest Capacity of Sof clay set kempton, A. Wor 1950, Wilson (Tog0, inst, Co Fountain, Hi. Day nips sn The aire, A. 916, Bush Grain Blevator, ‘ra. ant sie et 8 aHayter, H., 386g. The Charing Cross ridge, rxoe. 1st. Sisaery, Je Woe, 1805 tho Chavtog Cross Railway Costing LF, Iiridge. Poe, an “Buckton, EJ ndamentals of Sol Mechas Loading Tests on Clay, Pxoe! ase ation of the Heating ier.ee. IN sep. Discussion on Paper hy Guthtac Mi 7. (Wardha 37 ‘The City Terminus Exteasion of HJ. Teredayy 493%. The Reconstruction of Ghee Tiida, Juiseic eee 5 fe SThecbatant Ge Te tec Structures In HRyt Ti aie, sue heppaen, Ax no4h The ot thet Piety she Teka Settlement St tos! ot, onniation Probleme of the Picts Sitios, G. Was ayy Houmlationé of the New Telephone Boiling, Albany. 8