Bearing Capacity & Settlement of Shallow

Foundations
Geotechnical Engineering (CV332)

Dr. Shamsher Sadiq

Email: shamsher.sadiq@giki.edu.pk
Shamsher (2020)-11th November, 2020 Geotechnical Engineering (CV332)
 OUTLINE

• Foundation, Key terms & Classifications

• Foundation Design Approach
• Types of Bearing Capacity Failure
• Bearing Capacity Theories
• Rankine’s Bearing Capacity Theory
• Exact solution based on limit theorems of ideal rigid-perfectly-plastic materials
• Bell’s Theory
• Prandtl Failure Theory
• Terzaghi’s Bearing Capacity Theory
• General Bearing Capacity Theory
• Numerical Examples

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 Bell’s Theory

Comments:
• The shape of failure surface is poorly defined.
• It does not take into account for the size of footing

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 Prandtl Failure Theory

Prandtl (1920) proposed his theory of bearing capacity based on his study of penetration or
punching of long hard metal puncher into a softer material. While all modern theories of bearing
capacity are based on Terzaghi’s theory, Terzaghi’s theory itself is based on Prandtl’s theory of
bearing capacity.

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 Prandtl Failure Theory

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 Terzaghi Bearing Capacity Theory

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 Terzaghi Bearing Capacity Theory

where FS is a factor of safety ranging from 2 to 3; FS= 3 is most often used.

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 Terzaghi Bearing Capacity Theory

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 General Bearing Capacity Equation
• Meyerhof (1963) presented a general bearing capacity equation which takes into account the shape and the
inclination of load.
• Hansen (1970) extended the work of Meyerhof by including two additional factors to take care of base tilt and
foundations on slopes. Vesic (1973, 1974) used the same form of equation suggested by Hansen. All three
investigators use the equations proposed by Prandtl (1921) for computing the values of Nc and Nq wherein the
foundation base is assumed as smooth with the angle a = 45° + ϕ’/2 .However, the equations used by them for
computing the values of Nγ are different.

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 General Bearing Capacity Equation

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 General Bearing Capacity Equation

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 Validity of the Bearing Capacity Equations

• There is currently no method of obtaining the ultimate bearing capacity of a

foundation other than as an estimate (Bowles, 1996).
• There has been little experimental verification of any of the methods except
by using model footings.
• Up to a depth of Df~ B the Meyerhof qu is not greatly different from the
Terzaghi value (Bowles, 1996).
• The Terzaghi equations, being the first proposed, have been quite popular
with designers. Both the Meyerhof and Hansen methods are widely used.
The Vesic method has not been much used.
• It is a good practice to use at least two methods and compare the computed
values of qu. If the two values do not compare well, use a third method.

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 Assignment 3 (Part 2)

• Question: 4 Briefly write down how Bearing Capacity Equation is developed starting
from Rankine-Bells-Prandtl-Terzaghi- General Bearing Capacity Equation (Meyerhof’s-
Hensen-Vesic). (Note: The answer should reflect your understanding about how bearing
capacity theories evolved.)
• Question: 5 A 2.0 m wide strip foundation is placed at a depth of 1.5 m within a sandy
clay, where c’= 10 kN/m2, ϕ’= 26°, and ɤ=19.0 kN/m3. Calculate bearing capacities
using
a) Bell’s Theory
b) Prandtl Failure Theory
c) Terzaghi’s Bearing Capacity Theory
Show the comparison on Bar chart.
• Question: 6 A design requires placing a square foundation at 1.0 m depth to carry a
column load of 1500 kN. The soil properties are c’= 15 kN/m2, ϕ’= 24, and ɤ =18.5
kN/m3. What should be the width B of the foundation using Terzaghi’s Equation?
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