CHAPTER 2

ULTIMATE BEARING CAPACITY

BAA4513 Foundation Engineering
ASSOC PROF DR HARYATI AWANG
CHAPTER - Ultimate Bearing Capacity
a) General Concepts
b) Terzaghi’s Bearing Capacity
c) Factor of Safety
d) Modification of Bearing Capacity Equations For Groundwater Table
e) The general bearing capacity Equations
Introduction
General Concept
• Consider a strip foundation with a width of B resting on the
surface of a dense sand or stiff cohesive soil, as shown in
Figure a.
• Now, if a load is gradually applied to the foundation,
settlement will increase. The variation of the load per unit
area on the foundation (q) with the foundation settlement is
also shown in Figure a.
• At a certain point—when the load per unit area equals qu, a
sudden failure in the soil supporting the foundation will take
place, and the failure surface in the soil will extend to the
ground surface. This load per unit area, qu, is usually referred
to as the ultimate bearing capacity of the foundation.
• When such sudden failure in soil takes place, it is called
general shear failure.
• If the foundation under consideration rests on sand or
clayey soil of medium compaction (Figure b), an increase in
the load on the foundation will also be accompanied by an
increase in settlement. However, in this case the failure
surface in the soil will gradually extend outward from the
foundation, as shown by the solid lines in Figure b.
• When the load per unit area on the foundation equals qu
(1), movement of the foundation will be accompanied by
sudden jerks.
• A considerable movement of the foundation is then
required for the failure surface in soil to extend to the
ground surface (as shown by the broken lines in the figure).
The load per unit area at which this happens is the ultimate
bearing capacity, qu.
• Beyond that point, an increase in load will be accompanied
by a large increase in foundation settlement.
• The load per unit area of the foundation, qu(1), is referred
to as the first failure load (Vesic, 1963).
• Note that a peak value of q is not realized in this type of
failure, which is called the local shear failure in soil.
• If the foundation is supported by a fairly loose soil, the load–
settlement plot will be like the one in Figure c. In this case, the failure
surface in soil will not extend to the ground surface.
• Beyond the ultimate failure load, qu, the load–settlement plot will be
steep and practically linear. This type of failure in soil is called the
punching shear failure.
•
Terzaghi’s Bearing Capacity Theory
• Terzaghi (1943) was the first to present a comprehensive theory for the
evaluation of the ultimate bearing capacity of rough shallow foundations.
• According to this theory, a foundation is shallow if its depth, Df, (Figure
4.6), is less than or equal to its width. Later investigators, however, have
suggested that foundations with Df equal to 3 to 4 times their width may
be defined as shallow foundations.
• Terzaghi suggested that for a continuous, or strip, foundation (i.e., one
whose width-to-length ratio approaches zero), the failure surface in soil at
ultimate load may be assumed to be similar to that shown in Figure 4.6.
(Note that this is the case of general shear failure, as defined in Figure
4.1a.)
• The effect of soil above the bottom of the foundation may also be assumed
to be replaced by an equivalent surcharge, q = γDf (where γ is the unit
weight of soil).
The failure zone under the foundation can
be separated into three parts (see Figure
4.6):
1. The triangular zone ACD immediately
under the foundation.
2. The radial shear zones ADF and CDE,
with the curves DE and DF being arcs of
a logarithmic spiral
3. Two triangular Rankine passive zones
AFH and CEG
• The ultimate bearing capacity, qu,
of the foundation now can be
obtained by considering the
equilibrium of the triangular
wedge ACD shown in Figure 4.6.
• This is shown on a larger scale in
Figure 4.7. If the load per unit
area, qu, is applied to the
foundation and general shear
failure occurs, the passive force,
Pp, will act on each of the faces of
the soil wedge, ACD.
• for a continuous, or strip, foundation
Factor of Safety
Exercise
Exersice 2
Modification of Bearing Capacity Equations
for Water Table
• Equations of the ultimate bearing
capacity given, is based on the
assumption that the water table is
located well below the foundation.
• However, if the water table is close to
the foundation, some modifications of
the bearing capacity equations will be
necessary. (See Figure 4.9.)
The General Bearing Capacity Equation
Example
solve using equation 4.26
Exercise: