SEISMIC BEARING CAPACITY 9 by the ultimate bearing capacity (Vau=qu- B) under verti- cal centered load. This permits the study of the seismic effects on the bearing capacity merely in terms of reduc- tion factors with respect to the static case, neglecting the problem of the accurate evaluation of the NY, factor (or Vos) This approach was followed by Butterfield and Gottardi (1994), who proposed, based upon accurate laboratory tests, an analytical expression of the three- dimensional interaction curve for shallow foundations on sands, subjected to inclined and eccentric loads. As confirmed also by the experimental work of Nova and Montrasio (1991), the failure locus is approximately in- dependent of the soil density Effect of Load Eccentricity ‘According to Butterfield and Gottardi, the bearing capacity reduction due to load eccentricity, for the case of dry sands, is determined by: e 035-B V/ Vea. Equation (7a) is illustrated in Fig. 7, together with the curve provided by the present method, and the curve of equation (7a) co) which matches the results of the kinematic approach. The agreement with the experimental curve is good, at least for eccentricity ratios e/B<0.3. Effect of Load Inclination ‘The interaction curves in the hv plane (=H Vass)s as determined by Butterfield and Gottardi (1994) and by the present method, are compared in Fig. 8, together with the experimental points derived from the works of Nova and Montrasio (1991) and Gottardi and Butterfield (1993). These points lie approximately between the two curves. The results of the kinematic approach, for a co- 12 Kinematic approech 1.0] Equation (7a) Equation (7b) Vox o 1 2 3 4 5 eccentricity ratio «/8 ig. 7. Bearing capaclty reduction due to load eccentricity on co- Iesionlesssolls without lateral overburden eet cee ‘> Goltordi end Butterfield (7995) Nowa end Montraso (1981) Butterfield ond Gottardi (1994) cquation (8) Fig. 8. Comparison of the h—pinteraction curves obtained by labora- ‘tory tests and by the present method hesionless material, are approximated rather accurately by the equation: h=0.850(1 V0) ® It should be noted that (8), apart from the 0.85 factor, follows directly a well-known formula for the bearing capacity reduction factor due to load inclination, in the case of a cohesionless material (see e.g. Vesic, 1975), namely: 0 EFFECT OF SOIL INERTIA ON BEARING CAPACITY ‘As already mentioned in the introduction, the previous studies of the seismic effects on the bearing capacity of shallow foundations did not clearly identify the effect of soil inertia, acting alone. The method discussed herein ‘was applied to study the reduction of the bearing capaci- ty factors due to the application of a horizontal volume force f= ks fy f, being the weight of the soil and ky a seis- mic coefficient. The results are presented in terms of the ratios 2.=Ne/ Ny Z=Nee/ Non 2)=Nye/ Nps Between the seismic (Ne Ngo, Nye) and the static (Ne, Non Nj») bear- ing capacity factors (Fig. 9). Whereas z. was found to be independent of the friction angle, z, and z, can be approx- imated by the following equation: 1 ky/tan oy" (ao) ‘These results were also confirmed by static finite ele- ment analyses and clearly indicate that, at least for a range of reasonable values of the pseudo-static seismic coefficient (k,<0.3), the bearing capacity reduction due to the effects of the inertia of the soil is small and does not exceed ~ 15-20%. It should also be noted that the kinematic approach predicts the failure of the founda- tion for k,=tan@, which corresponds to the general fluidization level according to Richards etal. (1990).10 PAOLUCCI AND PECKER 12 a aL So zal 2p) : . i = Equation (Oy : : Za 34 ve Fig, 9, a) Reduction of the static bearing capacity factor N,, due (0 soil inertia, ) Same as a), but for N,, and N,, A SIMPLE FORMULA FOR THE DETERMINATION OF THE BEARING CAPACITY OF COHESIONLESS SOILS UNDER SEISMIC ACTIONS. Based on Eqs. (7b), (8) and (10), a simple formula was derived which describes the effects of the inclination and the eccentricity of the loads, as well as of the inertia of the soil. Setting —2e/By'* (ita) x=(1—ky/tan 4) «any the interaction surface in the space of the load variables hi, v, eand ky can be described by: effect of eccentricity e/8 Equation (42) 2 Kinematie approach Fig 1 soll inertia (ight) are ilustrated a2 ‘As shown in Fig. 10, the agreement of Eq. (12) with the results ofthe kinematic approach is fairly good, both in terms of the eccentricity and the soil inertia effects. This equation has been obtained for cohesionless soils and no lateral overburden. Even in the presence of significant values of lateral overburden, however, it still provides a ‘g00d approximation for the interaction surface. Using Eq. (12), the effect of the seismic actions on the bearing capacity can be easily evaluated. If it is assumed that H1=k, Vis the base shear force and M=HC te over- turning moment, £ being the height ofthe point of appli- cation of the horizontal force on the superstructure, and recalling that M=Ve, one obtains easily e/B=kxc/B. Substituting in Eq. (12) yields, after simple algebra: i J ly . ( 0.85 (1 ian @) where oy deseribes the influence of the horizontal load transmitted by the superstructure, v; the infuence of the soil inertia and v. that of the eccentricity. Equation (13), therefore, represents ina simplified way the seismic elects on the bearing capacity of shallow foundations Seyret. (13) Effect of Soil Inertia If the eccentricity effect is neglected (v2=1), then the values predicted by Eq. (13) are in very good agreement (see Fig. 11) with other published solutions, as well as with stati finite element analyses. It is important to note that the effect of the soil inertia is practically negligible with respect to the horizontal force transmitted by the su- perstructure, as shown in Fig. 12, where the two curves have both been obtained by Eq. (13), first neglecting the effect of the soil inertia (v;=1), then including it. In addi- tion, by neglecting the soil inertia, Eq. (13) becomes in- dependent of the friction angle and can be more easily ap- plied for design purposes. The effect of the friction angle effect of soil inertio Equation :(12) “Kinematic approach ‘hy Interaction curves obtained by the kinematic approach (sold line) and by (12) (dashed line), The effets of load eccentricity (eft)