Foundation Engineering

Chapter (3) Bearing capacity of shallow foundation

Foundation Engineering
ECIV 4352
Lecture (3) Bearing capacity of shallow foundation
 Ultimate bearing capacity (qu)
Shear failure ‫أقل حمل مقسوم على المساحة يؤدي لحدوث‬
 Allowable bearing capacity (qall)
Shear failure ‫حمل مقسوم على المساحة يمكن ان تتحمله التربة بدون حدوث‬
qall should be adequate to prevent excessive settlement and shear failure
 Types of shear failure:
1- General shear failure: For Dense sand.

2- Local shear failure: For Medium compaction soil.

3- Punching shear failure: For loose soil

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Foundation Engineering
Chapter (3) Bearing capacity of shallow foundation

Calculation of ultimate bearing capacity of shallow foundations without eccentricity:

1- Terzaghi’s theory:
Assumption for Terzaghi’s theory:
 The foundation is considered to be shallow if  D f  B  , in recent studies the
foundation is considered to be shallow if  D f / B  4  . Other wise it is considered to
be deep foundation.
 Foundation is considered to be strip if  B / L  0.00 .
 The soil from ground surface (‫ )سطح األرض الطبيعية‬to the bottom of the foundation (
‫ )سطح التأسيس‬is replaced by stress q  D f .

For General shear failure:

Type of foundation Ultimate bearing capacity qu
1
Strip Footing qu  cN c  qN q  BN 
2
Square footing qu  1.3cN c  qN q  0.4BN 
Circular footing q u  1.3cN c  qN q  0.3BN 
c: Cohesive.
q  D f
B: Foundation width (Diameter if circular).
N c , N q , N  : Bearing capacity factors given from table 3.1 P.158 as function of angle of
friction .

For Local shear failure:

Type of foundation Ultimate bearing capacity qu
2 1
Strip Footing qu  cN c'  qN q'  BN '
3 2
Square footing qu  0.867cN c  qN q'  0.4BN '
'

Circular footing qu  0.867cN c'  qN q'  0.3BN '

N c' , N q' , N ' : Factors for bearing capacity given from table 3.2 P.160
Or from table 3.1 P158 but replace  ' instead of  :
2 
 '  tan 1  tan  
 3 
2- Meyerhof’s equations (General bearing capacity equation):
Terzagi equations neglect:

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Foundation Engineering
Chapter (3) Bearing capacity of shallow foundation

 Rectangular footings.
 Inclination of loads.
 Shear strength of soil above the foundation.
Meyerhof’s equation takes in consideration theses variables:
qu  cN c Fcs Fcd Fci  qN q Fqs Fqd Fqi  0.5BN  Fs Fd Fi
N c , N q , N  : Table 3.4 P.168
 Fcs , Fqs , Fs  
Shape factors.
 
 Fcd , Fqd , Fd  Depth factors.   Shown below
F  Inclination factors.
 ci , Fqi , Fi 

Shape Factors:
B Nq
Fcs  1 
L Nc
B
Fqs  1  tan 
L
B
Fs  1  0.4
L
Depth Factors: Case I: D f / B  1
Df
Fcd  1  0.4
B
Df
Fqd  1  2 tan  1  sin  
2

B
Fd  1
Depth Factors: Case II: D f / B  1
 Df 
Fcd  1  0.4 tan 1  
 B  The Term is in radian
 Df 
Fqd  1  2 tan  1  sin   tan 1  
2

 B 
Fd  1
Inclination Factors
2
  
Fci  Fqi  1   ‫هي زاوية ميل الحمل عن المحور‬
 90 
2 ‫ ويلزم أن يكون الحمل‬،‫الرأسي‬
  
Fi  1   ‫مائل في منتصف القاعدة‬
  

Effect of water table in bearing capacity equations:

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 Foundation Engineering
Chapter (3) Bearing capacity of shallow foundation

Case I: 0≤Dw1≤Df Case II: 0≤Dw2≤B

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 Foundation Engineering
Chapter (3) Bearing capacity of shallow foundation

Case I) Water table is located at depth Dw1 so that 0 ≤ Dw1 ≤ Df:

q  Dw1   '  D f  Dw1  ( ‫)الحد الثاني من المعادلة‬
   '   sat   w ( ‫)الحد األخير من المعادلة‬
Case II) Water table is located at depth Dw2 below the foundation so that 0 ≤ Dw2 ≤ B:
q  D f ( ‫)الحد الثاني من المعادلة‬.
D
 
     '  w 2    ' ‫) )الحد األخير من المعادلة‬
B
Case III) Water table is located at depth Dw2 below the foundation so that Dw2 > B:
No changes in equations.

Factor of safety:
Ultimate bearing capacity ‫من خالل المعادالت السابقة حسبنا‬
‫ ولهذا ال يجب استخدامه عند التصميم بل نستخدم‬،‫و هذه القيمة تمثل االجهاد الذي اذا أثر على التربة تنهار عنده‬
‫قيمة أقل منه وهذا من خالل قسمة هذه القيمة على معامل أمان‬.
qu  Gross ultimate bearing capacity
  qu  net  qu  q   Net ultimate bearing capacity
q all  Gross allowable bearing capacity
 q all  net  Net allowable bearing capacity
Qu  Gross Ultimate load.
q
 q all  u
FS
q  q q q
  q all  net  u net  u  q all 
FS FS FS
FS = (3 – 4) for bearing capacity

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Foundation Engineering
Chapter (3) Bearing capacity of shallow foundation

Example 1)
Determine the size of square footings to carry gross allowable load (295 KN) given that:
FS  3
D f  1.00
  18.15 KN / m 3 .
  35 .
C  0.00
Use Terzagi equations assuming general shear failure.
295KN

C=0.00
=35
Df=1.00

=18.15KN/m3

Solution

Qall  q all  Area

Qall 295
q all   2 .
A B
295 885
q u  q all  FS  2  3  2 .
B B
For square footing :
q u  1.3cN c  qN q  0.4BN 
At   35  N c  57.75 , N q  41.44 , N   45.41
885
 0  18.15  1  41.44  0.4  18.15  B  45.41
B2
 B 3  2.2814B 2  2.684
By trial and error : B  92cm

Example 2)

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Foundation Engineering
Chapter (3) Bearing capacity of shallow foundation

Determine the net allowable load that foundation can carry (no inclination), Use
Meyerhof equation given that:
FS  4
D f  2.00
 w  10 KN / m 3 .
  25 .
C  50 KN / m 2 .

Solution
qu  cN c Fcs Fcd Fci  qN q Fqs Fqd Fqi  0.5BN  Fs Fd Fi
At   25  N c  20.72 , N q  10.66 , N   10.88
The water table is at depth = 1m <Df :
q  16.8  1  (19.4  10)  1  26.2 KN / m 2 .
   '  19.4  10  9.4 KN / m 3 .
 Shape factors:
B  Nq
 2 10.66
Fcs  1  
  1    1.343
L  N c
 3 20.72
B 2
Fqs  1  tan   1  tan  25  1.311
L 3
B 2
Fs  1  0.4  1  0.4   0.733
L 3

 Depth factors:

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Foundation Engineering
Chapter (3) Bearing capacity of shallow foundation

Df / B  2/ 2 1
2
Fcd  1  0.4   1.4
2
2
Fqd  1  2 tan 251  sin 25 
2
 1.313
2
Fd  1
 Inclination factors:
Due to absence of inclined load, the inclination factor is 1 every where.
q u  50  20.72  1.343  1.4  1  26.2  10.66  1.311  1.313  1  0.5  9.4  2  10.88  0.733  1  1
q u  2503.6 KN / m 2 .
 qu  net  q u  q  2503.6  26.2  2477.4 KN / m 2
 qu  net 2477.4
 q all  net    619.35 KN / m 2
FS 4
 Qall  net   q all  net  A  619.35  6  3716.1KN

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Foundation Engineering
Chapter 3: Bearing capacity of shallow foundation

Foundation Engineering
ECIV 4352
Lecture (4) Bearing capacity of shallow foundation (cont.)
 Eccentrically loaded foundation:
** ‫عندما تتعرض القاعدة لحمل مركز بدون انحراف فإن ضغط التربة يكون منتظما كما هو موضح بالشكل التالي‬:

BxL

q=P/(BxL)

** ‫عند وجود انحراف في حمل القاعدة عن المركز يتسبب ذلك في توليد ضغط غير منتظم أسفل القاعدة و ذلك‬
‫حسب قيمة االنحراف‬:
One way eccentricity

P
e
P

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Foundation Engineering
Chapter 3: Bearing capacity of shallow foundation

1- For e<B/6:

P
M=Pe

qmin

qmax
P Mc
q 
A I
A  B L
M  Pe Remember, for circular foundation, the
1 3
moment of inertia is given by:
I  B L , D is diameter of the circle.
12
c  B/2
P Pe B/ 2 P Pe P 6P  e P  6e 
q       1  
B L 1 3 B L 1 2 BL 2
B L B L  B
B L B L
12 6
P  6e 
q max  1  
B L  B
P  6e 
q min  1  
B L  B
B ‫القانون جاء بهذه الصورة ألن العزم المتولد كان في مستوى الضلع‬
:L ‫بينما لو كان العزم في اتجاه الضلع‬

P  6e 
q max  1  
B L  L
P  6e 
q min  1  
B L  L
2- For e = B/6:

qmax

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Foundation Engineering
Chapter 3: Bearing capacity of shallow foundation

3- For e > B/6: There will be tension stresses on the foundation which is prohibited
in design, so we will neglect the tension stress and calculate qmax as follow:

3(B/2 - e)

qmax qmax

4P
qmax 
3L ( B  2e)

Derivation:

1
N  q max LX ................................1
2
for Stability :
F y  0.00  N  P
M rig ht  0.00
ed ge

 X   B   X   B   B 
N   P  e       e  X  3  e .........
 3   2   3   2   2 

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Foundation Engineering
Chapter 3: Bearing capacity of shallow foundation

From 1 & 2 :
1
N  P  q max LX
2
1  B  2e  4P
P  q max L * 3   q max 
2  2  3 L ( B  2e )

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Foundation Engineering
Chapter 3: Bearing capacity of shallow foundation

‫وجود انحراف في األحمال يجعل مساحة القاعدة التي تتحمل األحمال أقل من المساحة األصلية حتى نحصل على‬
‫ مساحة أخرى يكون الحمل فيها في المنتصف كما هو موضح فيما يلي‬:
2e B-2e
B  B  2e
'

L'  L B/2 - e B/2 - e

A '  B '  L'
B  '
used 
 min . B ' , L' 
 If the moment is in the plane of (L) :

L
L'  L  2e e
B B
'

B
The equation used to calculate the bearing capacity is Meyerhof's or Terzagi's equation:
qu'  cN c Fcs Fcd Fci  qN q Fqs Fqd Fqi  0.5B ' N  Fs Fd Fi
To find shape factors: use B ' , L'
To find depth factors: use B, L
 in last term is related to soil below the foundation.
To find the gross ultimate load Qu:
Qu  qu'  A '
Qu
FS (Against bearing capacity) 
Qall
q u'
 Check that factor of safety is adequate for q max : FS 
q max

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Foundation Engineering
Chapter 3: Bearing capacity of shallow foundation

Example 3)
Determine the size of square footing (B x B) that subjected to vertical load (100,000Ib)
and moment (25,000Ib.ft), the soil profile is given below:
Use FS=6, w=62.4 Ib/ft3
Qall=100,000Ib
M=25,000Ib.ft
d=100Ib/ft3
C=0.00
4 ft =30
B

sat=120Ib/ft3
C=0.00
=30

Solution
1- Find the eccentricity (e):
M 25,000
e   0.25 ft
P 100,000
2- Find the effective area A':
A '  B '  L'
B '  B  0.5
L'  B
B 
'
used  min .( B ' , L' )  B  0.5
L'  B.
A '   B  0.5 B   B 2  0.5 B
3- Find qu' :
qu'  cN c Fcs Fcd Fci  qN q Fqs Fqd Fqi  0.5B ' N  Fs Fd Fi
At   30  N q  18.4 , N   22.4
q  4  100  400 Ib / ft 2 .
   '  120  62.4  57.6 Ib / ft 3 .
 Shape factors:
B  0 .5 0.2886
Fqs  1  tan 30  1.577 
B B
B  0 .5 0 .2
Fs  1  0.4  0 .6 
B B

 Depth factors:

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Foundation Engineering
Chapter 3: Bearing capacity of shallow foundation

Assume D f / B  1
4 1.154
Fqd  1  2 tan 30(1  sin 30) 2   1
B B
Fd  1

 Inclination factors:
Due to absence of inclined load, the inclination factor is 1 every where.
Qall  100,000 Ib
Qu  Qall  FS  100,000  6  600,000 Ib
Q 600,000
q u'  u'  2 .
A B  0.5 B
After arrangement of equation:
600,000  2451.2 11334 .571
   11542 .208  387.072 B
B  0.5 B
2
B2 B
 B  6.5 ft

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Foundation Engineering
Chapter 3: Bearing capacity of shallow foundation

Two way eccentricity

X P X
Y Y
My Mx

M x  P  eL
M y  P  eB
qu'  cN c Fcs Fcd Fci  qN q Fqs Fqd Fqi  0.5B ' N  Fs Fd Fi

How to find A'?

eL 1 eB 1
Case I)  & 
L 6 B 6
1
A'  B1 L1
2
 3e 
B1  B1.5  B  eB
 B 
 3e 
1
L
L

L1  L1.5  L 
e

 L 
L

L  max( B1 , L1 )
'

A'
B' 
L'

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Foundation Engineering
Chapter 3: Bearing capacity of shallow foundation

eL 1 e 1
Case II)  &0  B 
L 2 B 6
1
A'   L1  L2  B
2
L'  max(L1 , L2 )
A' e 1 e 1
B' 
L' Case III) L  & 0  B 
L 6 B 2
To find L1 and L 2 look at figure beside. 1
eL A '   B1  B2  L
y - axis : 2
L A'
L L B '

x - axis : 1 & 2 L
L L To find B1 and B 2 look at figure beside
eB e
: Through the graph. y - axis : B
B B
B1 B
x - axis : & 2
B B
eL
: Through the graph.
L

eL 1 eB 1
Case IV)  & 
L 6 B 6
1
A '  L2 B   B  B2  L  L2 
2
'
A
B' 
L
To find L 2 and B 2 look at figure beside
e
y - axis : B
B
L B
x - axis : 2 & 2
L B
eL
: Through the graph.
L

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Foundation Engineering
Chapter 3: Bearing capacity of shallow foundation

Example 4)
Rectangular footing is subjected to two way eccentricity. Determine the gross ultimate
load that foundation can carry given that:
e B  0.3m
e L  0.364m Qu=??
B  1.5m, L  2m Mx
D f  1m My
d=18KN/m3
sand
1m

=35
B

d=18KN/m3
sand
=35

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Foundation Engineering
Chapter 3: Bearing capacity of shallow foundation

Solution
1- Study the case of eccentricity:
e L 0.364 1
  0.182 
L 2 6
e B 0.3 1
  0.2 
B 1.5 6
Case I
B1  1.51.5  3(0.2)   1.35m
L1  21.5  3(0.182)   1.908m
L'  max( B1 , L1 )  1.908m
1
A'  B1 L1  0.5  1.35  1.908  1.2879m 2
2
A ' 1.2879
B'  '   0.675m
L 1.908
qu'  cN c Fcs Fcd Fci  qN q Fqs Fqd Fqi  0.5B ' N  Fs Fd Fi
Foe sand: c=0.00
At   35  N q  33.3 , N   48.03
 Shape factors:
0.675
Fqs  1  tan 35  1.248
1.908
0.675
Fs  1  0.4  0.858
1.908

 Depth factors:
D f / B  1 / 1.5  0.66  1
1
Fqd  1  2 tan 35(1  sin 35) 2   1.167
1.5
Fd  1

 Inclination factors:
Due to absence of inclined load, the inclination factor is 1 every where.
qu  1123 .32 KN / m 2 .
Qult  1123 .32  1.2879  1449.1KN

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Foundation Engineering
Chapter 3: Bearing capacity of shallow foundation

Foundation Engineering
ECIV 4352
Lecture (5) Bearing capacity of shallow foundation (Cont.)
Bearing capacity of layered soil
In practice the foundation may be based on layered soil profile, or in some times we have
to replace adequate thickness of weak soil by stronger one.
Calculating the ultimate bearing capacity for such case have some different as that will be
shown below.

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Foundation Engineering
Chapter 3: Bearing capacity of shallow foundation

For continuous foundation:

2c a H  D f  K s tan  1
qu  qb    1 H 2 1     1 H  q1
B  H  B
q1  c1 N c  1  q1 N q  1  0.5 1 BN   1  q   1 D f
N c  1 , N q  1 and N   1 are given from the same tables but use   1
qu : Ultimate bearing capacity.
qb : bearing capacity of bottom layer.
In this case qb  c 2 N c  2   q 2 N q  2   0.5 2 BN   2   q   D f  H  1
N c  2  , N q  2  and N   2  are given from the same tables but use    2
ca : Adhesion
H: Thickness of top soil layer below bottom of foundation.
B: Width of foundation.
K s : Punching shear coefficient.
To find K s To find ca
1- find q 2 / q1 1- find q 2 / q1
q1  c1 N c  1  0.5 1 BN   1 2- Go to figure 3.21 P.190 to find
q 2  c 2 N c  2   0.5 2 BN   2  c a / c1

2- Go to figure 3.21 P.190 to find K s

When the top layer height (H) is relatively large, the failure surface will occur in the top
layer and so qu = q1
Otherwise there will be punching shear failure in the top layer and then general shear
failure in the bottom layer.

For rectangular foundation:

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Foundation Engineering
Chapter 3: Bearing capacity of shallow foundation

 B  2c H   B  2 D f  k s tan  1 
q u  q b  1   a    1 H 2 1  1      1 H  q1
 L  B   L  H  B 
q b  C 2 N c  2  Fcs  2    1  D f  H  N q  2  Fqs  2   0.5 2 BN   2  Fs  2 
q1  C1 N c  1 Fcs  1   1 D f N q  1 Fqs  1  0.5 1 BN   1 Fs  1

Read the special cases from text book P.191 – 192

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Foundation Engineering
Chapter 3: Bearing capacity of shallow foundation

Example 1)
Rectangular footing 1.5m x 1m based on the shown soil profile; find the gross
allowable load that foundation can carry.

Special case III

 B  B  2c H 
qu  1  0.2 5.14C 2  1   a    1 D f  q1
 L  L  B 
In this case q 2 / q1  C 2 / C1  48 / 120  0.4  ca / C1  0.9 from figure 3.22
 c a  0.9  120  108 KN / m 2 .
 1   1  2  108  1 
q u   1  0 .2   5.14  48  1     16.8  1  656.4 KN / m
2

 1 . 5   1. 5  1 
 B  1 
q1  1  0.2 5.14C1   1 D f  1  0.2   5.14  120  16.8  1  715.8 KN / m
2

 L  1.5 
q u < q1  OK , otherwise use qu = q1
656.4
q all   164.1KN / m 2
4
Qall  164.1  1  1.5  246.15 KN

Read Example 3.9 P.194

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Foundation Engineering
Chapter 3: Bearing capacity of shallow foundation

Bearing Capacity of foundation on top of slope

For continuous shallow foundation:
q u  CN cq  0.5BN q
For pure sand C = 0.00  qu  0.5BN q
For pure clay   0.00  qu  CN cq

b: Distance from edge of foundation to

the top of slope.
H: Height of top of slope.
 : Angle of slope with horizontal

To find N cq :
H
1- Find stability number N s 
C
2- Find b/B and D f / B
3- Go to figure A shown below:
 If B < H: use curves with N s  0.00
 If B  H : use curves with calculated N s .
To find N q :
1- Find b/B and D f / B
2- Go to figure B shown below to find N q .

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 Foundation Engineering
Chapter 3: Bearing capacity of shallow foundation

Fig.B Finding Nq

Fig.A Finding Ncq

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Foundation Engineering
Chapter 3: Bearing capacity of shallow foundation

Example 2)
For the shown soil profile determine the ultimate bearing capacity of the continuous
foundation.

Solution
C  0.00  qu  0.5BN q
B=1.5m<H=6m  Use N s  0.00 .
Go to figure 3.25 P.197 using:
b/B=1, D f / B =1, and   30  .
N q  75
q u  0.5  16.8  1.5  75  945KN / m 2

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