IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE GRACIOUS,

THE MERCIFUL.
1. SAY, “HE IS GOD, THE ONE.
2. GOD, THE ABSOLUTE.
3. HE BEGETS NOT, NOR WAS HE
BEGOTTEN.
4. AND THERE
IS NOTHING COMPARABLE TO HIM.”
[112:1-4]
2

Reported in Sahi Bukhari Book-1, Vol-2, No. 35

 Lecture 3
Bearing Capacity of Shallow
Foundations

DR. ZIA UR REHMAN

1-Bearing Capacity Of Shallow Foundation

A foundation is required for distributing the loads of the

superstructure on a large area.

The foundation should be designed such that

a) The soil below does not fail in shear &
b) Settlement is within the safe limits.
Loading on soil

1. Compressive loads
2. Shear load Failure condition
 SHEAR STRENGTH
Shear Strength: The SHEAR strength of a soil mass is the internal resistance
per unit area that the soil mass can offer to resist rolling and sliding along
any failure plane inside it.
Shear failure mechanism

Soils generally fail in shear

embankm
strip ent
footing
mobilized
shear resistance
failure
surface
At failure, shear stress along the failure surface
reaches the shear strength.
7
Shear failure mechanism

8
Mohr-Coulomb Failure Criterion

 f  c   tan 


cohesion friction
f
c angle


f is the maximum shear stress the soil can take without
failure, under normal stress of .
9
Shear Failure Case
The soil element does not fail if
the Mohr circle is contained
within the envelope

GL


c
Y c
c c+

Initially, Mohr circle is a point
Shear Failure Case
As loading progresses, Mohr
circle becomes larger…


GL


c
Y c
c 

.. and finally failure occurs

when Mohr circle touches the
envelope
2-Bearing Capacity Failure Modes/Types
1. General shear failure
2. Local shear failure
3. Punching shear failure

1) General Shear Failure Most

common type of shear failure;
occurs in strong soils and rocks

2) Local Shear Failure Intermediate

between general and punching
shear failure

3) Punching Shear Failure Occurs in

very loose sands weak clays
 1- General Shear failure

Strip footing resting on surface Load –settlement curve

of dense sand or stiff clay

* The load - Settlement curve in case of footing resting on surface of dense sand or
stiff clays shows pronounced peak & failure occurs at very small stain.
* A loaded base on such soils sinks or tilts suddenly in to the ground showing a surface
heave of adjoining soil
* The shearing strength is fully mobilized all along the slip surface & hence failure
planes are well defined.
* The failure occurs at very small vertical strains accompanied by large lateral strains.
General Shear Failure
Case study

Transcona Grain Elevator 1913

2- Local Shear failure

Strip footing resting on surface Load –settlement curve

Of Medium sand or Medium clay

* The foundation movement is accompanied by sudden jerks.

* The failure surface gradually extend out wards from the foundation.
* The failure starts at localized spot beneath the foundation & migrates out
ward part by part gradually leading to ultimate failure.
* The shear strength of soil is not fully mobilized along planes & hence
failure planes are not defined clearly.
* The failure occurs at large vertical strain & very small lateral strains.
3- Punching Share failure

Strip footing on loose Load –settlement curve

sand or soft clay
* The loaded base sinks into soil like a punch.
* The failure surface do not extend up to the ground surface.
* No heave is observed.
* No over turning of structure
* Large vertical strains are involved with practically no lateral
deformation.
* Failure planes are difficult to locate
Modes of Failures of Model
footings in sand by Vesic Comments on Shear Failures
(1963)

• Usually only necessary to

analyze general shear failure.
• Local and punching shear
failure can usually be
anticipated by settlement
analysis.
• Failure in shallow foundations
is generally settlement failure;
bearing capacity failure must
be analyzed, but in practical
terms is usually secondary to
settlement analysis.
Basic Definitions :

1) Ultimate Bearing Capacity (qu) :

The ultimate bearing capacity is the maximum gross
pressure at the base of the foundation just before the soil
failure.
2) Net ultimate Bearing Capacity (qnu) :
It is the net increase in pressure at the base of foundation
that cause shear failure of the soil.

Thus, qnu = qu – γDf (overburden pressure))

3) Gross Allowable Bearing Capacity (qs):
It is the gross pressure which the soil can
carry safely without shear failure.

qs = qu / FOS
4) Net Allowable/safe Bearing Pressure (qna ):
It is the net bearing pressure which can be used for design of
foundation.

qna = qnu/FOS = (qu – γDf)/FOS

It is also known as Allowable Soil Pressure (ASP).

FOS - Factor of safety usually taken as 2.00 -3.00

5) Safe Bearing Capacity (qs) :

It is the net safe bearing pressure which the soil can carry safely
without shear failure.
qs = qnu / FOS + γ Df
3- Terzaghi’s Bearing Capacity Theory
Terzaghi (1943) analyzed a shallow continuous footing by making some
assumptions:
Assumptions for Terzaghi's Method
• Depth of foundation is less than or equal to its width
• No sliding occurs between foundation and soil (rough foundation)
• Soil beneath foundation is homogeneous semi infinite mass
• Mohr-Coulomb model for soil
• General shear failure mode is the governing mode (but not the only
mode)

φ
Assumptions for Terzaghi's Method (Continue..)
• No soil consolidation occurs
• Foundation is very rigid relative to the soil
• Soil above and bottom of foundation has no shear
strength; is only a surcharge load against the
overturning load
• Applied load is compressive and applied vertically to the centroid of
the foundation
• No applied moments present

Failure Geometry for Terzaghi's Method

4- Terzaghi’s Ultimate Bearing Capacity Equation
General Equation for Strip footing

Cohesion Overburden Friction

qult= gross ultimate bearing capacity including the effect of overburden pressure . z=gDf
c=cohesion, gthe effective unit weight of soil
B =width of footing, Df= depth of foundation,\
Nc, Nq and Ng are the bearing capacity factors. They are functions of the angle of friction, .
Qult= Ultimate load per unit length of footing

Terzaghi’s qult Equation with shape factors

The sc and sg are footing shape factors.

Terzaghi Bearing Capacity Factors

Nq 
a2 a  exp (0.75    / 360) tan  
2 cos 2 (45    / 2)

Nq 1
Nc  when    0 Nc  5.7 when    0
tan  

tan    K pg 
Ng    1
2  cos   
2
Terzaghi’s Bearing
Capacity Factors

Terzaghi’s Shape
Factors
Terzaghi’s Ultimate Bearing Capacity Equations for Different
Shallow Foundations

For Rectangular footing:

For Continuous (Strip) footing :

For Square footing :

. z=gDf

For Circular footing :

B = Diameter of footing
5- Groundwater Effects on Bearing capacity

g   gb  g gw
Groundwater Table Effect; Case v

  Dw  D  
g   g  g w 1    
  B 
Local shear Failure (TBE)
Thanks

• Principles of Foundation Engineering by Braja M. das (Chapter 3)