CE 441

Geotechnical Engineering II: Foundation Engineering

Lecture 8
Bearing Capacity of Shallow Foundation

Sheikh Sharif Ahmed

Department of Civil Engineering

University of Asia Pacific

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Introduction
• Foundation is that part of the structure which transmit the load to
the underlying soil;
• It is the lowest part of a structure;
• A foundation generally lies under the ground surface;
• Foundations can be classified into two major categories:
∘ Shallow foundation; and
∘ Deep foundation

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Types of Failure in Soil at Ultimate Load
• Three types of failures can occur in soil underlying a shallow
foundation:
a) General shear failure;
b) Local shear failure; and
c) Punching shear failure.

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Types of Failure in Soil at Ultimate Load
General Shear Failure

• General shear failure of a shallow foundation usually occurs in

case of dense sand or stiff clay.
• Figure 8.1a shows the general shear failure, where a shallow
foundation is subjected to a vertical load Q.
• With the increase in load, the load per unit area (q = Q/A)
increases and the foundation undergoes increased settlement.
• When q becomes equal to qu at foundation settlement S = Su (Fig.
8.1b), the soil supporting the foundation undergoes sudden shear
failure.
• It is to be noted here that, a peak value of q = qu is clearly obtained
in the load−settlement curve (Fig. 8.1b), which is the ultimate
bearing capacity.

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Types of Failure in Soil at Ultimate Load
General Shear Failure

load per unit area, q

Q qu

Settlement, S
Su
B

(a) Developed failure surface

(b) Load vs. settlement plot

Figure 8.1: General shear failure

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Types of Failure in Soil at Ultimate Load
Local Shear Failure

• If the foundation is supported by a medium dense sand or medium

stiff clay, local shear failure occurs.
• Figure 8.2b shows the plot of q vs. S, where, magnitude of q
increases with settlement up to q = q′u , and this is usually referred
to as the first failure load.
• At this time, the developed failure surface in the soil will be as
shown by the solid lines in Fig. 8.2a.
• If the load on the foundation is further increased, the
load−settlement curve becomes steeper and more erratic with the
gradual outward and upward progress of the failure surface in the
soil (shown by the jagged line in Fig. 8.2b) under the foundation.
• When q becomes equal to qu (ultimate bearing capacity), the
failure surface reaches the ground surface.
• Beyond that, the plot of q vs. S takes almost a linear shape, and a
peak load is never observed.
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Types of Failure in Soil at Ultimate Load
Local Shear Failure

load per unit area, q

Q q′u qu

Settlement, S
B
Su

(a) Developed failure surface

(b) Load vs. settlement plot

Figure 8.2: Local shear failure

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Types of Failure in Soil at Ultimate Load
Punching Shear Failure

• Punching shear failure occurs if the foundation is supported by a

loose sand or soft clay.
• For this case, the load−settlement curve will be like that shown in
Fig. 8.3b.
• A peak value of load per unit area, q, is never observed.
• The ultimate bearing capacity qu is defined as the point beyond
which q vs. S remains almost constant.
• In this case the failure surface never extends up to the ground
surface.

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Types of Failure in Soil at Ultimate Load
Punching Shear Failure

load per unit area, q

qu
Q

Settlement, S
B
Su

(a) Developed failure surface

(b) Load vs. settlement plot

Figure 8.3: Punching shear failure

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Types of Failure in Soil at Ultimate Load
5

Punching
4

3
Df /B

2
Local

General
1

0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Relative density of sand, Dr

Figure 8.4: Modes of failure of model footings in sand (after Vesic, 1963)

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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.
• 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 Fig. 8.5 (note that this is the case of general shear
failure).

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Terzaghi’s Bearing Capacity Theory

qu
q = 𝛾Df
Df

a 𝛼 𝛼 b 45 − 𝜙/2 45 − 𝜙/2 g

Figure 8.5: Failure surface in soil at ultimate load for a continuous rough rigid
foundation as assumed by Terzaghi

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Terzaghi’s Bearing Capacity Theory
Assumptions

• The soil is semi-infinite, homogeneous and isotropic

• The problem is two dimensional
• The base of the footing is rough
• The failure is by general shear
• The load is vertical and symmetrical
• The ground surface is horizontal
• The overburden pressure at foundation level is equivalent to a
surcharge load q = 𝛾Df where 𝛾 is the effective unit weight of soil,
and Df is the depth of foundation less than the width B of the
foundation
• The principle of superposition is valid
• Coulomb’s law is strictly valid, that is, 𝜏 = c + 𝜎 tan 𝜙

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Terzaghi’s Bearing Capacity Theory
Ultimate Bearing Capacity for Strip Footing

• Terzaghi developed a method for determining the bearing capacity

of shallow strip footing for the general shear failure case in 1943.
• The equation for the ultimate bearing capacity, qu , is:

1
qu = cNc + qNq + 𝛾BN𝛾 (1)
2
where,

c = cohesion of soil
𝛾 = unit weight of soil
q = 𝛾Df = effective overburden pressure
B = width of the footing
Nc , Nq , N𝛾 = bearing capacity factors and are functions
only of the soil friction angle, 𝜙

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Terzaghi’s Bearing Capacity Theory
Terzaghi’s Bearing Capacity Factors for General Shear Failure

(Nq − 1)
Nc =
tan 𝜙

e2𝜋(0.75−𝜙) tan 𝜙
Nq =
𝜙
2 cos2 45 +
( 2)

tan 𝜙 Kp𝛾
N𝛾 = −1
2 ( cos2 𝜙 )

where,

Kp𝛾 = passive earth pressure coefficient which are

obtained graphically

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Terzaghi’s Bearing Capacity Theory
Terzaghi’s Bearing Capacity Factors for General Shear Failure

Table 8.1: Terzaghi’s bearing capacity factors for general shear failure

𝜙 Nc Nq N𝛾 𝜙 Nc Nq N𝛾 𝜙 Nc Nq N𝛾
0∘ 5.70 1.00 0.00 17∘ 14.56 5.45 3.63 34∘ 52.64 36.50 35.23
1∘ 6.00 1.10 0.08 18∘ 15.52 6.04 4.13 35∘ 57.75 41.44 41.08
2∘ 6.30 1.22 0.18 19∘ 16.56 6.70 4.70 36∘ 63.53 47.16 48.11
3∘ 6.62 1.35 0.28 20∘ 17.69 7.44 5.34 37∘ 70.07 53.80 56.62
4∘ 6.97 1.49 0.39 21∘ 18.92 8.26 6.07 38∘ 77.50 61.55 67.00
5∘ 7.34 1.64 0.51 22∘ 20.27 9.19 6.89 39∘ 85.97 70.61 79.77
6∘ 7.73 1.81 0.65 23∘ 21.75 10.23 7.83 40∘ 95.66 81.27 95.61
7∘ 8.15 2.00 0.80 24∘ 23.36 11.40 8.90 41∘ 106.81 93.85 115.47
8∘ 8.60 2.21 0.96 25∘ 25.13 12.72 10.12 42∘ 119.67 108.75 140.65
9∘ 9.09 2.44 1.15 26∘ 27.09 14.21 11.53 43∘ 134.58 126.50 172.99
10∘ 9.60 2.69 1.35 27∘ 29.24 15.90 13.15 44∘ 151.95 147.74 215.16
11∘ 10.16 2.98 1.58 28∘ 31.61 17.81 15.03 45∘ 172.29 173.29 271.07
12∘ 10.76 3.29 1.84 29∘ 34.24 19.98 17.21 46∘ 196.22 204.19 346.67
13∘ 11.41 3.63 2.12 30∘ 37.16 22.46 19.75 47∘ 224.55 241.80 451.29
14∘ 12.11 4.02 2.43 31∘ 40.41 25.28 22.72 48∘ 258.29 287.86 600.15
15∘ 12.86 4.45 2.79 32∘ 44.04 28.52 26.21 49∘ 298.72 344.64 819.32
16∘ 13.68 4.92 3.19 33∘ 48.09 32.23 30.33

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Terzaghi’s Bearing Capacity Theory
Ultimate Bearing Bapacity for other Foundations

Square footing:

qu = 1.3cNc + qNq + 0.4𝛾BN𝛾 (2)

Circular footing:

qu = 1.3cNc + qNq + 0.3𝛾BN𝛾 (3)

Rectangular footing:

B 1 B
qu = cNc 1 + 0.3 + qNq + 𝛾BN𝛾 1 − 0.2 (4)
( L ) 2 ( L)

where,

B = width/diameter of the foundation

L = length of the foundation

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Example 8.1
For the square footing shown in the following figure, determine the
ultimate bearing capacity, qu , of soil. Assume ground water table is at
great depth.

EGL

c = 20 kN/m2
𝜙 = 35∘ Df = 2 m
𝛾 = 18 kN/m3

2m×2m

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Example 8.1: Solution
The ultimate bearing capacity for square foundation is:

qu = 1.3cNc + qNq + 0.4𝛾BN𝛾

Here, for 𝜙 = 35∘ ,

Nc = 57.75 Nq = 41.44 N𝛾 = 41.08

and, q = 𝛾Df = 18 × 2 = 36 kN/m2

Now,

qu = 1.3 (20)(57.75) + (36)(41.44) + 0.4 (18)(2)(41.08)

= 1501.5 + 1491.84 + 591.55
= 3584.89
≈ 3585 kN/m2

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Some Definitions
Total Overburden Pressure

• The total pressure due to the weight of both soil and water at the
base level of the foundation is the total overburden pressure.

EGL

Df

B×L

• Total overburden pressure is:

qtotal = 𝛾sat Df
= (𝛾 ′ + 𝛾w )Df

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Some Definitions
Effective Overburden Pressure

• The effective pressure due to the weight of soil at the base level of
the foundation is the effective overburden pressure.
• In the bearing capacity equation it is usually expressed as q.

EGL

Df

B×L

• Effective overburden pressure is:

q = 𝛾 ′ Df
= (𝛾sat − 𝛾w )Df

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Some Definitions
Ultimate and Net Ultimate Bearing Capacity of Soil

• The maximum bearing capacity of soil at which the soil fails by

shear is the ultimate bearing capacity of soil, qu .
• The net ultimate bearing capacity of soil, qu(net) , is the bearing
capacity in excess of the effective overburden pressure and is
expressed as:

qu(net) = qu − q

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Some Definitions
Gross Allowable and Net Allowable Bearing Capacity

• Gross allowable bearing capacity, qallow , is expressed as:

qu
qallow =
FS
where,

FS = factor of safety

• Net allowable bearing capacity, qallow(net) , is expressed as:

qu − q qu(net)
qallow(net) = =
FS FS

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Some Definitions
Safe Bearing Pressure

• Safe bearing pressure, qsafe , is the net effective pressure which

produces a settlement of the foundation that does not exceed a
permissible limit.
• Note that, in the design of foundations, one has to use the least of
the two values of qallow(net) and qsafe .

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