TOPIC 6 – Soil Bearing Capacity for Shallow Foundations

Foundations’ function is to transfer the load of the structure to the soil on which it is resting.
Depending on the structure and soil encountered, various types of foundations are used.

A spread footing is simply an enlargement

of a load-bearing wall or column that makes it
possible to spread the load of the structure over a
larger area of the soil.

In soil with low load-bearing capacity, the

size of the spread footings required is impracticably
large. In that case, it is more economical to
construct the entire structure over a concrete pad. Spread Footing

This is called a mat foundation.

Pile and drilled shaft foundations are used

for heavier structures when great depth is required
for supporting the load.

Pile foundations. Piles are structural

members made of timber, concrete, or steel that
transmit the load of the superstructure to the lower
layers of the soil. According to how they transmit Mat Foundation
their load into the subsoil, piles can be divided into
two categories: friction piles and end-bearing piles.
In the case of friction piles, the superstructure load
is resisted by the shear stresses generated along
the surface of the pile. In the end-bearing pile, the
load carried by the pile is transmitted at its tip to a
firm stratum.

Drilled Shaft foundation. In the case of

drilled shafts, a shaft is drilled into the subsoil and Pile Foundation

then is filled with concrete. A metal casing may be

used while the shaft is being drilled. The casing
may be left in place or may be withdrawn during the
placing of concrete. Generally, the diameter of a
drilled shaft is much larger than that of a pile. The
distinction between piles and drilled shafts
becomes hazy at an approximate diameter of 1 m
(3 ft), and the definitions and nomenclature are
inaccurate Drilled Shaft Foundation

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 Spread footings and mat foundations generally are referred to as shallow foundations. Shallow
foundations are foundations that have a depth-of-embedment to-width ratio of approximately less than four.
Pile and drilled-shaft foundations are classified as deep foundations. Deep Foundation has depth-of-
embedment-to-width ratio of greater than four.

Soil Bearing Capacity Failures

General Shear Failure

A general shear failure involves total rupture of the underlying soil. There is a continuous shear failure of
the soil (solid lines) from below the footing to the ground surface. When the load is plotted versus settlement of
the footing, there is a distinct load at which the foundation fails (solid circle), and this is designated Q ult . The

value of Q ult divided by the width Band length Lof the footing is considered to be the ultimate bearing capacity (
q ult ) of the footing. The ultimate bearing capacity has been defined as the bearing stress that causes a sudden
catastrophic failure of the foundation.

A general shear failure ruptures and pushes up the soil on both sides of the footing. For actual failures in
the field, the soil is often pushed up on only one side of the footing with subsequent tilting of the structure.

A general shear failure occurs for soils that are in a dense or hard state.

Local Shear Failure

Local shear failure involves rupture of the soil only immediately below the footing. There is soil bulging on
both sides of the footing, but the bulging is not as significant as in general shear.

Local shear failure can be considered as a transitional phase between general shear and punching
shear. Because of the transitional nature of local shear failure, the bearing capacity could be defined as the first
major nonlinearity in the load-settlement curve (open circle) or at the point where the settlement rapidly increases
(solid circle).

A local shear failure occurs for soils that are in a medium dense or firm state.

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Punching Shear Failure

A punching shear failure does not develop the distinct shear surfaces associated with a general
shear failure. For punching shear, the soil outside the loaded area remains relatively uninvolved and there
is minimal movement of soil on both sides of the footing.

The process of deformation of the footing involves compression of soil directly below the footing as
well as the vertical shearing of soil around the footing perimeter.

A punching shear failure occurs for soils that are in a loose or soft state.

Terzaghi’s Ultimate Bearing Capacity Equation

Bearing capacity is the maximum pressure that the soil can support at foundation level without
failure. This is a key design parameter for foundation design and also for the design of retaining walls at the
base level.

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 According to Terzaghi (1943), a foundation may be defined as a shallow foundation if the depth D f
is less than or equal to its width B. He also assumed that, for ultimate soil-bearing capacity calculations, the
weight of soil above the base of the footing may be replaced by a uniform surcharge, q=γ D f .

The failure mechanism assumed by Terzaghi for determining the ultimate soil bearing capacity
(general shear failure) for a rough strip footing located at a depth D f measured from the ground surface is
shown in the figure below.

Terzaghi used an approximate method to determine the ultimate bearing capacity, q ult . The
principles of this approximation are the following: (considering a strip footing)

1. If c=0 and surcharge ( q )=0 (that is, D f =0 ¿ , then

1
q ult =q γ = γB N γ
2

2. If γ =0 (that is, weightless soil) and q=0 , then

q ult =q c =c N c

3. If ¿ 0 (weightless soil) and c=0, then

q ult =q q=q N q

By the method of superimposition, when the effects of the unit weight of soil, cohesion, and surcharge are
considered, we have

 Strip Footing

1
q ult =q c + qq + qγ =c N c +q N q + γB N γ
2

The equation is referred to as Terzaghi’s bearing capacity equation. The terms N c , N q , and N γ
are called the bearing capacity factors. The values of these factors are given in the table,

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 Terzaghi’s Bearing Capacity Factors

Terzaghi suggested the following equations for ultimate soil-bearing capacity:

 Square Footing

q ult =1.3 c N c + q N q +0.4 γB N γ

 Rectangular Footing

(
q ult =c N c 1+
0.3 B
L ) (
+ q N q +0.5 γB N γ 1−
0.2 B
L )
 Circular Footing

q ult =1.3 c N c + q N q +0.3 γB N γ

where:

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q ult −¿ ultimate bearing capacity
c−¿ cohesion of the soil or undrained shear strength
qu
c=
2
q u−¿ unconfined compressive strength
γ −¿ unit weight of soil
q−¿ vertical effective stress at the base of the foundation
q=γ Df
N c , N q , N γ−¿ bearing capacity factors
B – width of foundation or for circular footing it is equal to its diameter
L – length of foundation
∅ −¿ angle of internal friction
FS−¿ factor of safety

Bearing Capacity Factors (if table is not given):

Reissner (1924)

(
N q =e π tan ⁡(∅) tan2 45+
∅
2 )
Prandtl (1921)

N c =( N q−1 ) cot (∅ )

Vesic (1973)

N γ =2 ( N q +1 ) tan(∅ )

Effect of Groundwater Table

Case I. If the groundwater table is located at a distance D above the bottom of the foundation, the
magnitude of q in the second term of the bearing capacity equation should be calculated as

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 q=γ ( Df −D ) + γ ' D

'
where γ =γ sat −γ w =¿ effective unit weight of soil. Also, the unit weight of soil, γ , that appears in the third

term of the bearing capacity equations should be replaced by γ ' .

Case II. If the groundwater table coincides with the bottom of the foundation, the magnitude of q is equal to
γD f . However, the unit weight, γ , in the third term of the bearing capacity equations should be replaced by
γ '.

Case III. When the groundwater table is at a depth D below the bottom of the foundation, q=γDf . The
magnitude of γ in the third term of the bearing capacity equations should be replaced by γ av .

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 1
γ av =
B
[ γD+ γ ( B−D ) ] ( for D≤ B )
'

γ av =γ ( for D> B )

Factor of Safety

Generally, a factor of safety, FS , of about 3 or more is applied to the ultimate soil-bearing capacity
to arrive at the value of the allowable bearing capacity. An FS of 3 or more is not considered too
conservative. In nature, soils are neither homogeneous nor isotropic. Much uncertainty is involved in
evaluating the basic shear strength parameters of soil.

There are two basic definitions of the allowable bearing capacity of shallow foundations. They are
gross allowable bearing capacity, and net allowable bearing capacity.

The gross allowable bearing capacity can be calculated as

qu
q all =
FS

The net allowable bearing capacity is the allowable load per unit area of the foundation in excess
of the existing vertical effective stress at the level of the foundation. The vertical effective stress at the
foundation level is equal to q=γDf . So, the net ultimate load is

q u (net )=q u−q

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