scholarly journals Influence of a Thin Horizontal Weak Layer on the Mechanical Behaviour of Shallow Foundations Resting on Sand

Geosciences ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 392
Author(s):  
Maurizio Ziccarelli ◽  
Marco Rosone

The presence of minor details of the ground, including soil or rock masses, occurs more frequently than what is normally believed. Thin weak layers, shear bands, and slickensided surfaces can substantially affect the behaviour of foundations, as well as that of other geostructures. In fact, they can affect the failure mechanisms, the ultimate bearing capacity of footings, and the safety factor of the geotechnical system. In this research, numerically conducted through Finite Element Code Plaxis 2D, the influence of a horizontal thin weak layer on the mechanical behaviour of shallow footings was evaluated. The obtained results prove that the weak layer strongly influences both the failure mechanism and the ultimate bearing capacity if its depth is lower than two to four times the footing width. In fact, under these circumstances, the failure mechanisms are always mixtilinear in shape because the shear strains largely develop on the weak layer. However, the reduction in the ultimate bearing capacity is a function of the difference between the shear strength of the foundation soil and the layer. The presence of a thin weak layer decreases the ultimate bearing capacity up to 90%. In conclusion, this research suggests that particular attention must be paid during detailed ground investigations to find thin weak layers. Based on the obtained results, it is convenient to increase the soil volume investigation to a depth equal to four times the width of the foundation.

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Qing Yan ◽  
Junhai Zhao ◽  
Changguang Zhang ◽  
Jintai Wang

The reasonable determination of ultimate bearing capacity is crucial to an optimal design of shallow foundations. Soils surrounding shallow foundations are commonly located above the water table and are thus in an unsaturated state. The intermediate principal stress has an improving effect on the unsaturated soil strength. In this study, the ultimate bearing capacity formulation of strip foundations in unsaturated soils is presented by using Terzaghi’s theory. The unified shear strength equation of unsaturated soils under a plane strain condition is utilized to capture the intermediate principal stress effect. Furthermore, two profiles of matric suction are considered and a hyperbolic function of the friction angle related to matric suction (φb) is adopted to describe strength nonlinearity. The validity of this study is demonstrated by comparing it with model tests and a theoretical solution reported in the literature. Finally, parameter studies are conducted to investigate the effects of intermediate principal stress, matric suction, and base roughness on the ultimate bearing capacity of strip foundations. Besides, the effect of strength nonlinearity is discussed with two methods representing the angle φb.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 2920
Author(s):  
Assel Shaldykova ◽  
Sung-Woo Moon ◽  
Jong Kim ◽  
Deuckhang Lee ◽  
Taeseo Ku ◽  
...  

The design of shallow foundations is performed in accordance with different building regulations depending on geotechnical and geological conditions. This paper involves the design calculations applying Kazakhstani and European approaches. The design of shallow foundations in Nur-Sultan city in Kazakhstan was implemented by the calculation of bearing capacity and elastic settlement in accordance with the design procedures provided in SP RK 5.01-102-2013: Foundations of buildings and structures, and Eurocode 7: Geotechnical design. The calculated results of bearing capacity and elastic settlement for two types of shallow foundations, such as pad foundation and strip foundation, adhering to Kazakhstani and European approaches are relatively comparable. However, the European approach provided higher values of bearing capacity and elastic settlement for the designed shallow foundation compared to the Kazakhstani approach. The difference in the results is explained by the application of different values of partial factors of safety for the determination of bearing capacity and different methods for the calculation of the elastic settlement of shallow foundations (i.e., elasticity theory and layer summation method).


1993 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 545-549 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.T. Omar ◽  
B.M. Das ◽  
V.K. Puri ◽  
S.C. Yen

Laboratory model test results for the ultimate bearing capacity of strip and square foundations supported by sand reinforced with geogrid layers have been presented. Based on the model test results, the critical depth of reinforcement and the dimensions of the geogrid layers for mobilizing the maximum bearing-capacity ratio have been determined and compared. Key words : bearing capacity, geogrid, model test, reinforced sand, shallow foundation.


2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 663-670
Author(s):  
AB Salahudeen ◽  
JA Sadeeq

This study investigated the soil bearing capacity and foundation settlement characteristics of Minna City Centre development site using standard penetration test (SPT) data obtained from10 SPT boreholes at 0.6, 2.1 and 3.6 m depths to correlate soil properties. Evaluation of foundation bearing capacity and settlement characteristics for geotechnical preliminary design of foundations was carried out using some conventional empirical/analytical models and numerical modelling. The aim was to investigate and determine the geotechnical parameters required for adequate design of Physical structures of the proposed Minna City Centre, at Minna the capital of Niger state. The SPT N-values were corrected to the standard average energy of 60% (N60) before the soil properties were evaluated. Using the corrected N-values, allowable bearing pressure and elastic settlement of shallow foundations were predicted at 50 kN/m2 applied foundation pressure. The numerical analysis results using Plaxis 2D, a finite element code, shows the analytical/empirical methods of estimating the allowable bearing pressure and settlements of shallow foundations that provided acceptable results. Results obtained show that an average bearing capacity value of 100 – 250 kN/m2 can be used for shallow foundations with embedment of 0.6 to 3.6 m on the site.  http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/njt.v36i3.1


2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 378
Author(s):  
Rasdinanta Tarigan

Buildings that stand on soft soil usually use a pile foundation. Testing the ultimate bearing capacity of pile foundations in the field is a Pile Driving Analyzer (PDA) tool. Besides being inexpensive to test, the results can also be known quickly. This tool is supported by a software called CAPWAP (CAse Pile Wave Analysis Program).In this paper, a performance comparison of the Pile Driving Analyzer (PDA) and CAPWAP (CAse Pile Wave Analysis Program) software will be presented in producing the ultimate bearing capacity of pile foundations. The results of both will be analyzed in such a way that the causes of the differences in the performance of the Pile Driving Analyzer (PDA) and the CAPWAP software are known.The results obtained show that the performance of the Pile Driving Analyzer (PDA) tool will not be optimal if the energy transferred to the pile foundation is too small. The energy given by the hammer when struck must be in the range of 1% - 2%, if it is smaller then the performance of the tool in producing the ultimate bearing capacity will not be representative. The difference in the ultimate bearing capacity between the PDA device and the CAPWAP software for energy transferred to the pile foundation (EMX) under the specified energy standard is 10.71% - 33.23%. Meanwhile, energy that meets the specified standards has a value between 0.24% - 1.80%.


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