Seismic Bearing Capacity Factor Considering Composite Failure Mechanism

This article describes how the design of shallow foundation needs complete knowledge about bearing capacity. During earthquakes additional lateral force acts at the foundation bed which reduces the bearing capacity. Most of the literature present either the pseudo static analysis or assume a planar failure surface to estimate seismic bearing capacity factors. Here, a pseudo dynamic approach that considers the time dependent effect of earthquake loading is employed. A composite failure surface has been considered for a more realistic estimation of seismic bearing capacity. New expressions were formulated to arrive at the seismic bearing capacity factor, considering the forces acting on the failure wedge based on the limit equilibrium approach. The effect of soil friction angles and the seismic peak of horizontal ground accelerations on the seismic bearing capacity were studied using the proposed method. It was observed that present pseudo-dynamic analysis with a composite failure mechanism gives lower values of seismic bearing capacity factors when compared to pseud- static analysis.