Influence of Load Inclination on Bearing Capacity of Footing Resting on Slope

Abstract

In the hilly and mountainous region, shallow foundations are commonly constructed near or on the face of sloping ground. Conventional bearing capacity theories, established mainly for the plain ground, are not applicable for estimation of bearing capacity for these foundations and a reduction in the estimated bearing capacity is expected due to lesser passive resistance offered by the disturbed failure zone of the footing influenced by the slope face. Such reduction in the bearing capacity depends on the slope geometry, soil strength parameters, position of the footing and inclination of the applied load. In this regard, limit-analysis based bearing capacity theories often provide conservative results leading to uneconomical design of the sub-structure and a numerical framework can further be employed for this purpose. A detailed finite element investigation has been carried out in the present study to explore the influence of slope angle, setback ratio, i.e. location of the footing from the slope crest and load inclination angle on the bearing capacity of a strip footing resting on sloping ground. In addition, the stability of the slopes under consideration is also assessed for the cases when the footing is positioned on the slope crest which has the maximum possibility of slope failure.