Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Stress level based bearing capacity of foundations: Verification of results with 131 case studies

  • Research Paper
  • Geotechnical Engineering
  • Published:
KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Evidence of decreasing magnitude in the bearing capacity factor, N γ , in shallow foundations requires a different strategy rather than taking a constant soil friction angle conventionally used in computation of this factor. Because of the influence of stress level on soil friction angle, a more complex analysis may be required to compute the values of N γ since the mobilized soil friction angle at failure differs from point to point beneath shallow foundations corresponding to the experienced level of stress. This can be performed by taking a variable field of mobilized soil maximum friction angle which can be achieved by the aid of the Zero Extension Lines (ZEL) equations. It has been realized by the authors in developing design charts in which, variations of N γ with foundation size have been presented by the stress level based ZEL method. Following previous attempts, this research is devoted to extending these charts to circular foundations and furthermore, to provide an in depth investigation of the possibilities and advantages of using these charts. A comprehensive foundation load test database has been collected and recompiled for this research to compare the predictions made by the ZEL method in the suggested design charts with field data. The predictions by these design charts show a reasonable coverage over the entire range of selected case studies presented in this research.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Akbas, S. O. and Kulhawy, F. H. (2009a). “Axial compression of footings in cohesioless soils. I: Load-displacement behavior.” Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, ASCE, Vol. 135, No.1 1, pp. 1562–1574.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Akbas, S. O. and Kulhawy, F. H. (2009b). “Axial compression of footings in cohesioless soils. II: Bearing capacity.” Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, ASCE, Vol. 135, No. 11, pp. 1575–1582.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anvar, S. A. and Ghahramani, A. (1997). “Equilibrium equations on zero extension lines and their application to soil engineering.” Iranian Journal of Science and Technology (IJST), Shiraz University Press, Transaction B, Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 11–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bolton, M. D. (1986). “The strength and dilatancy of sands.” Géotechnique, Vol. 36, No. 1, pp. 65–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bolton, M. D. and Lau, C. K. (1989). “Scale effect in the bearing capacity of granular soils.” In Proc. Of the 12 th Int’l Conf. on Soil Mech. Found. Eng., Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, Vol. 2, pp. 895–898.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bolton, M. D. and Lau, C. K. (1993). “Vertical bearing capacity factors for circular and strip footings on mohr-coulomb soil.” Can. Geotech. J., Vol. 30, No. 6, pp. 1024–1033.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Briaud, J.-L. (2007). “Spread footings in Sand: Load settlement curve approach.” Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, ASCE, Vol. 133, No. 8, pp. 905–920.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Briaud, J.-L. and Gibbens, R. M. (1997). Large-scale load tests and data base of spread footing on sand, Report No. FHWA-RD-97068, Federal Highway Administration, McLean, VA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cerato, A. B. (2005). Scale effect of shallow foundation bearing capacity on granular material, PhD Dissertation, University of Massachusetts Amherst, U.S.A., p. 461.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cerato, A. B. and Lutenegger, A. J. (2007). “Scale effect of shallow foundation bearing capacity on granular material.” Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, ASCE, Vol. 133, No. 10, pp. 1192–1202.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, J. I. (1998). “The settlement and bearing capacity of very large foundations on strong soils: 1996 R.M. Hardy Keynote Address.” Can. Geotech. J., Vol. 35, No. 1, pp. 131–145.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Beer, E. E. (1965). “The scale effect on the phenomenon of progressive rupture in cohesionless soils.” Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, Vol. 2, No. 3–6. pp. 13–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eslami, A. and Gholami, M. (2006). “Analytical model for the ultimate bearing capacity of foundations from cone resistance.” Scientia Iranica, Vol. 13, No. 3, pp. 223–233.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fellenius, B. H. and Altaee, A. (1994). “Stress and settlement of footings in sand.” In Proceedings of the American Society of Civil Engineering, ASCE, Conference on Vertical and Horizontal Deformations for Foundations and Embankments, Geotechnical Special Publication, GSP, No. 40, College Station, TX, June 16–18, 1994, Vol. 2, pp. 1760–1773.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ghahramani, A. and Clemence, S. P. (1980). “Zero extension line theory of dynamic passive pressure.” Journal of the Geotechnical Engineering Division, ASCE, Vol. 106, No. 6, pp. 631–644.

    Google Scholar 

  • Habibagahi, K. and Ghahramani, A. (1979). “Zero extension line theory of earth pressure.” Journal of the Geotechnical Engineering Division, ASCE, Vol. 105, No. GT7, pp. 881–896.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hansen, J. B. (1970). “A revised and extended formula for bearing capacity.” Danish Geotechnical Institute, Copenhagen, Bulletin, Vol. 28, pp. 5–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hjiaj, M., Lyamin, A. V., and Sloan, S. W. (2005). “Numerical limit analysis solutions for the bearing capacity factor N γ.” Int’l Journal of Solids and Structures, Elsevier, Vol. 42, Nos. 5–6, pp. 1681–1704.

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Jahanandish, M. (2003). “Development of a zero extension line method for axially symmetric problems in soil mechanics.” Scientia Iranica, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 1–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jahanandish, M., Behpoor, L., and Ghahramani, A. (1989). “Loaddisplacement characteristics of retaining walls.” Proc. 12 th Int’l Conf. Soil Mech. Fnd. Engng., Vol. 1, pp. 243–246, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jahanandish, M., Mansoorzadeh, S. M., and Emad, K. (2010). “Zero extension line method for three-dimensional stability analysis in soil engineering.” Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Iranian Journal of Science and Technology (IJST), Shiraz University Press, Transaction B, Vol. 34, No. B1, pp. 63–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jahanandish, M., Veiskarami, M., and Ghahramani, A. (2010). “Effect of stress level on the bearing capacity factor, N γ, by the ZEL method.” KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering, Vol. 14, No. 5, pp. 709–723.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kimura, T., Kusakabe, O., and Saitoh, K. (1985). “Geotechnical model tests of bearing capacity problems in a centrifuge.” Géotechnique, Vol. 35, No. 1, pp. 33–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kumar, J. (2003). “N γ for rough strip footing using the method of characteristics.” Can. Geotech. J., Vol. 40, No. 3, pp. 669–674.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kumar, J. and Khatri, V. N. (2008). “Effect of footing width on bearing capacity factor N γ.” Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, ASCE, Vol. 134, No. 9, pp. 1299–1310.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kumar, J., Raju, K. V. S. B., and Kumar, A. (2007). “Relationships between rate of dilation, peak and critical state friction angles.” Indian Geotechnical Journal, Vol. 37, No. 1, pp. 53–63.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meyerhof, G. G. (1963). “Some recent research on the bearing capacity of foundations.” Can. Geotech. J., Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 16–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Michalowski, R. L. (1997). “An estimate of the influence of soil weight on bearing capacity using limit analysis.” Soils and Foundations, Japanese Geotechnical Society, Vol. 37, No. 4, pp. 57–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roscoe, K. H. (1970) “The influence of strains in soil mechanics.” Tenth Rankine Lecture, Géotechnique, Vol. 20, No. 2, pp. 129–170.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tatsuoka, F., Okahara, M., Tanaka, T., Tani, K., Morimoto, T., and Siddiquee, M. S. A. (1991). “Progressive failure and particle size effect in bearing capacity of a footing on sand.” Geotechnical Special Publication, Vol. 2, No. 27, pp. 788–802.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tatsuoka, F., Siddiquee, M. S. A., and Tanaka, T. (1994). “Link among design, model tests, theories and sand properties in bearing capacity of footing on sand.” 13 th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering (ICSMFE), Vol. 1, pp. 87–88.

    Google Scholar 

  • Terzaghi, K. (1943). Theoretical soil mechanics, John-Wiley and Sons Inc., NY.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Veiskarami, M., Eslami, A., and Kumar, J. (2011). “End bearing capacity of driven piles in sand using the stress characteristics method: Analysis and implementation.” Can. Geotech. J., Vol. 48, No. 10, pp. 1570–1586.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Veiskarami, M., Jahanandish, M., and Ghahramani, A. (2010). “Prediction of foundations behavior by a stress level based hyperbolic soil model and the ZEL method.” Computational Methods in Civil Engineering (CMCE), University of Guilan Press., Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 37–54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Veiskarami, M., Jahanandish, M., and Ghahramani, A. (2011). “Prediction of the bearing capacity and load-displacement behavior of shallow foundations by the stress level based ZEL method.” Scientia Iranica, Elsevier, Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 16–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vesić, A. S. (1973). “Analysis of ultimate loads of shallow foundations.” Journal of the Soil Mechanics and Foundations Division, ASCE, Vol. 99, No. SMI, pp. 45–73.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yamamoto, N., Randolph, M. F., and Einav, I. (2009). “Numerical study of the effect of foundation size for a wide range of sands.” Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, ASCE, Vol. 135, No. 1, pp. 37–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu, F., Clark, J. I., and Phillips, R. (2001). “Scale effect of strip and circular footings resting on dense sand.” Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, ASCE, Vol. 127, No. 7, pp. 613–621.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Civil Engineering, University of Guilan, Rasht, 41635-3756, Iran

    M. Veiskarami

  2. Dept. of Civil Engineering, Shiraz University, Shiraz, 71334-1585, Iran

    M. Jahanandish & A. Ghahramani

Authors
  1. M. Veiskarami
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. M. Jahanandish
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. A. Ghahramani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. Veiskarami.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Veiskarami, M., Jahanandish, M. & Ghahramani, A. Stress level based bearing capacity of foundations: Verification of results with 131 case studies. KSCE J Civ Eng 16, 723–732 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12205-012-1473-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12205-012-1473-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation