Abstract
A modified bearing capacity equation is proposed for skirted strip foundations on dense sand. A series of tests on foundation models were carried out to study the factors that affect the bearing capacity of foundations with skirts. Several factors including foundation base friction, skirt depth, skirt side roughness, skirt stiffness and soil compressibility were studied and incorporated in the equation. The results obtained from the proposed equation were compared with the results obtained from Terzaghi, Meyerhof, Hansen and Vesic bearing capacity equations for foundations without skirt. Comparison shows that the use of structural skirts can improve the bearing capacity by a factor of 1.5 to 3.9 depending on the geometrical and structural properties of the skirts and foundation, soil characteristics and interface conditions of the soil-skirt-foundation system.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Al-Aghbari, M. Y. S. (1999), Bearing capacity of shallow strip foundation with structural skirts resting on dense sand, Ph.D. Thesis, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK.
Bransby, M. F. and Randolph, M. F. (1998), Combined loading of skirted foundation, Geotechnique, 48(5), 637–655.
Butterfield, R. and Andrawes, K. Z. (1970), An air activated sand spreader for forming uniform beds, Geotechnique, 20, 97–100.
Das, B.M. (1999), Principles of Foundation Engineering. PWS Publishing.
Hansen, J. B. (1970), A revised and extended formula for bearing capacity. Bulletin No.28, Danish Geotechnical Institute, Copenhagen, pp. 5–11.
Hibbeler, R. C. (1999), Structural Analysis. Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.
Hu, Y., Randolph, M. F. and Watson, P. G. (1999), Bearing response of skirted foundation on nonhomogeneous soil, Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, ASCE, 125(11), 924–935.
Jaky, N. (1957), The coefficient of earth pressure at rest, Journal of the Society of Hungarian Architects and Engineers, 7, 355–358.
Kirkpatrick, W. M., Andrawes, K. Z. and Wong, F. K. (1978), Contact pressures and failure mechanisms of square footings in sand. The Proceedinngs of the 9th Asian Geotechnical Conference, Vol. 6, Bangkok, Thailand, pp. 89–104.
Ko, H-Y. and Davison, L. W. (1973), Bearing capacity of footings in plane strain, Journal of the Soil Mechanics and Foundations Division, ASCE, 99(SM1), 1–22.
Meyerhof, G. G. (1951), The ultimate bearing capacity of foundations, Geotechnique, 2(4), 301–332.
Meyerhof, G. G. (1963), Some recent research on the bearing capacity of foundations, Can. Geotech. J., 1, 16–26.
Sokolovski, V. V. (1965). Statics of Soil Media. Pergamon Press.
Terzaghi, K. (1943). Theoretical Soil Mechanics, John Wiley & Sons, New York.
Vesic, A. S. (1973), Analysis of ultimate loads of shallow foundations, J. of SMFED, ASCE, 99(SM1), 45–73.
Walker, B. P. and Whitaker, T. (1967), An apparatus for forming uniform beds of sand for model foundation tests, Geotechnique, 17(2), 161–167.
Watson, P. G. and Randolph, M. F. (1998), Skirted foundations in calcareous soil, Geotechnical Engineering Journal, Proceedings of the Institute of Civil Engineering, 131, 171–179.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Al-Aghbari, M.Y., Mohamedzein, Y.EA. Bearing capacity of strip foundations with structural skirts. Geotechnical and Geological Engineering 22, 43–57 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:GEGE.0000013997.79473.e0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:GEGE.0000013997.79473.e0