Strength Parameters for Bearing Capacity of Sand

The results of centrifuge tests for bearing capacity of circular footings are used to verify the bearing capacity predictions using Hansen's equations with interpretations by Meyerhof and De Beer. The correlation with De Beer's method, which accounts for the variation of friction angle ϕ with normal pressure, is very good. An alternate proposal, using a constant ϕ and an intercept c at zero normal pressure that best fit the failure envelope in the range of interest, also gives a good correlation with the data. The proposed method does not require the iteration procedure that is required by Meyerhof and De Beer. The results are applicable to shallow circular foundations in dense sand where general shear failure is the dominant mechanism. Modeling of models tests were conducted to verify the centrifuge scaling laws over a range in scale factors. The good agreement of modeling of model tests shows that the centrifuge is a useful tool for modeling bearing capacity problems.