Undrained Bearing Capacity of Strip Footings on Slopes
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 136, Issue 5
Abstract
The undrained bearing capacity of foundations on or near slopes is commonly calculated using empirical equations or from design charts which have been produced based on limit equilibrium or upper bound plasticity calculations. Many of the available methods do not take account of important parameters that affect the undrained bearing capacity factor, such as the distance of the footing from the slope, the slope height, or the soil properties. This paper presents finite element analyses of strip footings on or near undrained soil slopes performed in order to investigate the influence of the various parameters that affect undrained bearing capacity. The results of the analyses are compared to available methods. It is found that while some of these methods compare well with the finite element results for certain combinations of geometrical parameters and soil properties, they cannot produce sufficiently accurate results as they either do not take account of all of the affecting parameters or are generally not conservative. Based on the finite element results, design charts, equations, and a design procedure are proposed for the calculation of the undrained bearing capacity factor as a function of the undrained shear strength and the bulk unit weight of the soil, the footing width, the distance of the footing from the slope, the slope angle and the slope height.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 136 • Issue 5 • May 2010
Pages: 677 - 685
Copyright
© 2010 ASCE.
History
Received: Aug 4, 2008
Accepted: Oct 13, 2009
Published online: Oct 15, 2009
Published in print: May 2010
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