Reliability of Spread Footing Performance in Desiccated Clay
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 138, Issue 11
Abstract
To advance the use of reliability-based design procedures, it is necessary to evaluate the sources of the design parameter uncertainty including inherent variability, measurement error, and transformation uncertainty. The results of a probabilistic evaluation of undrained footing bearing performance are discussed in the context of an extensive test site characterization described in a companion paper. Kriged cone tip resistance values are transformed into design parameters using a second-moment probabilistic approach and compared with the parameters obtained from the laboratory test analyses on specimens retrieved from the test site. The spatial, measurement, and transformation uncertainty are incorporated into probabilistic finite-element and bearing capacity analyses in which the results are compared against a full-scale load test performed at the test site. The results indicate that the reliable assessment of the spread footing response depends to a large degree on the assumed strength anisotropy and soil layering. A comparison of the probabilistic estimates of the bearing capacity to deterministic estimates developed from the correlations and average design parameters indicate that the consideration of uncertainty results in a desirable prediction accuracy.
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Acknowledgments
The financial support provided to the first author by the Valle and ARCS Fellowships is gratefully acknowledged. Funding of the experimental program by Hayward Baker, Inc., is deeply appreciated. The writers would like to acknowledge Hart Crowser, Inc., for the use of their laboratories, and Fugro, Inc., for the donation of services to accomplish X-ray photography of the thin-walled tube samples. The writers thank the reviewers for their helpful comments during review of the paper.
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Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 138 • Issue 11 • November 2012
Pages: 1314 - 1325
Copyright
© 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 30, 2011
Accepted: Feb 6, 2012
Published online: Feb 7, 2012
Published in print: Nov 1, 2012
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