Seismic Bearing Capacity and Settlements of Foundations
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical Engineering
Volume 119, Issue 4
Abstract
Field and laboratory observations of seismic settlements of shallow foundations on granular soils that are not attributable to changes in density or liquefaction are explained in terms of seismic degradation of bearing capacity. Limit analysis using a Coulomb‐type mechanism including inertial forces in the soil and on the footing gives expressions for seismic bearing capacity factors that are directly related to their static counterparts. Comparison of the two depicts clearly the rapid deterioration of the overall foundation capacity with increasing acceleration. Such periodic inertial fluidization causes finite settlements that are possible even in moderate earthquakes. Reduction in foundation capacity is due to both the seismic degradation of soil strength and the lateral inertial forces transmitted by shear to the foundation through the structure and any surcharge. A straightforward sliding‐block procedure with examples is also presented for computing these settlements due to loss of bearing capacity for short time periods. This approach also leads to a design procedure for footings based on limiting seismic settlements to a prescribed value.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Franklin, A. G., and Chang, F. K. (1977). “Earthquake resistance of earth and rock‐fill dams.” Report 5: Permanent Displacements of Earth Embankments by Newmark Sliding Block Analysis, Miscellaneous Paper S‐71, Soils and Pavements Laboratory, U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg, Miss.
2.
Jumikis, A. R. (1962). Soil mechanics. D. Van Nostrand Co., Princeton, N.J., 618–652.
3.
Lambe, T. W., and Whitman, R. V. (1969). Soil mechanics. John Wiley, New York, N.Y.
4.
Mononobe, N., and Matsuo, H. (1929). “On the determination of earth pressures during earthquakes.” Proc., World Engrg. Conf., 9, 176.
5.
Newmark, N. M. (1965). “Effects of earthquakes on dams and embankments.” Géotechnique, London, England, 15(2), 139–160.
6.
Okabe, S. (1926). “General theory of earth pressure.” J. of the Japanese Soc. of Civ. Engrs., Tokyo, Japan, 12(1) (in Japanese).
7.
Okamoto, S. (1978). Introduction to earthquake engineering. Univ. of Tokyo Press, Tokyo, Japan.
8.
Prandtl, L. (1921). “Uber die eindringungstestigkeit plastisher baustoffe und die festigkeit von schneiden.” Zeitschrift Für Angewandt Mathematik Und Mechanik, 1(1), 15–30 (in German).
9.
Richards, R., and Elms, D. G. (1987). “Seismic behavior of tied back walls.” Report 87‐8, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Univ. of Canterbury, Christchurch, N.Z.
10.
Richards, R., and Elms, D. G. (1979). “Seismic behavior of gravity retaining walls.” J. Geotech. Engrg. Div., ASCE, 105(4), 449–464.
11.
Richards, R., Elms, D. G., and Budhu, M. (1990). “Dynamic fluidization of soils.” J. Geotech. Engrg., ASCE, 116(5), 740–759.
12.
Sarma, S. K., and Iossifelis, I. S. (1990). “Seismic bearing capacity factors of shallow strip footings.” Géotechnique, London, England, 40(2), 265–273.
13.
Sokolovsky, V. V. (1960). Statics of soil media. Translated by D. H. Jones and A. N. Schofield, Butterworths, London, England.
14.
Terzaghi, K. (1943). Theoretical soil mechanics. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, N.Y.
15.
Tschebotarioff, G. P. (1951). Soil mechanics, foundations and earth structures. McGraw‐Hill, New York, N.Y.
16.
Vesic, A. S. (1973). “Analysis of ultimate loads of shallow foundations.” J. Soil Mech. and Found. Div., ASCE, 99(1), 45–43.
17.
Vesic, A. S., Banks, D. C., and Woodward, V. H. (1965). “An experimental study of dynamic bearing capacity of footings on sand.” Proc., 6th Int. Conf. on Soil Mech. and Found. Engrg., Vol II, ASCE, New York, N.Y., 209–213.
18.
Whitman, R. V. (1990). “Seismic design and behavior of gravity walls,” Design and Performance of Earth Retaining Structures, Geotech. Spec. Pub. No. 25, Proc., ASCE Spec. Conf., ASCE, New York, N.Y., 817–842.
19.
Whitman, R. V., and Bielak, J. (1980). “Chapter 7: Foundation.” Design of earthquake resistant structures, Pentech Press, London, England.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical Engineering
Volume 119 • Issue 4 • April 1993
Pages: 662 - 674
Copyright
Copyright © 1993 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 9, 1990
Published online: Apr 1, 1993
Published in print: Apr 1993
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.