Bearing Capacities by Plasticity Theory

The two basic equations of plastic equilibrium in a soil mass are solved by a numerical scheme proposed by Sokolovski, for the case of bearing capacity failure of a strip footing under plane strain conditions. A new scaling technique, first proposed by Sokolovski and amplified in detail in this paper, shows that the bearing capacities of strip footings can be conveniently calculated without using the conventional Terzaghi bearing capacity factors, N_c, N_γ, N_q. The Terzaghi equation for bearing capacities is shown to be non-conservative when the proper strain angle of internal friction is used. Previous conclusions that experimental results showed the Terzaghi prediction values to be conservative are misleading because a triaxial compression angle of internal friction was used in a plane strain formula.