SHALLOW

FOUNDATIONS
Bearing Capacity and Settlement

1999 by CRC Press LLC

SHALLOW
FOUNDATIONS
Bearing Capacity and Settlement

Braja M. Das

CRC Press
Boca Raton London New
York Washington, D.C.

PREFACE

Shallow Foundations: Bearing Capacity and Settlement is intended for use as

a reference book by university faculty members and graduate students in the
area of geotechnical engineering as well as by consulting engineers.
The text is divided into eight chapters. Chapters 2, 3, and 4 present the
various theories developed during the past fifty years for estimating the ultimate
bearing capacity of shallow foundations under various types of loading and
subsoil conditions.
Chapter 5 discusses the principles for estimating the settlement of
foundationsboth elastic and consolidation. In order to calculate the foundation settlement, it is desirable to know the principles for estimating the stress
increase in a soil mass supporting a foundation which carries the load transmitted from the superstructure. These principles are also discussed in this
Chapter 5. Recent developments regarding the ultimate bearing capacity of
shallow foundations due to earthquake loading are presented in Chapter 6. Also
included in Chapter 6 are some details regarding the permanent founda-tion
settlement due to cyclic and transient loading derived from experimental
observations obtained from laboratory and field tests.
During the past fifteen years, steady progress has been made to evaluate
the possibility of using reinforcement in soil to increase the ultimate and
allowable bearing capacities of shallow foundations and also to reduce their
settlement under various types of loading conditions. The reinforcement
materials include galvanized steel strips, geotextile, and geogrid. Chapter 7
presents the state-of-the-art on this subject.
Shallow foundations (such as transmission tower foundations) are, on
some occasions, subjected to uplifting forces. The theories relating to the estimation of the ultimate uplift capacity of shallow foundations in granular and
clay soils are presented in Chapter 8.
Example problems to illustrate the theories are given in each chapter.
I am grateful to my wife, Janice, for typing the manuscript in cameraready form and preparing the necessary artwork. It will be satisfying to know
from the users of the text if it serves the intended purpose.
Braja M. Das
Sacramento, California

1999 by CRC Press LLC

To Janice and Valerie

1999 by CRC Press LLC

CONTENTS

ONE

INTRODUCTION
1.1 Shallow FoundationsGeneral
1.2 Types of Failure in Soil at Ultimate Load
1.3 Settlement at Ultimate Load
1.4 Ultimate and Allowable Bearing Capacities
References

TWO

ULTIMATE BEARING CAPACITY THEORIES

CENTRIC VERTICAL LOADING
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Terzaghis Bearing Capacity Theory
2.3 Terzaghis Bearing Capacity Theory for
Local Shear Failure
2.4 Meyerhofs Bearing Capacity Theory
2.5 General Discussion on the Relationships
of Bearing Capacity Factors
2.6 Other Bearing Capacity Theories
2.7 Scale Effects on Bearing Capacity
2.8 Effect of Water Table
2.9 General Bearing Capacity Equation
2.10 Effect of Soil Compressibility
2.11 Bearing Capacity of Foundations on
Anisotropic Soil
2.12 Allowable Bearing Capacity With Respect
to Failure
2.13 Interference of Continuous Foundations in
Granular Soil
References

THREE

ULTIMATE BEARING CAPACITY UNDER

INCLINED AND ECCENTRIC LOADS
3.1 Introduction
FOUNDATIONS SUBJECTED TO INCLINED LOAD
3.2 Meyerhofs Theory (Continuous Foundation)
3.3 General Bearing Capacity Equation
3.4 Other Results For Foundations With Centric
Inclined Load
3.5 Continuous Foundation With Eccentric Load
3.6 Ultimate Load on Rectangular Foundations
References

1999 by CRC Press LLC

FOUR

SPECIAL CASES OF SHALLOW FOUNDATIONS

4.1 Introduction
4.2 Foundation Supported by a Soil With a Rigid
Rough Base at a Limited Depth
4.3 Foundation on Layered Saturated Anisotropic
Clay (! = 0)
4.4 Foundation on Layered c ! SoilStronger Soil
Underlain by Weaker Soil
4.5 Foundation on Layered c ! SoilWeaker Soil
Underlain by a Stronger Soil
4.6 Continuous Foundation on Weak Clay With a
Granular Trench
4.7 Shallow Foundations Above a Void
4.8 Foundations on a Slope
4.9 Foundations on Top of a Slope
References

FIVE

SETTLEMENT AND ALLOWABLE BEARING

CAPACITY
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Stress Increase in Soil Due to Applied Load
ELASTIC SETTLEMENT
5.3 Flexible and Rigid Foundations
5.4 Settlement Under a Circular Area
5.5 Settlement Under a Rectangular Area
5.6 Effect of a Rigid Base at a Limited Depth
5.7 Effect of Depth of Embedment
5.8 Elastic Parameters
5.9 Settlement of Foundations on Saturated Clay
5.10 Settlement of Foundations on Sand
5.11 Field Plate Load Tests
CONSOLIDATION SETTLEMENT
5.12 General Principles of Consolidation Settlement
5.13 Relationships for Primary Consolidation
Settlement Calculation
5.14 Three-Dimensional Effect on Primary
Consolidation Settlement
5.15 Secondary Consolidation Settlement
DIFFERENTIAL SETTLEMENT
5.16 General Concepts of Differential Settlement
5.17 Limiting Values of Differential Settlement
Parameters
References

SIX

DYNAMIC BEARING CAPACITY

AND SETTLEMENT
6.1 Introduction

1999 by CRC Press LLC

6.2

Effect of Load Velocity on Ultimate

Bearing Capacity
6.3 Ultimate Bearing Capacity Under
Earthquake Loading
6.4 Settlement of Foundations on Granular Soil
Due to Earthquake Loading
6.5 Foundation Settlement Due to Cyclic Loading
Granular Soil
6.6 Foundation Settlement Due to Cyclic Loading
in Saturated Clay
6.7 Settlement Due to Transient Load on Foundation
References
SEVEN

SHALLOW FOUNDATIONS ON
REINFORCED SOIL
7.1 Introduction
FOUNDATIONS ON METALLIC STRIP-REINFORCED
GRANULAR SOIL
7.2 Failure Mode
7.3 Force in Reinforcement Ties
7.4 Factor of Safety Against Tie Breaking
and Tie Pullout
7.5 Design Procedure for a Continuous Foundation
FOUNDATIONS ON GEOTEXTILE-REINFORCED SOIL
7.6 Laboratory Model Test Results
7.7 Comments on Geotextile Reinforcement
FOUNDATIONS ON GEOGRID-REINFORCED SOIL
7.8 General Parameters
7.9 Relationships for Critical Nondimensional
Parameters for Foundations on GeogridReinforced Sand
7.10 Relationship Between BCRu and BCRs in Sand
7.11 Critical Nondimensional Parameters for
Foundations on Geogrid-Reinforced Clay
(! = 0 condition)
7.12 Bearing Capacity Theory
7.13 Settlement of Foundations on GeogridReinforced Soil Due to Cyclic Loading
7.14 Settlement Due to Impact Loading
References

EIGHT

UPLIFT CAPACITY OF SHALLOW

FOUNDATIONS
8.1 Introduction
FOUNDATIONS IN SAND
8.2 Ballas Theory
8.3 Theory of Meyerhof and Adams

1999 by CRC Press LLC

8.4
8.5
8.6
8.7

Theory of Vesic
Saeedys Theory
Discussion of Various Theories
Effect of Backfill on Uplift Capacity
FOUNDATIONS IN SATURATED CLAY
(! = 0 CONDITION)
8.8 Ultimate Uplift CapacityGeneral
8.9 Vesics Theory
8.10 Meyerhofs Theory
8.11 Modifications to Meyerhofs Theory
8.12 Factor of Safety
References

APPENDIX
Conversion Factors

1999 by CRC Press LLC