A.

  ULTIMATE  BEARING  CAPACITY  OF  SHALLOW  FOUNDATION  

A.1.  ULTIMATE  BEARING  CAPACITY  THEORY  
Terzaghi(1943)  was  the  first  to  present  a  comprehensive  theory  for  evaluating  
the  ultimate  bearing  capacity  of  rough  shallow  foundations.  According  to  this  
theory,   a   foundation   is   shallow   if   the   depth,   Df,   of   the   foundation   is   less   than  
or   equal   to   the   width   of   the   foundation.   Later   investigators,   however,   have  
suggested   that   foundations   with   Df   equal   to   3   to   4   times   the   width   of   the  
foundation  may  be  defined  as  shallow  foundations.  
Terzaghi   suggested   that   for   a   continuous,   or   strip,   foundation   (that   is,   the  
width-­‐to-­‐length  ratio  of  the  foundation  approaches  0),  the  failure  surface  in  
soil  at  ultimate  load.  The  effect  of  soil  above  the  bottom  of  the  foundation  may  
also  be  assumed  to  be  replaced  by  an  equivalent  surcharge,  q  =  γDf  (where    γ  
=  unit  weight  of  soil).  The  failure  zone  under  the  foundation  can  be  seaparated  
into  three  parts(see  figure  1):  
1   The  triangular  zone  ACD  immediately  under  the  foundation  
2   The  radial  shear  zones  ADF  and  CDE,  with  the  curves  DE  and  DF  being  arcs  
of  a  logarithmic  spiral  
3   Two  triangular  Rankine  passive  zones  AFH  and  CEG  
The  angles  CAD  and  ACD    are  assumed  to  be  equal  to  the  soil  friction  angle  
(that  is,  α  =  φ’).  Note  that,  with  the  replacement  of  the  soil  above  the  bottom  
of  the  foundation  by  an  equivalent  surcharge  q,  the  shear  resistance  of  the  soil  
along  the  failure  GI  and  HJ  was  neglected.  
Using   the   equilibrium   analysis,   Terzaghi   expressed   the   ultimate   bearing  
capacity  in  the  form  
 
  qu  =  c’Nc  +  qNq  +  (1/2)  γBNγ     (strip  foundation)     (12.3)  
where  
  c’  =  cohesion  of  soil  
  γ  =  unit  weight  of  soil  
  q  =  γDf  
Nc,Nq,N     =   bearing   capacity   factors   that   are   nondimensional   and   are   only  
γ

functions  of  the  soil  friction  angle,  φ’