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Study of the Effect of an Inclined Bedrock on the Bearing Capacity of Shallow Foundations

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Abstract

In order to determine the bearing capacity of shallow foundations, most of the analytical methods take the assumption that the soil layers below the foundation are homogenous, horizontal and are extended to a great depth. However, in reality, the geological structure under the foundation is much more complex and far from simplifying taken the hypothesis. This can lead to unrealistic bearing capacity values and cause serious difficulties for the concerned structures. This paper aims to study the effect of various parameters such as soil geotechnical properties and geometrical specifications on the ultimate bearing capacity of a shallow foundation on an inclined bedrock, in order to obtain a new equation for determining the bearing capacity. A series of numerical modeling was performed to study the influence of the effective parameters of geotechnical and geometrical properties for calculation of the ultimate bearing capacity. The obtained results were verified through some laboratory small-scale models, and the failure surfaces of a shallow foundation on an inclined bedrock layer were analyzed. Finally, the verified results of the modeling were then evaluated by genetic algorithm in order to determine the new bearing capacity factors (\(\mu_{a} , \mu_{b} , \mu_{c}\)) for the presented equation.

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Abbreviations

\(c^{\prime }\) :

Cohesion strength

\(\varphi^{\prime }\) :

Soil friction angle

\(\psi\) :

Dilatancy angle

\(\gamma\) :

Unit weight

\(\gamma_{\text{d}}\) :

Dry density

\(E\) :

Young’s modulus

\(\upsilon\) :

Poisson’s ratio

\(e\) :

Void ratio

\(D_{\text{r}}\) :

Relative density

PI:

Plastic index

\(D_{10}\) :

Particle-size diameters corresponding to 10% passing the cumulative particle-size distribution curve

\(B\) :

Width of the foundation

\(L\) :

Length of the foundation

\(H\) :

Vertical distance from center of foundation to the rigid layer

\(D_{\text{f}}\) :

Depth of the foundation

\(\alpha\) :

Inclination angle

\(S , \theta , \lambda , \xi\) :

Failure zone parameters

\(f\) :

Horizontal distance of the edge of the foundation to outside edge of the shear failure on conventional failure surface

\(q\) :

Total vertical load

\(q_{\text{u}}\) :

Ultimate bearing capacity

UCS:

Unconfined compressive strength

\(N_{c} , N_{q} , N_{\gamma }\) :

Bearing capacity factors

\(N_{c}^{ *} , N_{q}^{ *} , N_{\gamma }^{ *}\) :

Modified bearing capacity factors

\(\mu_{a} , \mu_{b} , \mu_{c}\) :

New bearing capacity factors

\(N_{\gamma }^{\prime }\) :

Scaled model bearing capacity factor

\(\lambda\) :

Scale factor

\(\sigma_{\text{ci}}\) :

Unconfined compressive strength of the intact rock

\(\sigma_{\text{cm}}\) :

Unconfined compressive strength of the rock mass

\({\text{GSI}}\) :

Geological strength index

\(m_{\text{i}}\) :

Material constant for the intact rock

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Civil Engineering Department, Islamic Azad University Najaf Abad Branch, Esfahan, Iran

    Sina Fatolahzadeh & Bahram Nadi

  2. GeoRessources, UMR 7359, Université de Lorraine/CNRS/CREGU, Mines Nancy, France

    Rasool Mehdizadeh

Authors
  1. Sina Fatolahzadeh
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  2. Rasool Mehdizadeh
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  3. Bahram Nadi
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Correspondence to Sina Fatolahzadeh.

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Fatolahzadeh, S., Mehdizadeh, R. & Nadi, B. Study of the Effect of an Inclined Bedrock on the Bearing Capacity of Shallow Foundations. Iran J Sci Technol Trans Civ Eng 44, 1359–1372 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40996-020-00418-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40996-020-00418-5

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