Bearing capacity of rough rigid strip footing on cohesive soil: Probabilistic study

A probabilistic study on the bearing capacity of a rough rigid strip footing on a weightless cohesive soil is carried out to assess the influence of randomly distributed undrained shear strength. Nonlinear finite element analysis is merged with random field theory in conjunction with a Monte Carlo method. In a parametric study, the mean shear strength is held constant while the coefficient of variation and spatial correlation length of cohesion are varied systematically. The influence of the spatial variation of cohesion on the mean bearing capacity is discussed. The results are also presented in a probabilistic context to determine the probability of failure. A comparison between rough and smooth footing conditions is also made.