Bearing capacity of ring footing on weak sand layer overlying a dense sand deposit

The present paper deals with the numerical investigation on the ultimate bearing capacity of ring footing resting on loose sand overlying a dense sand deposit. The study followed the use of lower and upper bound finite element limit analysis in conjunction with second-order conic programming. The analysis was carried out by varying the thickness as well as the angle of internal friction of the top and the bottom sand layers for the ring footing with the variation in the radius (ratio of internal radius to external radius) ratio. The results were expressed in terms bearing capacity ratio, which was found to decrease with an increase in the thickness and the friction angle of the dense sand layer. Further, the results obtained from this study compared well with the data available from the literature.