The undrained vertical bearing capacity of skirted foundations located on slopes using finite element limit analysis

Skirted foundations are the most prevalent type of coastal and offshore foundations. Investigating the effectiveness of skirt foundations is necessary, with a particular focus on assessing the impact of foundation geometry and soil characteristics. Geotechnical engineers face significant challenges when soil near the foundation must be removed based on slope and moved adjacent to a slope. In this study, the finite element limit analysis of skirt foundations was utilized to examine the effect of various parameters, including skirt depth, skirt angle, the ratio of skirt length to foundation width, soil cohesion, and foundation surface roughness. Lower upper-bound analysis was performed in clay under vertical loading to evaluate the bearing capacity and settlement of the foundation. To this end, the dependability and failure mechanism of skirted foundations near slopes were investigated. The results demonstrated that the strip foundation’s bearing capacity ratio increased by 58% as the skirt depth increased up to 2.5 times the width of the foundation. By increasing the roughness, the bearing capacity and settlement of the skirted foundation can be improved with greater effectiveness. Increasing the skirt angle relative to the vertical improves the bearing capacity of the skirted foundation by approximately 17% and increases the volume of the affected soil.