Bearing Capacity of Shallow Foundation on Two Clay Layers by Numerical Approach

Natural soils are often deposited in layers. The estimation of the bearing capacity of the soil, using conventional bearing capacity theory based on the properties of the top layer, introduces significant inaccuracies if the thickness of the top layer is comparable to the width of the rigid footing placed on the soil surface. Saturated normally consolidated and lightly overconsolidated clays indicate that under undrained condition the cohesion of soil mass increases almost linearly with depth. A few theoretical studies have been proposed in the literature to incorporate the variation of cohesion with depth in the computation of the ultimate bearing capacity of strip and circular footings. In this paper, after reviewing previous works, numerical computations using the FLAC code (Fast Lagrangian Analyses of Continua) are reported to evaluate the two layered clays effect on the bearing capacity beneath rigid strip footing subject to axial static load. The results of the bearing capacity relating to the relative thickness of the top layer, the strength ratio of the soil two-layered clays and the rates of the increase of soil cohesion with depth are presented in Tables and graphs. The obtained results are compared with previous published results available in the literature. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.