A Study on Bearing Capacity of Skirted Square Footings on Different Sands

The paper discusses an experimental and numerical analysis assessing the bearing capacity on three sands (S1, S2, S3) of unskirted, singly and doubly skirted square footings. In this relation, laboratory plate load tests on unskirted, singly and doubly skirted square footings were carried out on three different sands mounted in a test tank at a relative density of 30%. The skirt depth was varied from 0.0B to 1.5B. Results revealed that numerically recorded bearing capacity was slightly higher compared to the one recorded experimentally for all footings on sands (S1, S2, S3). As the effective size and friction angle of the sand’s increase, the bearing capacity of the unskirted, singly and doubly skirted square footings increased. Further, the experimental results validated the results acquired numerically with an average deviation of 3.25%. Providing double skirt marginally benefits the enhancement in the bearing capacity and settlement in comparison with the singly skirted footings.