Seismic Bearing Capacity of Strip Footings with Modified Pseudo-dynamic Method

Current research has shown a nonlinear trend in the failure of soil, and the single tangent method is commonly adopted when coping with nonlinear problems of soil failure. However, the method equates a nonlinear criterion to an optimizable linear criterion, which may differ from the actual situation, resulting in conservative results. In this paper, two types of piece-wise log-spiral failure mechanisms for bearing capacity estimations, including symmetrical and unilateral mechanisms were proposed with the nonlinear Mohr-Coulomb criterion. The static bearing capacity of foundations was evaluated using the symmetric failure mechanism, while the seismic bearing capacity of foundations was evaluated adopting a modified pseudo-dynamic method based on the unilateral failure mechanism. The result shows that the bearing capacity calculated in the paper is smaller compared to the result using the linear Mohr-Coulomb criterion. For London clay, the static bearing capacity is reduced by about 45% at a foundation width equal to 1m. From the comparisons, it is found that the proposed approach of piece-wise log-spiral failure mechanism for bearing capacity estimation is effective. In addition, parametric studies show that the nonlinear parameters, the initial factor of seismic acceleration, the normalized frequency, and the damping ratio all have obvious effects on the seismic bearing capacity. A significant reduction in the seismic bearing capacity of the foundation occurs when the normalized frequency ωsH/Vs is equal to (0.5 + n)π (n = 0, 1, 2, …). Considering that the approach proposed provides a strict upper bound to the bearing capacity, the result imparts confidence in the approach of analysis presented.