Bearing Capacity of Rocks

Intact Rock Mass Intact Rock Mass

A rock mass with joint spacing greater than 4
to 5 times the width of the footing. Local and
General shear failure is associated to brittle General shear failure is associated to brittle
and ductile rock respectively.
Jointed Rock Mass Jointed Rock Mass
General Shear Failure
Local Shear Failure Local Shear Failure
Compressive Failure:
A h t i d b l t i d A case characterized by poorly constrained
columns of poor rock.
Splitting Failure
For widely spaced and vertically oriented For widely spaced and vertically oriented
discontinuities, failure generally initiates by
splitting beneath the foundation.
The ultimate bearing capacity is given by:
Guideline properties of Rock Mass
Cl Classes
Allowable Bearing Stresses on Rock
Masses
Foundat i ons on Fr act ur ed Rock For mat i on
30
M
P
a
)
Not e: Use maxi mum q
a
< q
u
wher e q
u
= compr essi ve st r engt h
20
25
r
e
s
s

q
a

(
M
wher e q
u
compr essi ve st r engt h
of i nt act r ock speci mens
15
e
a
r
i
n
g

S
t
r
) 130 / ( 1
) 16 / (
1 ) (
RQD
RQD
MPa q
ALLOWABLE

+
NOTE: 1 MPa = 10 t sf
5
10
o
w
a
b
l
e

B
e
Peck, et al . (1974)
NOTE: 1 MPa = 10 t sf
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
A
l
l
o
( )
Appr oxi mat i on
Rock Quality Designation, RQD
In case of rock mass with favorable discontinuities, the net allowable
bearing pressure may be estimated from:
q
a
= q
c
* N
j
Where q
c
= average uniaxial compressive strength of rock cores Where q
c
average uniaxial compressive strength of rock cores
N
j
= empirical coefficient depending on the spacing of the discontinuities
/ 3 B S +
[ ] ) / ( 300 1 10 S +
=
= thickness of discontinuity = thickness of discontinuity
S = spacing of discontinuities
B = width of footing
The above relationship is valid for a rock mass with spacing of
continuities > 0.3 m, < 10 mm (15 mm if filled with soil) and
B >0 3 m B >0.3 m.
Pile Foundations:
The allowable bearing capacity of socketed piles is given by:
q
a
= q
c
* N
j
* N
d
Where Where
N
d
= 0.8 + 0.2 h/d
h = depth of socket in rock
d = diameter of socket
Determination of Net Allowable Bearing Pressure from
P t T t Pressuremeter Test:
[ ] ) (
3
1
f l d f a
D P K D q + =
Where q
a
= allowable bearing pressure in t/m
2
P
l
= limit pressure determined by the Pressuremeter in t/m
2
D
f
= overburden pressure in t/m
2
Values of K
d
Values of K
d
Depth of footing K
d
Depth of footing K
d
Load at rock surface 0.8
Load at radius/width of foundation 2.0
unit
Load at 4 times radius/width of 3.6
foundation unit
Load at 10 times radius/width of
f d ti it
5.0
foundation unit
Plate Load Test Plate Load Test
Correction Factors : (Not required for RMR) Co ect o acto s ( ot equ ed o )
Ground Water Table:
(a) Rock with discontinuous joints with opening less (a) Rock with discontinuous joints with opening less
than 1mm wide 0.75
(b) Rock with continuous joints with opening 1 to 5
id fill d ith 0 7 t 0 5 mm wide filled with gouge 0.7 to 0.5
(c) Limestone/ Dolomite deposit with major cavities
filled with soil 0.66 to 0.5.
Cavities: Major cavities inside limestone - 0.5
Slope and orientation of joints:
( ) F i i t ti f ti j i t i th l (a) Fair orientation of continuous joints in the slope
1 to 0.5
(b) Unfavorable orientation of continuous joints in (b) Unfavorable orientation of continuous joints in
slope 0.5 to 0.33.