44

Shallow Foundations: Bearing Capacity and Settlement

200
Test with small footings
(DeBeer [25])
100

Test with 1 m2 footing

50 (Muhs [26])
N/2

30

TheoryVesic
Eq. (2.74)
10

5
25 30 35 40 45
Soil friction angle, (deg)

Figure 2.19 Comparison of Ng obtained from tests with small footings and large footings
(area = 1 m2) on sand.

2.8 Effect of Water Table

The preceding sections assume that the water table is located below the failure surface
in the soil supporting the foundation. However, if the water table is present near the
foundation, the terms q and g in equations (2.31), (2.37), (2.38), (2.39) to (2.41), and

800
Rectangular plate
( = 16.42 kN/m3)

600
Circular plate
( = 15.09 kN/m3)
N

400
Square plate
( = 16.68 kN/m3)
Square plate
200 ( = 16.16 kN/m3)
Square plate
Square plate ( = 17.54 kN/m3)
( = 14.57 kN/m3)
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
B (kN/m2)

Figure 2.20 DeBeers study on the variation of Ng with gB.

Ultimate Bearing CapacityTheoriesCentric Vertical Loading 45

Unit weight =
d
Ground water table

Df
Eective unit weight =

Figure 2.21 Effect of ground water table on ultimate bearing capacity.

(2.71) need to be modified. This process can be explained by referring to Figure2.21,

in which the water table is located at a depth d below the ground surface.

Case I: d = 0
For d = 0, the term q = gDf associated with Nq should be changed to q = gDf (g =
effective unit weight of soil). Also, the term g associated with Ng should be changed
to g.

Case II: 0 < d Df

For this case, q will be equal to gd + (Df d) g, and the term g associated with Ng
should be changed to g.

Case III: Df d Df + B
This condition is one in which the groundwater table is located at or below the bot-
tom of the foundation. In such case, q = gDf and the last term g should be replaced
by an average effective unit weight of soil , or

d - Df (2.81)
=+ ( - )
B

Case IV: d > Df + B

For d > Df + B, q = gDf and the last term should remain g. This implies that the
groundwater table has no effect on the ultimate capacity.

2.9 General Bearing Capacity Equation

The relationships to estimate the ultimate bearing capacity presented in the preced-
ing sections are for continuous (strip) foundations. They do not give (a) the relation-
ships for the ultimate bearing capacity for rectangular foundations (that is, B/L > 0;
B = width and L = length), and (b) the effect of the depth of the foundation on the