FOUNDATION ENGINEERING
Kousik Deb
Associate Professor
Department of Civil Engineering
IIT Kharagpur
Lecture 21: Shallow Foundation : Design I
Allowable Bearing Capacity
• The allowable bearing capacity is the maximum bearing capacity that can be applied on
the soil such that the following requirements are satisfied
(a) adequate factor of safety with respect to shear failure
(b) settlement within the permissible limit are satisfied.
• It is always governed by the settlement criterion unless the footing is narrow or the soil is
loose.
Granular soil
1. Peck, Hanson and Thronburm (1974)
q a − net = 0.044 C w N S a t / m2 (From settlement consideration)
(Isolated foundation)
where Sa= permissible settlement in mm
Cw= correction factor for water table position
N= SPT blow counts
Dw
Cw = 0.5 + 0.5
D +B
f
Dw= depth of water table below ground surface
Df= depth of foundation
B= width of foundation
q a − net = 0.088 C w N S a t / m2 5 ≤ N ≤ 50 (For raft foundation)
2. Meyerhof’s Correlation (1974):
qa − net = 0.049 NRD1 S a t / m 2 for B ≤ 1.2m
or = 0.49 NRD1 S a kN / m 2
2
B + 0.3
q a − net = 0.032 NR D 2 Sa t / m 2 for B > 1.2m
B
2
B + 0.3 2
or = 0.32 NR D 2 S a kN / m
B
D
Where, RD1= Depth correction factor = 1 + 0.2 ≤ 1.2
B
D
RD2= Depth correction factor = 1 + 0.33 ≤ 1.33
B
Sa= Permissible settlement in mm
N= SPT blows
B= width of foundation in m
3.Teng’s Correlation (1962)
• The safe bearing pressure is given by
2
B + 0.3
′
q np = 0.14 ( N − 3) Rw CD Sa t / m2
2B
2
B + 0.3
or ′
= 1.4 ( N − 3) Rw CD Sa kN / m 2
2B
where B= width of foundation in m
R′w= water table correction
CD= Depth correction factor
Sa= Permissible settlement in mm
N= corrected SPT blows = N field × C N
Df
CD = 1 + ≤2
B
1.75
C N = for 0 < po < 1.05
po + 0.7
3.5
= for 1.05 < po < 2.08
po + 0.7
po = effectiv eoverburden stress in kg / cm 2
Dw′
′
Rw = 0.5 + 0.5 ≤1
B
D’w= depth of water table from base of footing
Permissible values as per IS: 1904-1978
Footing type Sand and hard clay Plastic clay
Max. Settlement Differential Angular Max. Differential Angular
Settlement Distortion Settlement Settlement Distortion
1. Isolated footing
1.1 Steel Structure 50 mm 0.0033L 1/300 50 mm 0.0033L 1/300
1.2 RCC Structure 50 mm 0.0015L 1/666 75 mm 0.0015L 1/666
2. Raft foundation
2.1 Steel 75 mm 0.0033L 1/300 100 mm 0.0033L 1/300
Structure
2.2 RCC structure 75 mm 0.002L 1/500 100 mm 0.002L 1/500
* L is the length of deflected part of wall/raft or c/c distance between columns. F.O.S= 2.5 to 3
Example: Determine the net allowable bearing capacity or pressure of a square footing of size 3m
x 3m resting on sand with the following properties. Water table is located at a depth of 2.5 m from
the ground surface. Depth of foundation is 1.5 m. The permissible settlement is 50mm and factor
of safety against bearing is 2.5.
EL. (m) Corrected N value (SPT)
-1.5 16
-2.25 22
-3.0 20
-3.75 27
-4.5 29
-5.25 30
-6 32
-6.75 32
-7.5 33
-8.25 35
-9.0 40
Bearing capacity of granular soils based on SPT (Standard Penetration Test)
Teng (1962)
qnu =
1
6
[
3 N 2 BRw' + 5(100 + N 2 ) D f Rw ] For strip footing
1 2 '
[
qnu = N BRw + 3(100 + N 2 ) D f Rw
3
] For square and circular footing
qnu = net ultimate bearing capacity in kN/m2
N = average N value corrected for overburden pressure
Df = depth of footing in m; if Df > B take Df = B
Ranjan and Rao,1991
Dw = depth of water table below the ground surface limited to the depth equal to Df
D’w = depth of water table measured from base level of the footing with a limiting value equal
to the width of footing B
Method based on SPT (IS 8009-Part 1-1976)
Settlement computed from SPT value
Actual settlement =
Correction factor (W ′)
Not Finished. Continued in Next Class
