Capacity of bucket foundation on sand over clay layers

Abstract

Estimation of base bearing capacity is important in the design of bucket foundations. Empirical formulas for bucket foundations in uniform sand or clay profiles have been proposed. However, the capacity of foundations in alternating layers of sand and clay is not well defined. We perform a series of axisymmetric elasto-plastic finite element analyses on sand layers underlain by clay layers. It is shown that assuming a uniform profile is not appropriate. Even a thin layer of clay below the tip of the bucket foundation can significantly reduce the capacity of the foundation. The wide scatter of results can be significantly reduced through normalization. We present predictive equations and design charts to estimate the base bearing capacity of foundations on heterogeneous profiles. ? 2017 19th ICSMGE Secretariat. All rights reserved.