Worst-case effect in bearing capacity of spread foundations considering safety factors and anisotropy in soil spatial variability

ABSTRACT

Random field theory is currently the most important tool used when modelling spatial variabilities in soil properties. However, there are practical difficulties in indicating spatial correlation parameters, such as horizontal and vertical fluctuation scales. Therefore, the performed analyses touch upon the occurrence of the worst-case effect of the horizontal fluctuation scale. The random finite element (RFEM) approach is utilised to estimate probability distributions of the bearing capacity of a spread foundation. The analyses show that the observed location of the worst-case phenomenon is closely related to the adopted safety factor. Therefore, it is difficult to directly indicate the horizontal fluctuation scale for which the failure probability has the greatest value. Nevertheless, some general guidelines are formulated and proposed. These general rules can be applied to the two-dimensional bearing capacity problem.

KEYWORDS:

• worst-case
• scale of fluctuation
• RFEM
• bearing capacity
• shallow foundation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).