Seismic Bearing Capacity for Strip Footings on Undrained Clay with Voids

ABSTRACT

This paper investigates the seismic bearing capacity of strip footings on undrained clay with single continuous square voids. Numerical studies for a wide range of geometric parameters and material properties are performed using adaptive finite element limit analysis (AFELA). Based on the pseudo-static approach, rigorous upper and lower bounds of the seismic bearing capacity for the strip footing are obtained, with relative errors of 4% or better. The calculated results are presented in the form of design tables and charts, and the effects of different governing parameters on the seismic bearing capacity are evaluated, including the size and location of the voids, the dimensionless strength ratio and the horizontal seismic coefficient. In addition, typical failure mechanisms are examined, and comparisons with previous studies are also conducted.

KEYWORDS:

• Seismic bearing capacity
• strip footing
• voids
• adaptive finite element
• limit analysis

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support of Science and Technology Project of Hunan Provincial Department of Education (Grant No. 19C0167), which made the work presented in this paper possible.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Science and Technology Project of Hunan Provincial Department of Education [19C0167].