Effect of interference on ultimate bearing capacity of strip footings resting over multi-layered-reinforced soil

Abstract

ABSTRACT In an attempt to modify the conventional approach of considering homogeneous soil underneath the foundation, a numerical investigation is carried out to evaluate the bearing capacity of two closely spaced identical strip footing on a two-layered soil system. Two different cases including strong soil overlying the weak soil and vice versa have been considered in the analysis. The analysis was carried out for various ratios of clear spacing to the footing width (s/B). The values of critical spacing (s cr ) and significant depths (H s ), beyond which the increase in ultimate bearing capacity ceases were observed. [s cr, Hs ] values were found to be [B, 3B] and [3B, 2B] for strong soil overlying weak soil and weak soil overlying strong soil mass respectively. With the inclusion of geogrid reinforcement, the s cr is obtained as 0.5B and 1.5B in strong soil overlying weak soil and weak soil overlying strong soil respectively.