Methodology for calculate bearing capacity of soft soils under cyclic loading

Abstract

The bearing capacity in soft soils under cyclic loading has not been widely studied as the static bearing capacity. In soft saturated soils under cyclic load, the phenomenon of cyclic softening occurs, this consists of an increase in the generation of pore-water pressure due to the cyclic load and a decrease in effective soil stresses. The purpose of this work was to propose a methodology for calculating the bearing capacity in soft soils under cyclic loading. The research is based on the results of monotonic and cyclic simple shear tests carried out with samples from the PRAT port of Barcelona. From an analysis carried out on all the experimental data, an equation for the generation of pore-water pressure is proposed. This formulation was implemented in the FLAC2D finite difference software and is part of the methodology. The methodology of the proposed calculation process consists of 6 stages and verification under two criteria. This process is iterative in case of not meeting any of the two verification criteria. Under this methodology of the calculation process, charts are proposed to calculate the bearing capacity of soft soils under cyclic loading. This application takes into account the properties of the soil, the static bearing capacity (P he), and the effective load outside the foundation (q). Also, an analysis of the parameters that most influence the bearing capacity of soft soils under cyclic loading was carried out.