Seismic bearing capacity of strip footings placed near c-φ soil slopes

Abstract

Seismic bearing capacity of strip footings placed near c-φ soil slopes is investigated in this work using finite element limit analysis combined with an adaptive remeshing procedure. In the analysis, the so-called pseudo-static approach is employed to quantitatively describe the seismic effects. Based on the method, the upper and lower bounds of the normalized seismic bearing capacity factor p/γB are calculated and summarized in design tables/charts for practitioner's use. Parametric studies are performed to illustrate the variation of the normalized seismic bearing capacity factor p/γB with respect to all of the problem variables defined in section 2. In addition, graphical results from upper bound analyses are also provided to display the potential failure mechanisms of the footing-slope bearing system under seismic conditions.