Study of the Effect of an Inclined Bedrock on the Bearing Capacity of Shallow Foundations

Abstract

In order to determine the bearing capacity of shallow foundations, most of the analytical methods take the assumption that the soil layers below the foundation are homogenous, horizontal and are extended to a great depth. However, in reality, the geological structure under the foundation is much more complex and far from simplifying taken the hypothesis. This can lead to unrealistic bearing capacity values and cause serious difficulties for the concerned structures. This paper aims to study the effect of various parameters such as soil geotechnical properties and geometrical specifications on the ultimate bearing capacity of a shallow foundation on an inclined bedrock, in order to obtain a new equation for determining the bearing capacity. A series of numerical modeling was performed to study the influence of the effective parameters of geotechnical and geometrical properties for calculation of the ultimate bearing capacity. The obtained results were verified through some laboratory small-scale models, and the failure surfaces of a shallow foundation on an inclined bedrock layer were analyzed. Finally, the verified results of the modeling were then evaluated by genetic algorithm in order to determine the new bearing capacity factors ( $$\mu_{a} , \mu_{b} , \mu_{c}$$ ) for the presented equation.