Upper bound solutions of bearing capacity of strip footing by pseudo-dynamic approach

Abstract

This paper presents the pseudo-dynamic analysis of seismic bearing capacity of a strip footing using upper bound limit analysis. However, in the literature, the pseudo-static approach was frequently used by several researchers to compute the seismic bearing capacity factor theoretically, where the real dynamic nature of the earthquake accelerations cannot be considered. Under the seismic conditions, the values of the unit weight component of bearing capacity factor NγE are determined for different magnitudes of soil friction angle, soil amplification and seismic acceleration coefficients both in the horizontal and vertical directions. The results obtained from the present study are shown both graphically as well as in the tabular form. It is observed that the bearing capacity factor NγE decreases significantly with the increase in seismic accelerations and amplification. The results are thoroughly compared with the existing values in the literature and the significance of the present methodology for designing the shallow footing is discussed.