Bearing capacity of a sand layer on clay by finite element limit analysis

Abstract

Rigorous plasticity solutions for the ultimate bearing capacity of a strip footing resting on a sand layer over clay soil are obtained by applying advanced upper and lower bound techniques. The study compares these solutions with other published results and investigates the effect of various strength and geometry parameters. Assuming the soil layers obey an associated flow rule, the results presented typically bound the collapse load to within ±10% or better.Key words: limit analysis, bearing capacity, layered soils, finite elements.