Evaluation of the Static Bearing Capacity Coefficients of Rough Strip Footing Using the Stress Characteristics Method

Abstract

In this research, a numerical algorithm was proposed for evaluating the bearing capacity of rough strip footing rested on horizontal half-plane using the stress characteristics method. The bearing capacity coefficients, the layout of stress characteristic lines as well as the geometric specifications of the plastic and non-plastic regions beneath the footing for different values of internal friction angles have been calculated. The obtained results were in good agreement with those reported in the literature for $\varphi \le {25}^{^\circ }$. The results revealed that by increasing the internal friction angle, the bearing capacity coefficients, as well as the depth of the plastic domain beneath the footing increase and the emergence point of the non-plastic curved wedge moves toward the footing edges. It was also shown that the roughness only affects the bearing capacity factor due to the unit weight and the maximum depth affected by the stress characteristic lines beneath the rough footing was almost $0.62$ times the footing's width which corresponds to $\varphi ={25}^{^\circ }$.