Stochastic design charts for bearing capacity of strip footings

Mohamed A. Shahin , Eric M. Cheung

Abstract

Traditional design methods of bearing capacity of shallow foundations are deterministic in the sense that they do not explicitly consider the inherent uncertainty associated with the factors affecting bearing capacity. To account for such uncertainty, available deterministic methods rather employ a fixed global factor of safety that may lead to inappropriate bearing capacity predictions. An alternative stochastic approach is essential to provide a more rational estimation of bearing capacity. In this paper, the likely distribution of predicted bearing capacity of strip footings subjected to vertical loads is obtained using a stochastic approach based on the Monte Carlo simulation. The approach accounts for the uncertainty associated with the soil shear strength parameters: cohesion, c, and friction angle,

Key Words

stochastic analysis; Monte Carlo; bearing capacity; shallow foundations; strip footings.

Address

Mohamed A. Shahin — Department of Civil Engineering, Curtin University, WA 6845, Australia
Eric M. Cheung — Mainroads Western Australia, Perth, Australia

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