2991L Foundations 1

Shallow footing in clay soil

➢Skempton’s Chart
➢Allowable bearing capacity
➢Coulomb’s Failure Envelop

ANTONIO REYNO

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 Most commonly used bearing
capacity equations
➢ Terzaghi’s: based on footings resting at
depth Df below the ground surface
➢ Skempton’s: based on field measurements
of FOOTINGS ON CLAY
➢ Meyerhof’s: followed Terzaghi’s approach
but included the shearing resistance of the
soil above the footing base.

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 Terzaghi's Bearing Capacity Theory
Assumptions:
(1)The base of the footing is rough.
(2)The footing is shallow, i.e. Df  B.
(3)The shear strength of the soil
above the base of the footing
is neglected & replaced by a
uniform surcharge Df .
C, , 
(4)The load on the footing is
vertical and is uniformly distributed.
(5)The footing is long, i.e. strip
footing, L>B.
(6)The shear strength of the soil is
governed by the Mohr-Coulomb Equation.

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 Coulomb’s Failure Envelope
for dry sand:  = n tan 
➢Dry Sand , Shear Stress
(Cohesionless soil):
Cohesion, c = 0 , and
Friction angle: Dry Sand

 = positive
1
C1 = 0 n , Normal
stress

Correlate with Direct Shearbox Test

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 Coulomb’s Failure Envelope
 = c + n tan 
➢ Dry Sand (Cohesionless , Shear Stress
soil):
Sandy-Clay
c = 0 and  = positive
➢ Saturated Clay Clay
(Cohesive soil):
c = positive and  = 0 c3 2 Sand

➢ Sandy-Clay: soil has c2

1
both cohesion and
internal friction:
C1 = 0 n , Normal
stress
c = positive, and
 = positive

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Some soils, & all rocks show some bonding between
particles, which gives them strength even when the
normal stress is zero. We call this COHESION.
 Mohr-Coulomb Equation
 = c + n . tan 

FAILURE

 NO FAILURE
c
n
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 Terzaghi’s ultimate bearing
capacity for Strip footing:
qU = cNC +  D f N q + 0.5 BN 
where
• qU = ultimate bearing pressure, in kPa
• c = cohesion of soil, in kPa
•  = unit weight of soil, in kN/m3
• Df = Depth of footing from G.L. to the
underside of the footing, in m
• B = width of the footing, in m
• Nc, Nq, N , are bearing capacity
factors

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The cohesion c and unit weight  are determined from
laboratory or field testing. Soil Sampling is by driving
a drop hammer or by pushing with a hydraulic piston
or jack

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Bearing Capacity factors are
dimensionless and are functions of the
angle of internal friction, 

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Terzaghi’s Bearing Capacity Factors
for general shear failure
 Nc Nq N  Nc Nq N
0 5.70 1.00 0.00 26 27.09 14.21 9.84
1 6.00 1.10 0.01 27 29.24 15.90 11.60
2 6.30 1.22 0.04 28 31.61 17.81 13.70
3 6.62 1.35 0.06 29 34.24 19.98 16.18
4 6.97 1.49 0.10 30 37.16 22.46 19.13
5 7.34 1.64 0.14 31 40.41 25.28 22.65
6 7.73 1.81 0.20 32 44.04 28.52 26.87
7 8.15 2.00 0.27 33 48.09 32.23 31.94
8 8.60 2.21 0.35 34 52.64 36.50 38.04
9 9.09 2.44 0.44 35 57.75 41.44 45.41
10 9.61 2.69 0.56 36 63.53 47.16 54.36
11 10.16 2.98 0.69 37 70.01 53.80 65.27
12 10.76 3.29 0.85 38 77.50 61.55 78.61
13 11.41 3.63 1.04 39 85.97 70.61 95.03
14 12.11 4.02 1.26 40 95.66 81.27 115.31
15 12.86 4.45 1.52 41 106.81 93.85 140.51
16 13.68 4.92 1.82 42 119.67 108.75 171.99
17 14.60 5.45 2.18 43 134.58 126.50 211.56
18 15.12 6.04 2.59 44 151.95 147.74 261.60
19 16.56 6.70 3.07 45 172.28 173.28 325.34
20 17.69 7.44 3.64 46 196.22 204.19 407.11
21 18.92 8.26 4.31 47 224.55 241.80 512.84
22 20.27 9.19 5.09 48 258.28 287.85 650.67
23 21.75 10.23 6.00 49 298.71 344.63 831.99
24 23.36 11.40 7.08 50 347.50 415.14 1072.80
25 25.13 12.72 8.34

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 qU = cN C +  D f N q + 0.5 BN 
  
 The term cNc results from
the cohesive strength of the
soil; Q
 The term DfNq results from
the pressure due to the
weight of the soil between
the ground level and the base  Df
of the footing; called the
surcharge;
 The term 0.5BN results B
from the soil unit weight
below the footing & width of
the footing.

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 Terzaghi's Bearing Capacity
B.M. Das Principles of Foundation Eng’g. 3rd Ed.

For Square Footing:

qU = 1.3 cN C +  D f N q + 0.4 BN

For Circular Footing:

qU = 1.3 cN C +  D f N q + 0.3 BN
where B = Diameter of Footing
Some references use the factor 1.2 in
the first term, instead of 1.3

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Shallow footings on clay
soil

Skempton’ Chart for

footings on clay

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 Coulomb’s Failure
Envelope
➢Saturated Clay , Shear Stress
(Cohesive soil):
c = positive, and
=0 =c Clay
➢ The shear
strength is
equal to the
c
cohesion, i.e.
n , Normal
=c stress

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Terzaghi’s Bearing Capacity Factors
for general shear failure
 Nc Nq N  Nc Nq N
0 5.70 1.00 0.00 26 27.09 14.21 9.84
1 6.00 1.10 0.01 27 29.24 15.90 11.60
2 6.30 1.22 0.04 28 31.61 17.81 13.70
3 6.62 1.35 0.06 29 34.24 19.98 16.18
4 6.97 1.49 0.10 30 37.16 22.46 19.13
5 7.34 1.64 0.14 31 40.41 25.28 22.65
6 7.73 1.81 0.20 32 44.04 28.52 26.87
7 8.15 2.00 0.27 33 48.09 32.23 31.94
8 8.60 2.21 0.35 34 52.64 36.50 38.04
9 9.09 2.44 0.44 35 57.75 41.44 45.41
10 9.61 2.69 0.56 36 63.53 47.16 54.36
11 10.16 2.98 0.69 37 70.01 53.80 65.27
12 10.76 3.29 0.85 38 77.50 61.55 78.61
13 11.41 3.63 1.04 39 85.97 70.61 95.03
14 12.11 4.02 1.26 40 95.66 81.27 115.31
15 12.86 4.45 1.52 41 106.81 93.85 140.51
16 13.68 4.92 1.82 42 119.67 108.75 171.99
17 14.60 5.45 2.18 43 134.58 126.50 211.56
18 15.12 6.04 2.59 44 151.95 147.74 261.60
19 16.56 6.70 3.07 45 172.28 173.28 325.34
20 17.69 7.44 3.64 46 196.22 204.19 407.11
21 18.92 8.26 4.31 47 224.55 241.80 512.84
22 20.27 9.19 5.09 48 258.28 287.85 650.67
23 21.75 10.23 6.00 49 298.71 344.63 831.99
24 23.36 11.40 7.08 50 347.50 415.14 1072.80
25 25.13 12.72 8.34

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 Skempton – used field measurements
on footings on clay and modified
Terzaghi’s bearing capacity equation

qU = cN C +  D f N q + 0.5 BN 
For Strip Footing
1.0 0.0
For clays  = 0, so that the bearing capacity factors
are: Nc = 5.7; Nq = 1.0; N = 0.0 (see Table)

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 Skempton – used field measurements
on footings on clay and modified
Terzaghi’s bearing capacity equation

qU = cN C +  D f N q + 0.5 BN 

For clays  = 0, so that the bearing capacity factors

are: Nc = 5.7; Nq = 1.0; N = 0.0 (see Table)
hence ultimate bearing capacity, qU = c Nc and
the net bearing capacity, qNet = c Nc - Df
(surcharge is subtracted !)

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Bearing Capacity of Shallow
footing on clays : qUlt = c Nc
where
c = cohesion of the soil, kPa
Nc = Bearing Capacity Factor,
qU= ultimate bearing capacity
Therefore:
qallow. = qU  F.S. becomes
qallow. = cNc  F.S. and
Wallow. = (cNc) A  F.S.

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 Skempton’s Bearing Capacity
Factors (Nc) for footings in clay
D/B Circle or Square Strip
0 6.2 5.14
0.25 6.7 5.60
0.50 7.1 5.90
0.75 7.4 6.20
1.00 7.7 6.40
1.50 8.1 6.80
2.00 8.4 7.00
2.50 8.6 7.20
3.00 8.8 7.40
4.00 9.0 7.50
5.00 9.0 7.50

B
N C (R e ct a n g l e) = (0.84 + 0.16 ) NC(Square)
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 Skempton’s Chart Nc(sq/cir) = 0.0325x3 - 0.4054x2 + 1.7677x + 6.2653
R2 = 0.9978
10.0

9.0
Circle or Square
Bearing Capacity Factor, Nc

8.0
Strip

7.0 Poly. (Circle or

Nc(strip) = 0.0271x3 - 0.3451x2 + 1.5112x
Square)+ 5.2049
6.0 D /B C irc le/S qu a re S tri p R = 0.9973 Poly. (Strip)
2

0 6.2 5.1 4
5.0 0.2 5 6.7 5.6 0
0.5 0 7.1 5.9 0
4.0 0.7 5 7.4 6.2 0
1.0 0 7.7 6.4 0
3.0 1.5 0 8.1 6.8 0
2.0 0 8.4 7.0 0
2.0 2.5 0 8.6 7.2 0
3.0 0 8.8 7.4 0
1.0 4.0 0 9.0 7.5 0
5.0 0 9.0 7.5 0
0.0
0 1 2 3 4 5

Ratio (D/B) B
N C (R e ct a n g l e) = (0.84 + 0.16 ) N C (Square)
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 Procedure for determining
the allowable load on a
shallow footing in clay
(1)Determine the width of footing B(m) and the depth Df (m)
from the ground level to the underside of the footing.
(2)Determine the average shear strength of the soil below the
footing, which will come from a laboratory/site strength test.
(3)Using the ratio D/B establish a value for bearing capacity
factor, Nc from Skempton’s Chart.
(4)Calculate the ultimate bearing capacity: qUlt = c x Nc
(5)Calculate the safe bearing capacity; qallow = qU  F.S.
(6)Calculate allowable load on the footing; Wallow = qallow x A
where A = plan area of footing (m2 )

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Plan area and Allowable
Load for : Wallow

Square Footing:

Area = B  B = B 2
Wallow. = qallow.  B 2
B

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Plan area and Allowable
Load for : Circular Footing
Width of the footing = Diameter of circular footing

 B2
Area =
4
 B2
Wallow . = qallow . ( )
4

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Plan area and Allowable
Load for : Strip Footing
Although this is a
continuous footing,
we consider 1m
length of footing only
Area = B  1 = B
Wa = qa  B, kN
m run

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