Bearing Capacity of Shallow Foundations in Anisotropic Non-Hoek–Brown Rock Masses

Abstract

Rocks available for the foundations of civil engineering structures are often jointed and behave anisotropically. This paper presents a method to estimate the ultimate bearing capacity of non-Hoek–Brown rock masses. The method makes use of the mapping of joints in the field and simple laboratory tests on intact specimens of rock. Charts can be used to simplify computations in the field. The method uses Bell’s approach of computing bearing capacity, in which the ultimate bearing capacity is determined as the major principal stress at failure under a confining pressure acting on the mass beneath a smooth foundation. A simple parabolic equation is used to define the strength criterion. The uniaxial compressive strength of the jointed rock mass, which is an input parameter to the strength criterion, is determined using the