Deep Penetration of Strip and Circular Footings into Layered Clays

Abstract

The bearing behavior of footings on layered soils has received significant attention from researchers, but most of the reported studies are limited to footings resting on the surface of the soil and are based on the assumption of small deformations. In this article, large deformation analyses, simulating the penetration of strip and circular footings into two‐layered clays, are described. The upper layer was assumed to be stronger than the lower layer. The importance of large deformation analysis for this problem is illustrated by comparing the small and large deformation predictions. The bearing behavior is discussed and the undrained bearing capacity factors are given for various cases involving different layer thicknesses and different ratios of the undrained shear strengths of the two clay layers. The development of the plastic zones and the effect of soil self‐weight on the bearing capacity are also discussed in the article.