Bearing Capacity of Sand Overlying Clay

Abstract

Soil naturally occurs in deposited layers. Each layer of the soil may be assumed to be homogeneous, although the strength properties of adjacent layers are quite different. The present study aims mainly to investigate the behavior of footing under vertical central load placed on the surface of two layered soil. The study has been carried out for the bearing capacity of sand overlying clay. Experimental and numerical works have been carried out. A review of previous researches is given and a discussion is presented of the dimensionless relationships that govern the behavior of this type of foundation. The results are presented in terms of the ultimate bearing capacity, load-settlement curves, and non-dimensional relationships to show the effect of upper layer thickness to footing width ratio, (H/B), and the strength of the upper layer soil on the bearing capacity. In addition, modes of failure of the foundation soil system are also presented.