The Effect of the Water Table on the Bearing Capacity of a Shallow Foundation

Abstract

Immersion is an important part of reservoir engineering investigation and evaluation. Determining the reasonable and effective burial depth of the critical immersion water table is one of the key scientific issues in the impact assessment of the bearing capacity of reservoir immersion foundations. In this study, basic physical and mechanical property tests were carried out on the soil in the typical immersion area of Xiaonanhai Hydropower Station, and the influence mechanism of saturation on the mechanical properties of building foundation soil and immersion on the bearing capacity of a shallow foundation was obtained. According to the test results, the influence depth of the rising groundwater level on the stability of the building foundation is analyzed, and a method to determine the critical depth of immersion groundwater in the reservoir is proposed. Taking the typical building foundation of Luohuang Town in the immersion area of Xiaonanhai Reservoir as an example, the validity of the critical water depth is further verified. The results show that the safety limit depth of the independent foundation affected by the rise of the water table increases with the increase of the width of the foundation and decreases with the increase of the buried depth of the foundation. Considering the safety limit depth, the critical depth of building immersion is 4.830 m, and without considering the safety limit depth, the critical depth of building immersion is 4.05 m. To a certain extent, it can reduce the impact of water table changes on the bearing capacity of shallow foundations.

Derivation of the Ultimate Bearing Capacity Formula for Layered Foundations Based on Meyerhof’s Theory

“…Zhao [12] introduced reduction coefficients and depth coefficients to derive the theoretical formula for the ultimate bearing capacity of skirt foundations on soil slopes under undrained conditions and established a numerical model to study the influencing factors of bearing capacity. Chen [13] studied the effect of saturation on the strength and deformation index of soft clay through indoor experiments, analyzed the mechanism of groundwater's influence on the bearing capacity of shallow foundations, and proposed a method to determine the critical depth of groundwater. Keba [14] studied the influence of the position and shape of internal cavities in soil on the bearing characteristics and failure modes of a cohesive soil foundation based on the rigid plastic finite element method.…”

Modeling and simulation of heterogeneous moisture content influence on foundation settlement in silt clay

“…According to theory, only a few numbers of researchers have addressed this issue (Krishnamurthy and [1][2][3][4][5] Experimental research studies and similar examinations had some restrictions. [2][3][4][5][6][7][8] Using kinematic approaches of limit analysis [8][9][10][11] research study developed Influence on groundwater from the carrying capacity of shallow foundations. A method was put out by 4 that estimate the loss in bearing capacity caused by a static water table at any depth in any type of soil.…”

“…A method was put out by 4 that estimate the loss in bearing capacity caused by a static water table at any depth in any type of soil. According to 5,6 the air permeability was effectively zero for saturation levels beyond 85%. Buildings, bridges, highways, and other sorts of structures are all recognized to rest directly on the ground beneath them.…”