ANALYTICAL SOLUTION FOR CALCULATION OF BEARING CAPACITY OF SHALLOW FOUNDATIONS ON GEOGRID-REINFORCED SAND SLOPE

Abstract– The bearing capacity of foundations resting on slopes is commonly calculated using empirical equations. In recent years, it has been demonstrated that geosynthetic reinforced soil can enhance the foundation bearing capacity. In this paper, an analytical method for determination of the ultimate bearing capacity of surface strip footing on a sand slope reinforced with geogrid layers is presented. The angle of the slope with the horizontal direction is varied within 20o to 40o. In this study, the Coulomb-type lateral earth pressure theory has been used to compute the foundation bearing capacity. It is assumed that geogrid layers act such that the active earth pressures are reduced. The results obtained from the proposed method are compared with experimental and numerical results. Parametric studies have also been performed to show the effects of contributing parameters such as number of geogrid layers, locations of reinforcement layers, soil properties and the slope angle on the bearing capacity of strip foundations resting on the reinforced sand. The results indicate that the magnitude of bearing capacity of strip footings on the sand slope can be significantly increased by using geogrid layers.