DETERMINATION OF SOIL BEARING CAPACITY FACTORS UNDER STRIP FOOTING BY NON-LINEAR FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

Abstract

In this article, calculation of soil bearing capacity factors Nc Nq, N, under strip footing will be presented by using Non-linear Finite Element Method with the Newton-Raphson approximation. The soil will be discretized by four noded isoparametric finite elements and will be idealized as an elasto-plastic material in these analyses. The Tresca and Mohr-Coulomb yield criterions are applied in undrained and drained problems successively. Flexible or rigid strip footing will be described by controlling displacements or forces of the nodes on the soil surface below the position of the footing. The effects of footing roughness and different initial stress conditions in the ground on the soil bearing capacity will be also investigated. The numerical results are compared to the ultimate theory solutions.