Analytical and numerical comparison of bearing capacity of strip foundation on slopes

Resumo

Several engineering projects such as buildings, transmission towers and bridge abutments are founded
in areas adjacent to a slope. When this occurs, the behavior of the foundation is affected by presence of the slope,
which modifies its bearing capacity and failure mechanism of the ground, being substantially different from that
developed by footings on horizontal geomorphologies. In 1957, Meyerhof was a pioneer in developing a theory to
determine the bearing capacity of a foundation in areas adjacent to a slope, and his work was complemented by
several researchers in later years and is still under study today. This paper presents a comparison of the available
methods developed by different authors to estimate the bearing capacity of a strip footing at the top of the slope.
In addition, the calculation of the bearing capacity is determined using the finite element method with the Abaqus
program. Finally, a parametric numerical study is carried out on the effects of slope height, distance to the footing
crest/width and soil strength parameters and slope angle are found to be the most influential. In the end it is
concluded that the analytical solutions have limitations, and the numerical model turns out to be faster and the
changes can be better appreciated.