Reliability-based analysis and design of strip foundations against bearing capacity failure

Dalia S. Youssef Abdel Massih (1) , Abdul-Hamid Soubra (1) , Bak Kong Low (1)

1 GeM - Institut de Recherche en Génie Civil et Mécanique

This paper presents a reliability-based approach for the analysis and design of a shallow strip footing subjected to a vertical load with or without pseudostatic seismic loading. Only the punching failure mode of the ultimate limit state is studied. The deterministic models are based on the upper-bound method of the limit analysis theory. The random variables used are the soil shear strength parameters and the horizontal seismic coefficient. The Hasofer-Lind reliability index and the failure probability are determined. A sensitivity analysis is also performed. The influence of the applied footing load on the reliability index and the corresponding design point is presented and discussed. It was shown that the negative correlation between the soil shear strength parameters highly increases the reliability of the foundation and that the failure probability is highly influenced by the coefficient of variation of the angle of internal friction of the soil and the horizontal seismic coefficient. For design, an iterative procedure is performed to determine the breadth of the footing for a target failure probability.

Mots clés: Bearing capacity; Earthquake loads; Limit analysis; Probability; Reliability; Shallow foundations; Punching; Failure loads

Domaines: Mécanique [physics.med-ph]; Matériaux

Dalia S. Youssef Abdel Massih, Abdul-Hamid Soubra, Bak Kong Low. Reliability-based analysis and design of strip foundations against bearing capacity failure. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 2008, 134 (7), pp.917-928. ⟨10.1061/(ASCE)1090-0241(2008)134:7(917)⟩. ⟨hal-01007245⟩