The undrained vertical and horizontal bearing capacity of internal skirted foundation in clay

Three-dimensional (3D) finite element analysis is used to investigate the vertical and horizontal bearing capacity of internal skirted foundations in normally consolidated uniform clay under undrained condition. The vertical and horizontal bearing capacity analysis has taken the effects of embedment ratio, foundation-soil interface roughness and soil strength heterogeneity into account. In this paper, new equations have been proposed for calculating vertical and horizontal bearing capacities based on the results of the finite element analyses. In the proposed equations, the vertical capacity consists of an end-bear resistance and a skin friction resistance, whereas the horizontal capacity consists of a normal resistance, a radial shear resistance and a base shear resistance. By comparing the numerical results, it shows that the proposed equations properly predicted the bearing capacities of the internal skirted foundations in uniform or non-uniform clay under undrained condition.