Seismic Bearing Capacity Factor Considering Composite Failure Mechanism: Pseudo-Dynamic Approach

Thisarticledescribeshowthedesignofshallowfoundationneedscompleteknowledgeaboutbearing capacity.Duringearthquakesadditionallateralforceactsatthefoundationbedwhichreducesthe bearingcapacity.Mostoftheliteraturepresenteitherthepseudostaticanalysisorassumeaplanar failuresurfacetoestimateseismicbearingcapacityfactors.Here,apseudodynamicapproachthat considersthetimedependenteffectofearthquakeloadingisemployed.Acompositefailuresurface hasbeenconsideredforamorerealisticestimationofseismicbearingcapacity.Newexpressionswere formulatedtoarriveattheseismicbearingcapacityfactor,consideringtheforcesactingonthefailure wedgebasedonthelimitequilibriumapproach.Theeffectofsoilfrictionanglesandtheseismicpeak ofhorizontalgroundaccelerationsontheseismicbearingcapacitywerestudiedusingtheproposed method.Itwasobservedthatpresentpseudo-dynamicanalysiswithacompositefailuremechanism giveslowervaluesofseismicbearingcapacityfactorswhencomparedtopseud-staticanalysis. KEywoRDS Earthquakes, Limit Equilibrium, Pseudo Dynamic Method, Seismic Bearing Capacity, Shallow Foundations