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Seismic bearing capacity of foundations on slopes, Page 1 of 2

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The effect of pseudo-static horizontal earthquake body forces on the bearing capacity of foundations on sloping ground has been assessed using the method of stress characteristics. Two failure mechanisms were considered, based on the extension of the characteristics from the ground surface towards the footing base from either one side or both sides. The magnitude of N _γ based on the both-sides failure mechanism, for smaller values of earthquake acceleration coefficient (α_h), has been found to be significantly smaller than that obtained using the single-side mechanism; however, in the presence of α_h the both-sides mechanism becomes kinematically inadmissible in many cases for higher values of ϕ. Only the single-side mechanism was found statically admissible for computing the bearing capacity factors N _c and N _q on sloping ground. All the bearing capacity factors reduce considerably with increase in α_h for various ground inclinations.