APPLICATION OF THE ZEL METHOD IN THE PREDICTION OF FOUNDATION BEARING CAPACITY CONSIDERING THE STRESS LEVEL EFFECT

There are a number of factors affecting the bearing capacity of shallow foundations. Among them, the scale effect can be mentioned as one of the most important factors. Unlike the theoretical equations, experiments show that the bearing capacity of foundations does not increase without limit when the foundation size increases. The effect of stress level on soil shear strength parameters has been known as the main reason for this observation. The method of the zero extension lines (ZEL) for the solution of plasticity problems in soil mechanics has been utilized to take this effect into account by incorporating the stress level - dependent soil friction angle. The bearing capacity of shallow foundations is then computed with the aid of this method, showing a decreasing tendency in the third factor, N-gamma, which is the main contributor in shallow foundations. Comparisons have been made with experimental data, showing good consistency between experiments and theoretical predictions with the ZEL method.