9. Experimental Studies and Numerical Validation on Bearing Capacity of Skirted Footings on c-Φ Soils

This work discusses the suitability of inclined internal skirts along with outer vertical plates or skirts on bearing capacity of skirted footings on c-Φ soils. The parameters considered are thickness and depth of vertical plates and the spacing of inclined internal skirts. The scaled model footings were made up of mild steel which was considered for this research work. Square and rectangle are the two shapes adopted. The size was designed in such a way that the lateral confinement effect does not affect the test results. The foundation soil was in dry condition. The various parameters considered are thickness, depth and spacing of internal skirts. In square footing, for a 5-mm-thick skirt, 40-mm-skirt depth and 10-mm-internal skirt spacing, increase in bearing capacity observed was 2.4 times. If the depth of skirt is increased to 120 mm keeping all other parameters unchanged, the bearing capacity was increased to 13 times. For square footing, the highest improvement in bearing capacity was 14 times for skirt depth of 120 mm with skirt thickness of 5 mm and internal skirts spacing of 10 mm. Increase in spacing of internal skirts from 10 to 30 mm for square footing with 5-mm-thick skirt with 40-mm-skirt depth showed a reduction in bearing capacity from 238 to 150%. Numerical validation of experimental test results was carried out by using Plaxis software.