Analysis of the Bearing Capacity of Shallow Foundation in Unsaturated Soil Using Monte Carlo Simulation

Abstract

The ultimate bearing capacity of shallow foundation supported by unsaturated soil depends on the degree of saturation of the soil within the influence zone because the strength and deformation parameters of soil are affected by the degree of saturation. As the degree of saturation varies with rainfall, surface runoff, evapotranspiration and other climatic and geotechnical parameters, these parameters must be systematically incorporated for accurately computing the ultimate bearing capacity. In this study, a framework is proposed to compute the ultimate bearing capacity of a shallow footing in unsaturated soil considering site specific rainfall and water table depth distributions. The randomness in rainfall and water table depth is systematically considered using Monte Carlo method. The infiltration of water through the unsaturated zone is modelled using Richards equation considering infiltration and water table location as the top and bottom boundary conditions, respectively. The results show that the bearing capacity calculated using the proposed method is approximately 2.7 times higher than that calculated using the deterministic approach with fully saturated soil parameters.