Ultimate bearing capacity of shallow strip and circular foundations by using limit analysis, finite elements, and optimization

This paper presents a review of the works done mainly at Indian Institute of Science on the determination of the ultimate bearing capacity of shallow strip and circular foundations with the usages of lower and upper bound theorems of the limit analysis. After providing an outline of the historical developments in the field of limit analysis, a few important problems, illustrating the recent advancements in determining the bearing capacity of shallow foundations, have been addressed. The effects of (i) footing–soil interface roughness, (iii) size of footing, (iii) seismic forces, and (iv) interference of two closely spaced footings, on the bearing capacity have been presented.