Finite Element Analysis of Soil Bearing Capacity using Plaxis

The bearing capacity of the foundation is a primary concern in the field of foundation engineering. The load at which the shear failure of the soil occurs is called the ultimate bearing capacity of the foundation. In this project a numerical model is developed using PLAXIS. Finite element analysis is carried out using Mohr-coulomb failure criteria to represent two dimensional soil model. Foundation is modelled as square footing and load increment is applied till the soil model fails. Ultimate bearing capacity is identified as that minimum pressure on footing at which the foundation soil experiences shear failure. The stress distribution in soil and displacement experienced at different locations are obtained. In plaxis effective stress is considered as a ultimate bearing capacity. The preliminary investigation of black cotton soil was collected from crossroad which is six km away from Bhalki taluk, shows that it belongs to inorganic clays of high plasticity (CH) according to unified soil classification system(USCS).The ultimate bearing capacity for varying D/B ratio was computed by Terzaghi’s equation by knowing the preliminary values of black cotton soil and loading frame which was successfully compared with Plaxis software.