Axisymmetric solutions for the bearing capacity of ring foundation resting on anisotropic and heterogenous clays are presented in this paper using finite element analysis (FEA). The NGI-ADP model in PLAXIS FEA, a widely used anisotropic soil model, is adopted to study the stability responses of ring foundations, with special consideration given to the effects of increasing undrained shear strength with the depth. Numerical results are formulated in terms of a dimensionless stability number (bearing capacity ratio) that is a function of three dimensionless input parameters: namely, the ratio of inner and outer radius, the increasing strength gradient ratio, and the anisotropic shear strength ratio. The influence of each dimensionless input parameter on the bearing capacity ratio is investigated using design charts and failure mechanisms, and they are scored by relative importance indexes in multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS) model—a machine learning approach. A highly accurate equation generated from the MARS model is proposed as an effective tool for engineering practitioners.

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