Soil behaviour under load in case of finite thickness

Abstract

This study intends to examine the soil behaviour in the case of finite thickness, represented by the hard layer under a soft layer of soil. A further aim is to define load-bearing capacity parameters (n and k). The experimental work is carried out under laboratory conditions by using hydraulic bevameter to apply the load. A circular plate with a diameter of 100 mm is used to push down the load over the targeted area with a penetration rate of about 9 cm/min for sinkage plates. The study was conducted in a soil bin (length of 200 cm, width of 100 cm and variable thickness) using a sandy loam soil. First, the study has been done with loose soil with a thickness of 11 cm, which maintained with 10% moisture content and initial density of 1.190 g/cm3. After that, a two thickness of 6 and 18 cm with 8% moisture content and initial soil density of 1.375 g/cm3 were tested to explain the effect of thickness. In each test, the bevameter plate was loaded at multiple locations, the result showed the soil was near uniform. The result suggests that it is not easy to obtain one equation for the load bearing capacity because the layer near to the surface behaves like soil with infinite thickness and the deeper layer like soil with finite thickness.