Undrained seismic bearing capacity of strip footings lying on two-layered slopes

In this study, finite element limit analysis (FELA) is employed to investigate the undrained seismic bearing capacity of strip footings placed on two-layered slopes. Upper bound theorem (UB), lower bound theorem (LB) and adaptive meshing technique were used in parametric studies to investigate the effects of various factors on seismic bearing capacity N-cs and failure mechanism, especially the seismic coefficient k(h) and the shear strength ratio of top layer and bottom layer c(u1)/c(u2). The angle of the slope beta, the absolute strength of top layer c(u)/gamma B, horizontal offset distance b and the thickness of top layer D are also taken into consideration. Furthermore, the comparisons between present study and previous studies are provided. Detailed design tables are presented to distinguish the failure patterns and estimate the seismic bearing capacity of slopes under different conditions.