TERZAGHI'S BEARING CAPACITY THEORY.

Terzaghi (1943) used the same form of equation as proposed by Prandtl (1921) and extended his theory to take into account the weight of soil and the effect of soil above the base of the foundation on the bearing capacity of soil. Terzaghi made the following assumptions for developing an equation for determining qu for a c-Ø soil.

(1) The soil is semi-infinite, homogeneous and isotropic, (2) the problem is two-dimensional, (3) the base of the footing is rough, (4) the failure is by general shear, (5) the load is vertical and symmetrical, (6) the ground surface is horizontal, (7) the overburden pressure at foundation level is equivalent to a surcharge load q'0 = γDf, where γ is the effective unit weight of soil, and Df, the depth of foundation less than the width B of the foundation, (8) the principle of superposition is valid, and (9) Coulomb's law is strictly valid, that is,  σ = c + σ tanØ.

⇒ Mechanism of Failure. 
⇒ Transition from Local to General Shear Failure in Sand.