Bearing capacity: Menard pressuremeter test

Footings are the structural base elements placed directly on the soil, supporting the load of a building or any type of civil engineering structure. They act as the foundation that transfers loads safely to the ground. Typically, footings are constructed from reinforced concrete, poured into an excavated trench or formwork. The quality of the soil is critical: before a foundation is designed, a soil bearing capacity test is performed to evaluate the strength of the soil and determine the appropriate type of foundation system.

The ultimate bearing capacity is defined as the maximum pressure that the soil can withstand from the foundation before a failure occurs. Such foundation failures can be extremely dangerous, potentially leading to differential settlements or even the collapse of the entire structure. To prevent these issues, engineers must accurately assess soil strength and apply design standards that ensure safety and reliability.

CiviLab is advanced geotechnical engineering software that calculates the bearing capacity of isolated footings directly from pressuremeter test results. The software automates complex calculations of parameters such as the net ultimate bearing capacity (q_net), the ultimate bearing capacity (q_u), the equivalent net limit pressure (q_le^*), and the allowable bearing capacity (q_all). These calculations are carried out according to internationally recognized geotechnical design standards:

• NF P 94 261 (Eurocode 7) – European standard for geotechnical design;
• DTR BC 2.331 – Algerian standard for soil mechanics and foundations;
• DTU 13.12 – French standard for shallow foundations.

CiviLab allows you to:

• Calculate the bearing capacity of shallow foundations according to several standards, where the software automatically computes the following parameters: σ_V,d (Vertical stress), q_net (net bearing capacity), q_le^* (equivalent net limit pressure), q_all (allowable bearing capacity), and q_u (ultimate bearing capacity). the calculations are based on the following formulas:

  Eurocode 7:

  \[\begin{align*}\sigma_{V,d} \leq \frac{q_{net}}{\gamma_{R,V}\, \gamma_{R,d;V}} + \, q_0\end{align*}\]

  With: \[ \gamma_{R,d,V} = 1,2 \text{ and } \gamma_{R,V} = 1,4 \text{ (ULS)} \quad ; \quad \gamma_{R,V} = 2,3 \text{ (SLS)} \]

  The constraint q_net is calculated by: \[ q_{net} = K_p \, q_{le}^* \, i_\delta \, i_\beta \]

  Where the equivalent net limit pressure is evaluated through the following formula: \[ p_{le}^* = \sqrt[n]{ \prod_{i=1}^{n} p_{l;i}^* } \]

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  DTU 12.13 / DTR BC 2.331:

  The allowable bearing capacity is calculated by: \[q_{all} = \frac{q_u - \gamma D}{F} + \gamma D\]

  The ultimate bearing capacity is given by: \[ q_{u} = K_p \, q_{le}^* \, i_\delta + \gamma D \]

  \( q_{le}^* \): is the equivalent net limit pressure calculated as the average value of the existing net limit pressures over a depth equal to \(1.5 B\) below the footing. However, the net limit pressures are capped at 1.5 times their minimum value within the considered depth.

• Provide high quality reports;
• Archive reports correctly.

With "CiviLab", you can easily calculate the bearing capacity of a shallow footing. CiviLab also provides high quality reports and archive them properly