THE IMPORTANCE OF AMOUNT OF SETTLEMENT IN DETERMINING THE BEARING CAPACITY OF SOILS

Abstract

In this study, the aim was to determine safe bearing capacity of soils, which outcrop around Tamzı and Akçakale located in Gümüşhane, providing allowable settlement conditions for optimum foundation design. To define the geotechnical properties of soils, three trenches were dug and two seismic refractions with Multichannel Spectral Analysis of Surface Waves (MASW) were carried out in each research area. Sieve analyses, shear box tests, and triaxial compression tests were carried out on disturbed and undisturbed samples taken from the trenches. Seismic velocities of the soils were determined by seismic refraction and MASW methods. While determining the safe bearing capacity; the equations proposed by Terzaghi, Meyerhof, Kurtulus, Tezcan and Ozdemir, Turker, and Keceli were used and the obtained safe bearing capacity values were compared with each other. Then, the soils were modeled numerically by using finite element methods and safe bearing capacities providing allowable settlement conditions were determined. According to the results, safe bearing capacity values obtained from empirical equations are not satisfactory for optimum foundation design. For the optimum foundation design, safe bearing capacity should be accepted as 190 kN/m2 for clayey soil (CL) and 485 kN/m2 for the clayey sand (SC).