7240 7 Foundation On Rock1

Class 18: July 18, 2024
Introduction to Foundation on Rock

Art. 7.11 of text book, Chapter 25 Coduto and Canadian Foundation
Engineering Manual (4th ed.)
Rock:
- Rock is a cohesive, cemented geomaterial identified on the basis of geologic
origin (O’Neill et al. 1996)
- Rock rarely exists as a perfectly continuous mass. It contains weak planes

called Discontinuities.
Intact Rock: Continuous rock material

Rock mass: rock consisting of discontinuities.
5-1
Rock foundations:
Scenarios for shallow foundation:
Continuous intact behavior Discontinuous rock mass Continuous rock mass
Stress distribution (Gaziev and Erilakhman, 1971):
Discontinuities and the strength of the intact rock control the performance of
foundation on rock.
5-2
Describing Rock:
Accounting for the strength of intact rock and discontinuities.
- Two methods:
o Quality Index, Q (Barton et al. 1974): Used for Rock tunneling
o Rock Mass Rating, RMR (Bieniawski 1989)
Rock Mass Rating: It is a score calculated as the sum of ratings given to the
rock mass depending on six parameters (shown in the table below, Table 25.2):
1. Uniaxial compression strength of intact rock
2. Rock Quality Designation (RQD)
3. Spacing of discontinuities
4. Condition of discontinuities
5. Groundwater condition
6. Orientation of discontinuities
5-3
5-4
Example of RMR calculation:
Parameters Value Rating

Point load index 8 MPa 12
RQD 70% 13
Spacing of discontinuities 300 mm 10
Condition of discontinuities Slightly Weathered 25
Groundwater wet 7
Adjustment for joint orientation Fair -7
Total 59
SBP: Safe bearing pressure
5-5
Analysis of rock subjected to foundation loads
- Although rock mass contains discontinuities, it is analysed as an equivalent
continuous material. Theory of continuum mechanics is applied.
o Deformation and foundation settlement are calculated using the theory

of continuum mechanics based on parameters: deformation modulus or
modulus of elasticity (E) and Poisson’s ratio ().
o Failure is assessed using appropriate failure criteria with stresses

calculated using the theory of continuum mechanics.
Table 25.4
Poisson’s ratio ranges from 0.2 to 0.3

5-6
Comparison of predictions using various equations with field data (Hoek and
Diederichs 2006)
Table 25.5: Statistical Data on Intact Rock Modulus For Intact Rock Samples (After
Kulhawy, 1978)
5-7
Example 1: A site is underlain by a sandstone having the following properties and
characteristics: (from Example 25.1 coduto)
Average uniaxial compressive strength of intact rock = 46 MPa
Average RQD = 97%
Average discontinuity spacing = 1.5 m
Discontinuities are closed, slightly rough, with slightly weathered walls and
lengths between 1 and 3m.
Dry with occasional localized dampness.
Average unit weight = 24.9 kN/m3
Estimate the total RMR rating, deformation modulus and safe bearing pressure.
5-8
Rock Failure Criteria
- Similar to Mohr-Coulomb failure criteria in soil mechanics, a failure
envelope called Hoek-Brown failure criteria is used.
- Hoek-Brown failure criteria is a nonlinear failure envelop
For intact rock:

0.5
𝜎3′
𝜎1′ = 𝜎3′ + 𝜎𝑐𝑖′ (𝑚𝑖 ′ )
𝜎𝑐𝑖
• and are the major and minor effective principal stresses, respectively.
• is the uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) of the intact rock material.
• mi is a constant depending on the rock type (Table 25.3). Can be 4 to 35.
Table 25.3: Values of mi for Intact Rock Values (After Hoek, 2007)
5-9
For Rock Mass:
- Geologic Strength Index (GSI) is used to account for the discontinuities.
D is a "disturbance factor"
that varies from 0 for
undisturbed rock to 1 for
very disturbed rock masses.
5-10
Bearing Capacity of Foundation on Rock:
- Can be estimated based on RMR values discussed earlier.
- Use analytical expression developed based on Hoek-Brown failure criteria.
Foundation failure modes in sound rock:
5-11
Foundation failure modes in weak rock:
5-12
Analysis of bearing capacity using Hoek-Brown failure criteria:
Stresses under surface foundation:
Using generalized Hoek-Brown failure criteria, for intake rock:
𝑞𝑛 = [1 + (𝑚𝑖 + 1)0.5 ]𝜎𝑐𝑖
For rock mass:
𝑞𝑛 = [𝑠 𝑎 + (𝑚𝑏 𝑠 𝑎 + 𝑠)𝑎 ]𝜎𝑐𝑖
Simplified Expression:
Bearing capacity in rock mass for surface foundation can be expressed as:
qu = Nci
N is the bearing capacity factor that depends on the rock type and the types of
discontinuities. Additional terms are used for buried foundations (not covered).
A factor of safety 3 is used.
5-13
CalTrans Bridge Design Specification 2003: (Shape of the footing not accounted)
N
5-14
Canadian Foundation Engineering Manual (2016) recommend using following
approximate equation for estimating the bearing capacity of sound intact rock.
qn = Kspci
Ksp = an empirical coefficient, which ranged from 0.1 to 0.4 including a factor of
safety of 3.
Presumed bearing capacity:
Foundation in weak rock having weak material, closely spaced discontinuities or

heavily weathered or fragmented is often designed using conventional soil
mechanics.
5-15
Settlement of Foundation on Rock:
- Settlement of spread footing on rocks can be estimated using the
continuum mechanics theory, similar way as to the foundations on soil.
- Use modulus of elasticity and Poisson’s ratio of rock.
- Settlement under a point of a flexible rectangular surface foundation in a

semi-infinite elastic media
𝑞0 𝐵
𝑆𝑒 = (1 − 𝜈 2 )𝐼
𝐸𝑚
Here, q0 = P/A
For rock,  = 0.2
For circular and square footing and for rectangular footing with L/B < 3:
I = 0.95 (approximately) and B can be approximated as A.
Substituting in the above equation,

0.9𝑃
𝛿=
𝐸𝑚 𝐴0.5
5-16
Example 2: A circular footing having a diameter of 2.0 m is underlain by the
sandstone in Example 1. Estimate the bearing capacity using bearing capacity
equation and the settlement under a vertical load on 10,000 kN.
5-17
5-18
5-19
Conventional Bearing Capacity Equation for Foundation on Rock
(7.11)
- Use bearing capacity equation with following factors
Unconfined compression test (also called a uniaxial compression test) is

performed to get parameters.
Mohr-Coulomb failure criteria:
Direct shear strength can be conducted for rock with low shear strength (ASTM
D5607).
5-20
Example 7.12:
5-21

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Class 18: July 18, 2024

Introduction to Foundation on Rock

- Rock rarely exists as a perfectly continuous mass. It contains weak planes

Intact Rock: Continuous rock material

Scenarios for shallow foundation:

Continuous intact behavior Discontinuous rock mass Continuous rock mass

Stress distribution (Gaziev and Erilakhman, 1971):

Parameters Value Rating

SBP: Safe bearing pressure

o Deformation and foundation settlement are calculated using the theory

o Failure is assessed using appropriate failure criteria with stresses

Poisson’s ratio ranges from 0.2 to 0.3

- Hoek-Brown failure criteria is a nonlinear failure envelop

For intact rock:

• is the uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) of the intact rock material.

• mi is a constant depending on the rock type (Table 25.3). Can be 4 to 35.

Foundation failure modes in sound rock:

Using generalized Hoek-Brown failure criteria, for intake rock:

𝑞𝑛 = [1 + (𝑚𝑖 + 1)0.5 ]𝜎𝑐𝑖

For rock mass:

𝑞𝑛 = [𝑠 𝑎 + (𝑚𝑏 𝑠 𝑎 + 𝑠)𝑎 ]𝜎𝑐𝑖

A factor of safety 3 is used.

Presumed bearing capacity:

Foundation in weak rock having weak material, closely spaced discontinuities or

- Use modulus of elasticity and Poisson’s ratio of rock.

- Settlement under a point of a flexible rectangular surface foundation in a

For rock,  = 0.2

Substituting in the above equation,

Unconfined compression test (also called a uniaxial compression test) is

Mohr-Coulomb failure criteria:

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