Application guide
BearingCalc
Bearing capacity of pad & strip footings.
What this tool does
BearingCalc checks bearing capacity for pad and strip footings using the entered geometry and ground parameters. Confirm the ground model, load eccentricity and relevant project criteria separately.
Application version: v4.0.
Check a footing
- Choose pad or strip geometry. Strip calculations use a representative metre run, with x fixed at 0.5 m. Enter footing thickness, foundation unit weight and backfill unit weight separately.
- Select single-layer or two-layer ground. Enter effective friction and cohesion for drained analysis, or zero friction and undrained cohesion for an undrained screen. Water depth is relative to founding level and may be negative down to −D.
- Choose Meyerhof or Vesic. Enable depth enhancement only where competent overburden justifies it. Enter the factor of safety on net resistance.
- Enter downward vertical point loads and their coordinates from the footing corner. Horizontal actions and applied moments need separate assessment.
- Select constrained modulus M, or Young’s modulus E with Poisson’s ratio for conversion to M. Set the integration depth factor and movement limit.
- Review the PASS, FAIL or REVIEW result, warnings and calculated effective area. Open Calculation to inspect the report, then print or save as PDF.
Calculation conventions
- The no-tension kern checks combined biaxial eccentricity. Partial contact cannot receive a settlement pass.
- Bearing uses method-specific shape and optional depth factors. Water corrections are applied at both bearing levels.
- The two-layer stress-spread screen requires a separate layered punching assessment, even where its numerical checks pass.
- Settlement integrates the assumed 2V:1H stress spread exactly within each layer. Strip stress spreads transversely only. Negative net pressure is flagged as unloading/heave.
- The force resistances in the report use the current effective area. The gross force limit includes self-weight and uplift; it is not an allowable additional column load.
Project files
Version 4 files save all model choices explicitly. Complete older files can be imported with visible migration notices: corrected formulas apply, old E inputs are interpreted as constrained M and the blended self-weight mode is retained. Confirm these assumptions. Invalid, incomplete or unsupported files leave the current model unchanged.
Engineering scope
This is an allowable-stress screen with level ground and base and static vertical loading. It does not implement EC7 design, layered punching, a no-tension contact solution, sliding, overall stability or consolidation timing. These matters require separate engineering assessment. Formula conventions, references and regression benchmarks are recorded in docs/apps/11-BEARINGCALC/VERIFICATION.md.