Performance of T-shaped skirted footings resting on sand

A series of plate load tests were performed on a model T-shaped skirted footing by varying the normalized skirt depth and relative density of sand from 0.25 to 1.5 and 30 % to 60 %, respectively. The findings revealed that, regardless of the roughness condition, the observed peak in the pressure settlement ratio corresponding to relative densities of 30%, 40%, 50%, and 60% gradually vanished as the normalized skirt depth was increased from 0.25 to 1.5. The results further revealed that at a given pressure, a lesser settlement ratio was observed for a skirted footing than the footing without a skirt. The most significant benefit of providing a skirt to the footing was obtained when the base and skirt were partially rough and the relative density of sand was kept at 30%. In all the cases, the observed bearing capacity ratio for the present skirted footing was higher than the H-shaped skirted footing reported in the literature. Finally, an empirical equation was proposed to predict the bearing capacity ratio and settlement reduction factor for a given skirt depth and sand relative density.