LAUSR

The analysis of shallow foundations subjected to seismic loading has been an important area of research for civil engineers. This paper presents an upper-bound solution for bearing capacity of shallow strip footing considering composite failure mechanisms by the pseudodynamic approach. A recently developed hybrid symbiosis organisms search (HSOS) algorithm has been used to solve this problem. In the HSOS method, the exploration capability of SQI and the exploitation potential of SOS have been combined to increase the robustness of the algorithm. This combination can improve the searching capability of the algorithm for attaining the global optimum. Numerical analysis is also done using dynamic modules of PLAXIS-8.6v for the validation of this analytical solution. The results obtained from the present analysis using HSOS are thoroughly compared with the existing available literature and also with the other optimization techniques. The significance of the present methodology to analyze the bearing capacity is discussed, and the acceptability of HSOS technique is justified to solve such type of engineering problems.