Analysis of footing resting on non-homogeneous soil by double spline element

A numerical method is proposed for the analysis of rectangular footing resting on an elastic soil layer. The footing is represented by double spline elements and the elastic soil medium by finite layers. The effect of the rigidity of footing and the non-homogeneity of the soil on the behaviour of such foundation system is investigated, and the results are presented in form of design charts such that they may be used for hand calculation for the estimation of the settlement of footings for a wide range of practical cases.     

The Boussinesq problem for soils with bounded non-homogeneity

The response of a compressible continuously non-homogeneous elastic soil to a static vertical point load on its surface is analytically investigated by using classical integral transform techniques and the extended power series method for obtaining the solution in the transform domain. The non-homogeneity is described by means of a depth-function which is non-zero at the surface and bounded at infinity and is capable in modelling both increasing and decreasing soil stiffness with depth. The influence of non-homogeneity on the displacements and stresses at the surface and in the interior is examined over a wide range on the governing parameters. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Vertical deformation of rigid foundations of arbitrary shape on layered soil media

A numerical procedure is described for the analysis of vertical deformation of smooth, rigid foundations of arbitrary shape on homogeneous and layered soil media. The contact area at the interface of the foundation and soil medium is approximated by square subdivisions. The response of the system is then obtained from the superposition of the influence of the individual subdivisions. The flexibility influence coefficients are based on equivalent smooth, rigid circular areas with the same contact area as the square subdivisions. For foundations on a homogeneous, isotropic elastic half-space, the flexibility coefficients are given analytically by the integrated forms of the Boussinesq's solution. For a layered soil medium, the flexibility coefficients are determined from an axisymmetric finite element analysis which is essentially two dimensional. Thus, there is no necessity for a full three-dimensional finite element analysis. Comparison with solutions obtained using the integral transform technique for smooth, rigid rectangular foundations on a homogeneous, isotropic elastic half-space shows good agreement. Parametric solutions are presented for the response of rectangular foundations on some ‘typical’ soil profiles. The use of a simplified method to estimate the settlement of rectangular foundations on a layered soil medium by superposing solutions for homogeneous, elastic strata is discussed.     

The behaviour of an elastic non-homogeneous half-space. Part II–circular and strip footings

Solutions developed in the first part of this paper (i.e. describing the response of a non-homogeneous half-space subjected to surface point and line loads) are used in this part to obtain solutions for a variety of surface loadings. Consideration is given to a distributed load acting over a circular area or strip and a rigid disk or strip subjected to applied normal load and moment. It is established that the profiles of surface settlement due to uniformly distributed loads acting over a strip or circular area are strongly dependent on the degree of non-homogeneity. This dependency is reduced when the footing is rigid. When α = 1 the moduli variation is identical to the Gibson soil and the equivalence with the Winkler soil model is established.     

SURFACE DISPLACEMENTS OF A NON-HOMOGENEOUS ELASTIC HALF-SPACE SUBJECTED TO UNIFORM SURFACE TRACTIONS. PART I: LOADING ON ARBITRARILY SHAPED AREAS

A numerical technique is presented for the analysis of surface displacements of a non-homogeneous elastic half-space subjected to vertical and/or horizontal surface loads uniformly distributed over an arbitrarily shaped area. The non-homogeneity considered is a particular form of power variation of Young's modulus with depth. Since the exponent which determines the degree of non-homogeneity may vary from zero to unity, both the homogeneous half-space and the Gibson soil may be included as limiting cases in a single numerical scheme. In order to account for the arbitrary shape of the loading, the boundary of the loaded area is linearized piecemeal. This enables the modeling of any load pattern according to the desired degree of accuracy. Special attention is focused on the integration scheme, since the singularity associated with the Green's function becomes progressively more pronounced the greater the non-homogeneity parameter gets. The performance of the numerical procedure is studied using analytical solutions for rectangular shaped areas. Further comparisons with well-known solutions based on integral transform techniques for a uniformly distributed load acting on a circular area of the non-homogeneous soil mass show excellent agreement as well. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical Study of Behavior of Circular Footing on Geogrid-Reinforced Sand Under Static and Dynamic Loading

A series of axi-symmetry models using finite element analyses were performed to investigate the behavior of circular footings over reinforced sand under static and dynamic loading. Geogrid was modeled as an elastic element and the soil was modeled using hardening soil model which use an elasto-plastic hyperbolic stress–strain relation. Several parameters including number of geogrid layers, depth to the first geogrid layer, spacing between layers and load amplitude of dynamic loading are selected in this paper to investigate the influence of these parameters on the performance of reinforced systems under both static and dynamic loads. The numerical studies demonstrated that the presence of geogrid in sand makes the relationship between contact pressure and settlement of reinforced system nearly linear until reaching the failure stage. The rate of footing settlement decreases as the number of loading cycles increases and the optimum values of the depth of first geogrid layer and spacing between layers is found 20% of the footing diameter. Some significant observations on the performance of footing-geogrid systems with change of the values of parametric study are presented in this paper.     

瑞利波在非均匀饱和地基中的传播特性

考虑地基横观各向同性和非均匀性,建立孔隙率、密度、剪切模量及渗透系数同时随深度变化的非均匀饱和地基模型,模型中考虑参数间的耦连影响,并引入非均匀因子表征地基的不均匀程度。基于Biot多孔介质理论建立以土骨架位移和孔隙水压力为基本未知量的控制方程,采用微分算子法对控制方程进行解耦求解,推导出非均匀饱和地基中瑞利波的频散方程。将推导结果分别退化到均匀饱和地基和单一弹性地基,验证了结果的正确性。通过数值算例,对非均匀饱和地基中瑞利波的传播速度、衰减系数及位移分布进行分析。结果表明：在低频区,饱和地基的非均匀性对瑞利波传播速度、衰减和位移都有显著影响,质点运动轨迹也由此发生变化;随着频率的升高,这种影响逐渐减小,当频率趋于无穷大时,瑞利波速度收敛于弹性地基中的波速;地基非均匀性增大了瑞利波的传播阻抗性,瑞利波位移加速衰减,传播深度小于均匀饱和地基。随着非均匀性增大,质点竖向位移的衰减快于水平位移,这种差异造成质点椭圆运动轨迹的扁率减小。此外,地基中非均匀土层厚度越小,则地基非均匀程度越高,对瑞利波的传播影响越大。     

THE SETTLEMENT OF A RIGID CIRCULAR FOUNDATION RESTING ON A HALF-SPACE EXHIBITING A NEAR SURFACE ELASTIC NON-HOMOGENEITY

The present paper examines the elastostatic problem pertaining to the axisymmetric loading of a rigid circular foundation resting on the surface of a non-homogeneous elastic half-space. The non-homogeneity corresponds to a depth variation in the linear elastic shear modulus according to the exponential form G(z)=G₁+G₂e^-ζz. The equations of elasticity governing this type of non-homogeneity are solved by employing a Hankel transform technique. The mixed boundary value problem associated with the indentation of the half-space by the rigid circular foundation is reduced to a Fredholm integral equation which is solved via a numerical technique. The numerical results presented in the paper illustrate the influence of the near-surface elastic non-homogeneity on the settlement of the foundation.     

Interference effect of two nearby strip footings on layered soil: theory of elasticity approach

In recent times, rapid urbanisation coupled with scarcity of land forces several structures to come up ever closer to each other, which may sometime cause severe damage to the structures from both strength and serviceability point of view, and therefore, a need is felt to devise simplified methods to capture the effect of footing interference. In the present study, an attempt has been made to model the settlement behaviour of two strip footings placed in close spacing on layered soil deposit consisting of a strong top layer underlying a weak bottom layer. Theory of elasticity is employed to derive the governing differential equations and subsequently solved by the finite difference method. The perfectly rough strip footings are considered to be resting on the surface of two-layer soil system, and the soil is assumed to behave as linear elastic material under a range of static foundation load. The effect of various parameters such as the elastic moduli and thickness of two layers, clear spacing between the footings and footing load on the settlement behaviour of closely spaced footings has been determined. The variation of vertical normal stress at the interface of two different soil layers as well as at the base of the failure domain also forms an important part of this study. The results are presented in terms of settlement ratio (ξ_δ), and their variation is obtained with the change in clear spacing between two footings. The present theoretical investigation indicates that the settlement of closely spaced footings is found to be higher than that of single isolated footing, which further reduces with increase in the spacing between the footings.     

Bearing Capacity Factors of Ring Footings by Using the Method of Characteristics

Ring footings can be more effective and economical than circular footings. In spite of similarities between circular and ring footings, their behaviors are different in some respects such as bearing pressure distribution under the footing and settlement. But no exclusive theoretical prediction of ultimate bearing capacity has been reported for ring footings. In the present study, stress characteristics method is employed for coding the bearing capacity of ring footing with horizontal ground surface. In the calculations, friction at the contact between the soil and foundation is considered. In this research, the soil obeys the Mohr–Coulomb yield criterion and that is cohesive–frictional-weighted with applied surcharge pressure. The bearing capacity factors Nγ, Nq and Nc for ring footings were calculated by a written code based on the method of characteristics. Bearing capacity was determined for different conditions of soil and different ratio of radii in comparison with the principle of superposition results. The findings show that the principle of superposition is effective for determining the bearing capacity of a ring footing.     

Drained bearing response of shallow foundations on structured soils

This paper examines the drained bearing response of circular footings resting on structured soil deposits. Numerical simulations have been carried out using a finite element formulation of the Structured Cam Clay model. A parametric study was conducted by varying the parameters that govern the behaviour of structured soils and guidelines are given for designers to identify when effects of the soil structure are important. Under fully drained conditions, deformation within the structured soil supporting the footing usually occurs as a local or punching shear failure due to high compressibility of the structured soil and the mobilised bearing pressure increases with the footing movement, without reaching an ultimate value. A novel approximate method is presented to obtain the load–displacement response of a rigid circular footing resting on the surface of a structured soil deposit. This requires the properties of the soil in the reconstituted state and two additional parameters, which govern the natural structure of the soil. The proposed method has been applied to a published case study, where plate load test results are given for rigid circular steel plates resting on structured soil deposits. Fair agreement is observed between the computed and experimental results, suggesting the approximate method may be useful in design studies of foundations on structured soil deposits.     

上拔扩底基础与地基土体承载特性差异性分析

工程中多采用基础上拔静载试验中基础顶部荷载-位移曲线获取基础的承载力,忽略了基础周围土体的变形破坏过程,而实际工程中均是基础周围地基土体发生破坏。为研究扩底基础与其周围土体在抗拔承载特性方面的差异,以黄土地基中的9个扩底基础为研究对象,通过现场全尺寸基础的上拔静载试验,分别获得基础顶部与地表的上拔荷载-位移曲线,并进一步对基顶与地表处的荷载-位移曲线变化特征、抗拔承载力取值进行对比分析。结果表明,两处的荷载-位移曲线变化特征相似,相同上拔荷载作用下地表处的位移量均小于基础处位移量,差异以初始弹性阶段变形最为突出;两者在弹性极限荷载QL1取值方面,相差较大,但随着地基基础由弹性向塑性发展,差异逐渐减小,两者塑性极限荷载QL2取值基本相同。结合上拔扩底基础的破坏模式,分析出上述差异主要由于基础与周围土体之间变形不协调所致,加载初期基础顶部的上拔位移包括基础拔出量和上部土体压缩量,当上部土体压密后压缩变形消失,地基基础成为一个整体,上拔基础与周围土体的变形趋于协调。     

Vertical vibration of a rigid strip footing on viscoelastic half-space

This paper presents an analytical method for modeling the dynamic response of a rigid strip footing subjected to vertical-only loads. The footing is assumed to rest on the surface of a viscoelastic half-space; therefore, effects of hysteretic soil damping on the impedance of the foundation and the generated ground vibrations are considered in the solution. To solve the mixed boundary value problem, we use the Fourier transform to cast a pair of dual integral equations providing contact stresses, which are solved by means of Jacobi orthogonal polynomials. The resulting soil and footing displacements and stresses are obtained by means of the Fourier inverse transform. The solution provides more realistic estimates of footing impedance, compared to existing solutions for elastic soil, as well as of the attenuation of ground vibrations with distance of the footing. The latter is important for the estimation of machine vibration effects on nearby structures and installations.     

Nonlinear analysis of footings on granular bed–stone column improved soft soil

In this paper, a model for the analysis of footings having finite flexural rigidity resting on a granular bed on top of stone columns improved saturated soft (clayey) soil has been proposed. Soft soil has been modeled as a Kelvin–Voigt body to represent its time dependent behavior. Pasternak shear layer has been used to represent the granular layer and the stone columns have been idealized by means of nonlinear Winkler springs. Nonlinear behavior of granular fill, soft soil and stone columns has been invoked by means of hyperbolic constitutive relationships. Governing differential equations for the soil–foundation system have been obtained and finite difference method has been adopted for solving these, using the Gauss-elimination iterative scheme. Detailed parametric study for a combined footing has been carried out to study the influence of parameters, like magnitude of applied load, flexural rigidity of footing, diameter of stone column, spacing of stone column, ultimate bearing capacity of granular fill, poor foundation soil and stone column, relative stiffness of stone columns and degree of consolidation, on flexural response of the footing.     

条形埋置基础固结分析计算图表

基于比奥固结理论,用有限元方法研究了有限饱和土层中条形埋置基础的固结沉降特性。仔细分析了影响固结度的3个参数：基础埋深与土层厚度的比值;土层厚度与基础宽度的比值;土骨架的泊松比。根据分析结果,提出了归一化无量纲时间,并给出了计算条形埋置基础固结度的计算图表。这些图表为基础设计提供了便捷准确的计算方法。运用文中图表计算固结度的最大误差不超过3 %。     

Effect of interface characteristics on the influence coefficients of an embedded circular footing under horizontal and moment loading

By means of a semi-analytical FE approach an embedded circular footing under monotonic horizontal and moment loading is studied. In a non-homogeneous soil whose shear modulus is characterized by a power law variation with depth, horizontal, rocking and coupled modes of displacement, expressed in terms of influence factors are thoroughly examined. The exponent α that controls the shape of the stiffness variation with depth is termed shear modulus factor. Surface influence coefficients are considered for the situations where the interface between the soil and the footing is either perfectly rough or perfectly smooth. First, results of semi-analytical FE analysis in the case of rough footing are established and compared with those of another numerical method. Results of comparison show good agreement. Then, for different values of α the surface influence coefficients are presented for an embedded footing in perfect smooth contact with soil. The metacentre is referred to as the depth at which there is no coupling between the sliding and the rocking modes of footing deformations. Expressions for location and horizontal influence coefficient corresponding to this particular depth are developed and their variations with α examined. The paper finishes by showing the effect of interface conditions on the soil normal stresses developed beneath the embedded circular footing for the case of loading applied at the footing top.     

非均质地基承载力及破坏模式的FLAC数值分析

利用基于Lagrangian显式差分的FLAC算法，通过数值计算，对黏结力随深度线性增长的非均质地基上条形基础和圆形基础的极限承载力及地基破坏模式进行了对比计算与系统分析。研究表明：（1）随着地基黏结力沿深度非均匀变化系数的增大，地基的破坏范围逐渐集中在地基表层和基础两侧：（2）即使地基的非均质程度较小，当将非均质地基近似地按均质地基考虑时，由此所估算的承载力可能过于保守；（3）地基承载力系数随黏结力沿深度非均匀变化系数的增大而非线性地增大。与数值解相比，skempton与Peck等近似公式均可能高估了非均质地基承载力。     

Numerical study of the bearing capacity for two interfering strip footings on sands

Current studies of bearing capacity for shallow foundations tend to rely on the hypothesis of an isolated footing. In practice a footing is never isolated; it is mostly in interaction with other footings. This paper focuses on a numerical study using the finite-difference code Fast Lagrangian Analysis of Continua (FLAC), to evaluate the bearing capacity for two interfering strip footings, subjected to centered vertical loads with smooth and rough interfaces. The soil is modeled by an elasto-plastic model with a Mohr–Coulomb yield criterion and associative flow rule. The interference effect is estimated by efficiency factors, defined as the ratio of the bearing capacity for a single footing in the presence of the other footing to that of the single isolated footing. The efficiency factors have been computed individually to estimate the effects of cohesion, surcharge, and soil weight using Terzaghi’s equation, both in a frictional soil with surcharge pressures and in a cohesive-frictional soil with surcharge pressures. The results have been compared with those available in the literature.     

Behaviour of model footing on pond ash

This paper focuses on the effective utilization of pond ash, as foundation medium. A series of laboratory model tests have been carried out using square, rectangular and strip footings on pond ash. The effects of dry density, degree of saturation of pond ash, size and shape of footing on ultimate bearing capacity of shallow foundations are presented in this paper. Local shear failure of a square footing on pond ash at 37% moisture content (optimum moisture content) is observed up to the values of dry density 11.20 kN/m³ and general shear failure takes place at the values of dry density 11.48 kN/m³ and 11.70 kN/m³. Effects of degree of saturation on ultimate bearing capacity were studied. Experimental results show that degree of saturation significantly affects the ultimate bearing capacity of strip footing. The effect of footing length to width ratio (L/B), on increase in ultimate bearing capacity of pond ash, is insignificant for L/B ≥ 10 in case of rectangular footings. The effects of size of footing on ultimate bearing capacity for all shapes of footings viz., square, rectangular and strip footings are highlighted.     

Vertical and horizontal deformation of an inhomogeneous elastic half-space

Vertical and horizontal deformations of surface footings have been studied for an inhomogeneous elastic half-space in which the shear modulus increases with an arbitrary power of depth, n, and Poisson's ratio is constant. A general solution for displacements has been obtained first for point loads applied in vertical and horizontal directions. These are then used in obtaining closed-form solutions for displacements of uniformly loaded circular and rectangular footings. Finally, a numerical method is described that can be used to analyse a rigid footing of an arbitrary shape, and results for rigid rectangular footings are given.