Effect of Vertical Cross-sectional Shape of Foundation and Soil Reinforcement on Settlement and Bearing Capacity of Soils

Abstract

Bearing capacity and settlement of soils are both function of dimension and shape of foundation, embedment depth, physico-mechanical properties of soil and load geometry. Soil reinforcement is one of the methods of improving the engineering properties of soils that has gained acceptance in geotechnical engineering practices. In this paper, patterns of load-settlement characteristic of statically loaded shallow foundation models with different vertical cross-sectional shapes on both unreinforced and reinforced soft clay soils are presented. Models of shallow foundations with rectangular, wedge and T-shape vertical cross-sections were studied. The study generally shows that reinforcement of soil under shallow foundations with deferent vertical cross-sectional shapes increases bearing capacity and reduces settlement of the subsoil base. Evaluation of Bearing Capacity Ratio (BCR) shows that foundations with rectangular vertical cross-sectional shapes have higher BCR values than those foundations with T and wedge vertical cross-sectional shapes.