Rocking Stiffness of Arbitrarily Shaped Embedded Foundations

Abstract

A simple procedure to compute the static and dynamic rocking stiffness of arbitrarily shaped rigid foundations embedded in a reasonably deep and homogeneous soil deposit is developed. The method is based on an improved understanding of the physics of the problem, substantiated by the results of extensive rigorous parametric studies using the boundary element method, and including analytical and numerical results available in the literature. Analytical expressions and dimensionless graphs are developed, applicable to both saturated and unsaturated soils, a variety of basemat shapes, and a wide range of embedment depths and types of contact between the vertical sidewalls and the surrounding soil. A numerical example illustrates the applicability of the method, while a companion paper (Fotopoulou et al. 1989) presents a simple method for determining the radiation damping of embedded foundations.