Settlements of Shallow Foundations on cohesionless soils

Abstract

This paper concisely presents a new method for the estimation of settlements of shallow foundations in cohesionless soils. The method includes a simplified model for the distribution of applied stresses with depth, incorporates certain experimental results concerning the stress‐strain relation in cohesionless soils, and proposes a formula for selection of the effective depth below which the deformations can be considered negligible. The main conclusions derived for the experimental investigation on various types of cohesionless soils are used in the analytical model for the estimation of settlement. The final formulas for the calculation of settlement, although they have the form of the elastic‐type solutions, are, in effect, nonlinear functions of the foundation width and of the applied loading. The influence of certain basic factors on the settlements of cohesionless soils, such as, the effect of stress history and the width of the foundation, is examined. It is concluded that the trends from known statistical correlations are predicted satisfactorily by the proposed method. Back‐calculations of settlement using data from published cases, also showed generally satisfactory approximation.