ABSTRACT

In the present study , a numerical analysis was carried out on the behavior of shallow
foundation subjected to vertical axial loading in clayey soil . The analysis is performed
using the Plaxis - 3D program for developing the finite element model . The purpose
of this study was to assess the effect of some parameters on the load settlement
relationship and evaluate the ( Nc ) factor of bearing capacity equation . The
parameters considered included Poisson ’s ratio of soil , soil modulus of elasticity ,
foundation width and soil cohesion . It was found that an increasing of the Poisson’s
ratio of soil increase slightly the load capacity at small settlements of the foundations
, whereas it showed significant effect at large settlements to reach about (25%) at
final stages of settlement . The foundation load capacity increases significantly with
the increase in the soil modulus of elasticity . Increasing the foundation width does
not have a significant effect on the value of the bearing pressure , so that the scale
effect could not be observed . Variation undrained cohesion of soil had no effect on
the ( Nc ) factor of bearing capacity at a certain value of settlement ratio ( S/B )
however , it is found equal ( 6 ) while with the increase in settlement ratio the ( Nc )
factor increases .

INTRODUCTION
Soil is the most important material which is used for construction of engineering
structures , therefore, it is necessary to understand and study the behaviour of the
soil under loads and the factors that affect it . In comparison with other materials ,
soil has a more complex material due to the nature of their components ; the need
to analytical in the last decades arises through the development in computer
technology and the finite element program . The selected computer program should
be including the proper material model and it is important to know how the
parameters should be selected for the analysis to give results closer to reality and
more logical . The development constitutive models for simulate the soil behaviour
represent the key aspect in analysis of geotechnical structures , because soil is in
complex nature . However , despite the complex soil nature there was a recent
development of new constitutive relations , [ 1 – 4 ] There is a lot of effort ,
increasing day after day , to develop more accurate models in business codes to help
the designers to solve geotechnical problems considering more realistic of the soil
behavior [ 5 ] Dixit and Patil [ 6 ] performed an experimental study to investigate the
effect of different parameters on bearing capacity of soil , it was concluded that the
most parameters are cohesion , friction angle and unit weight of soil in addition to
depth and width of foundation . It was observed from previous studies that most of
the experimental researches for studying the behavior of foundation in clay soil are
carried out in the remolded soils , therefore, the trend in this resea rch is studying
the behavior of footing in undisturbed soil at natural conditions to represent the real
case . The purpose was to study the effect of some parameters on the load -
settlement relationship and evaluate the ( Nc ) factor of bearing capacity equation .

Definition of shallow foundations

A shallow foundation is a type of building foundation that transfers building loads to
the earth very near to the surface , rather than to a subsurface layer or a range of
depths as does a deep foundation . Shallow foundations include spread footing
foundations , mat slab foundations , slab-on-grade foundations, pad foundations ,
rubble trench foundations and earthbag foundations .

Types of shallow foundations

Shallow foundation Foundation depth usually involves depth , measured from the
terrain surface , to the base surface through which the foundation transfers the
structure load to the soil . According to Eurocode , shallow foundations are
considered to be bases whose width is greater than the depth of foundation ( D <B )
Shallow foundation is applied in cases where the good load - bearing soil is at a
relatively low depth . The foundation depth must meet the safety requirements of
the breakdown , whereby after the load application, the complete structure
settlement will be within acceptable limits . Foundation depth is also conditioned by
local climate conditions . The minimumvalue depends on the depth of the freezing
soil , which is defined by the lowest temperature in the shade for the frozen area
from a greater depth so the foundation cavity must be below the freezing depth .
return period of 50 years. During soil freezing , the water is attracted to the
Types of shallow foundations
Shallow foundations can be divided into :

1) Spread footings
2) Strip footings
3) Slab foundations
4) Grid foundations

1 – Spread Footings
Spread footings are types of shallow foundation which transmit and distribute the
point load from the structure ( column , support ) to the soil . The spread footings
have been performed as masonry structures of complex rock blocks , bricks and
unreinforced concrete . Nowadays , such types of massive foundations are avoided
and reinforced spread footings are performed with considerably smaller dimensions
due to the use of reinforcement , i.e increase in the usability of concrete sections.
The spread foundations according to their stiffness can be divided into solid and
flexible foundations. The relation of soil stiffness and foundation defines the
deformation and distribution of strain at the contact of the foundation and soil. The
criterion for determination of spread foundation stiffness depends on the soil
foundation reactor module and is valid for K > 0,40 for solid foundations, i.e K < 0,40
for flexible foundations .
Because of the required construction speed , the prefabricated spread foundations
on the prepared substrate are often used. The compound of the prefabricated
foundation and the future structure is carried out by filling the micro – concrete

2 - Strip footings
Strip footings are performed underneath a series of columns or supporting walls and
in case the strain on soil foundation underneath the spread foundation is large . Strip
footings also prevent the horizontal distortion of individual foundations and
strengthen them. In the longitudinal direction , the strip footings act as a continuous
carrier under the force influence from the columns / walls .
3 - Slab foundations
Slab foundations are shallow foundation structures placed underneath the entire
structure in the following cases :
– If the spread / strip foundations would be too close to each other .
– For the foundation of tall structures and those with high loads ( industrial facilities
, warehouses )
– For resolving differential settlement issues (soil foundation of different strength
and deformability characteristics )
The slab foundations are reinforced as two - way load-bearing plates with a
continuous load . Reinforcing is recommended in the upper and lower zones to
accept bending moments caused by soil reaction .

4 - Grid foundation
The grid foundation is made up of interconnected strip foundation. This type of
shallow foundation is appropriate when the columns extend in two directions in an
approximately square raster and the foundation beams can be made in two
orthogonal directions forming a grid foundation . This ensures a large contact surface
and a good connection of the structure in both directions .
Shallow foundation is considerably more cost - effective than deep foundation . It
should be applied where appropriate measures and procedures can achieve the
required structure reliability in terms of the end-of-bound state ( soil breakdown
under the foundation ) and the limit state of usability ( permitted settlements )
Read more : Foundation remediation , Material replacement under foundation
PARAMETRIC STUDY RESULTS
The effect of variation of the four parameters on the behavior of shallow foundation
under loading is conducted and the results are shown below . 4.1 Effect of Soil
Poisson’s Ratio The effect of Poisson’s ratio of soil on the load settlement response
of foundation is shown in Fig ( 5 ) , it was observed that the effect is slight at small
settlements of the foundations , whereas it showed significant effect at large
settlements which is in agreement with the results found by Omeman [ 9 ] . It seems
that increasing of Poisson’s ratio from ( 0.25 to 0.4 ) increases gradually the load
capacity of footing to reach about ( 25% ) at the final stages of settlement

Effect of Soil Modulus of Elasticity The effect of changing the soil modulus of
elasticity on the load settlement response is shown in Fig ( 6 ) The load capacity of
the footing increases significantly up to twice with increasing in the soil modulus of
elasticity from ( 4 to 13 MPa )
Effect of Foundation Size In order to analyze the results of the effect of foundation
size on the applied stress , the results have been demonstrated as the settlement
ratio ( S / B ) and a relation of the bearing pressure ( q ) as can be seen in Fig ( 7 )
where the settlement ratio represent the ratio of settlement of foundation to its
width ( B) it can be observed that increasing the width does not have a significant
effect on the value of the bearing pressure , although the width increased from
( 0.8 to 20 m ) which means that scale effect due to variation the footing sizes in clay
soils cannot be observed from these results , similar findings are reported by [ 10 ]
[ 11 ] and [ 12 ]

Effect of Soil Cohesion In Fig ( 8 ) the effect of variation soil cohesion on bearing
pressure ( q ) against the settlement ratio ( S / B ) curve is shown , and it is obvious
that the ultimate bearing capacity increased significantly with variation undrained
cohesion of soil from ( 40 to 200 kPa ) , Table ( 3 ) shows the values of undrained
cohesion used with the corresponding modulus of elasticity that represent ( Eref 50)
in the program . Fig ( 9 ) shows the relationship between bearing ratio ( q / cu ) and
settlement ratio ( S / B ) , and the results clearly show variation undrained cohesion
of soil has no effect . The bearing ratio represents the bearing capacity factor ( Nc )
and according to the observation of Ornek et al . [ 7 ] that the natural clay soil
deposit collapsed and there was no longer load can applied after settlement ratio (
3% ) , therefore , the ( Nc ) is ( 6 ) , where this value is within the acceptable range ( 4
to 6.28 ) for saturated clay [ 13 ] It can be concluded that the ( Nc ) factor affected by
the settlement criterion used for defining the ultimate capacity , however , with the
increase in settlement the ( Nc ) factor increases .
CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study yielded the following conclusions : The results of the analysis
using Plaxis program of raft foundation in clay are in good agreement with measured
experimental results ; hence , it can be used for studies of other parametric study .
Variation the Poisson’s ratio of soil from ( 0.25 to 0.4 ) increase slightly the load
capacity of footing at small settlements of the foundations , whereas it showed
significant effect to reach about ( 25% ) at the final stages of settlement . The load
capacity of the footing increases significantly up to twice with increasing in the soil
modulus of elasticity from ( 4 to 13 MPa ) Increasing the foundation width does not
have a significant effect on the value of the bearing pressure , so that scale effect
cannot be observed . Variation undrained cohesion of soil has no effect on the ( Nc )
factor at a certain value of the settlement ratio ( S / B ) however , it is found equal
( 6 ) where this value is within the acceptable range , while with the increase in
settlement ratio the ( Nc ) factor increases .
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