Advanced analysis of shallow foundations located near slopes

The geotechnical problem of the rigid shallow foundation resting near a slope or cut is a problem that is commonly experienced within engineering practice. Due to the complex nature of sloped soil structures that are subjected to foundation loading, past numerical models have been based on simplified assumptions that propose to produce conservative results for bearing capacity. This project illustrates the use of explicit finite different software (FLAC) to numerically model and analyse the behaviours of slopes under foundation loading at an advanced level. The purpose of this research is to produce a qualitative set of results for the shallow rigid foundation resting near a slope and use them to validate the previous simplified numerical models of the foundation problem. The advanced FLAC models used to obtain results within this study have been validated against a number of available solutions. These included Explicit Finite Difference, Upper Bound – Lower Bound and physical model solutions. The focus of this study is to produce a weighted foundation and investigate the effects of foundation weight, the interface conditions between the rigid foundation base and underlying soil structure, discontinuous foundation punching into the soft clay material and large strain analysis of the model. In addition to the studies conducted for the advanced analysis of the shallow rigid foundation problem, analysis of static pseudo seismic foundations was conducted, to investigate the effects of earthquake-induced horizontal forces within the model. Within this section of study comprehensive parametric studies were conducted into the effects of the H/B, D/B and Soil Strength Ratios. The results obtain from this research project included; that the modelling of the building weight under small strain analysis for a smooth soil structure interface was the most conservative modelling method and the comprehensive parametric study of the static pseudo seismic forces gave an interesting insight into the complex design problem