Lateral Force Resistance for Shell Foundation

Shell foundation has been increasingly used around the world as an economic alternative to the traditional flat foundation. It provides higher bearing capacity and experience less settlement as compared to its counterpart flat foundation, these beside its high resistance to lateral pressure. The objective of this thesis is to highlight shell foundation superiorities in resisting horizontal loading and accordingly seismic condition. A comprehensive analytical and numerical investigation were conducted. Analytically, a MATLAB code was generated to calculate the lateral resistance for shell and flat foundations. Numerically, a 2-D finite-element model was developed to examine the governing parameters affecting soil-shell structure interaction, using the commercial software “PLAXIS”. In this analysis the soil was modeled by the Mohr-Coulomb failure criteria, and the elastic perfectly plastic model. Mesh deformations, displacement vectors and failure points diagrams are presented. The results of this study indicated that shell foundations are superior to resist higher lateral forces than the flat foundations, which may advance its use in seismic zones