Vertical Displacement Induced in Soil by Conical Shell Foundations

by Mohamed Abdel-Rahman, Concordia Univ, Montreal, Canada,
Adel Hanna, (M.ASCE), Concordia Univ, Montreal, Canada,



Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Vertical and Horizontal Deformations of Foundations and Embankments

Abstract:

Shells can hold prospect for adoption in foundation engineering only if they can be projected as economical alternatives to conventional flat foundations. Therefore, the initial enthusiasm for shell foundations, generated by the saving in construction materials, their structural integrity, and the anticipated improvement in their geotechnical behavior, should be tempered by the fact that they need extra expenditure for construction due to the complexity of their geometry. However, with new innovations in construction industry such as robotics and the progress in fabrication process of precast concrete units, the use of shell foundations becomes more competitive and feasible. This paper is part of an extensive experimental and numerical investigations conducted on different types of shell foundations to examine their performance with respect to: settlement, ultimate bearing capacity, contact pressure, stress distribution, and soil displacement. The work presented in this paper was limited to study vertical displacement induced in the soil by conical shell foundations under axial loading condition at working loads level. Parametric study using finite elements technique was performed on four foundation models (one circular flat and three different conical models). The soil behavior was modelled by a perfectly elastic model and soil parameters were defined by modulus of elasticity (E) and Poisson's ratio (?). The effect of shell configuration, depth of embedment, soil parameters (? and E) on the distribution of vertical displacement under the models were investigated and the results were presented in graphical format.

Subject Headings: Vertical loads | Soil settlement | Shell structures | Axial loads | Soil pressure | Load bearing capacity | Foundations

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