Investigation of stress distribution and settlement profiles of different shaped foundations with experimental and finite elemants analysis method

The bearing capacity of the foundations on cohesionless soil, settlement profile variation and the effect of this variation on structure-soil interaction have been the subject of many researches. In this study, it has been examined the bearing capacity of different-shaped (square, square with mid opening, U and L) shallow foundations which settled on cohesionless soil, the settlement forms and the stress distribution which became under the foundations. It was researched that the effects of foundation geometry on the bearing capacity and on the different settlement forms by experimentations and finite element analysis. For the purpose of examining these effects, tests were implemented on well-graded sand by using different type of steel plates which represents the foundations. In the test, a square foundation was chosen as the control element (B=400 mm and L=400 mm). The shapes of the test elements were choosen as follows: 2 square with mid opening, 2 L-shaped and one U-shaped. In this study, it was researched that settlement profiles, stress distribution and axial load-settlement graphs of each foundations by using finite element analysis for comparing with test results. The results of the model experiments were compared with the results of the finite element analysis. Also the effects of different settlements, occures due to the superstructure loadings on different geometric foundations, on the internal forces of the superstructure were examined.Keywords : Shallow Foundations, Bearing Capacity, Settlement Profile, Stress Distribution, Finite Element Method