An approximate method to calculate the stiffness of shallow foundations subjected to eccentric loads

---

Thesis Type: Doctorate

Institution Of The Thesis: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Faculty of Engineering, Department of Engineering Sciences, Turkey

Approval Date: 2016

Student: AYŞE RUŞEN DURUCAN

Supervisor: MUSTAFA TOLGA YILMAZ

Abstract:

A computationally simple method to calculate the static response of arbitrarily shaped shallow foundations subjected to eccentric loading is proposed. A theoretical relationship to estimate the area beneath the foundation that is contact with the load bearing support is developed. This relationship yielded an equation to calculate rocking angle of an arbitrarily shaped foundation under any load eccentricity. Consequently, a simple theoretical model capable of simulating the effects of material and geometrical nonlinearities on the response of arbitrarily shaped shallow foundations subjected to monotonically increasing eccentric and inclined load is developed. The theoretical results are justified by using the results of three available sets of experiments from the literature. Then the parametric analyses of shallow foundations subjected to eccentric loading are performed. It is observed that the proposed theoretical method yields reasonably accurate results in terms of moment-rotation response of shallow foundations.