Influence of concrete cracking in isolated RC footings on cohesive soil–structure interaction

Abstract

One of the aspects that affect structure stability is the soil–structure interaction. A good example of this interaction can be witnessed in footings, in which the properties of the soil surrounding the structural parts and the structural parts themselves affect the engineering behavior of the interaction between concrete footings and the soil. Contact stress distribution represents such interaction. However, contact stress distribution beneath concrete footings does not solely rely on the soil type and behavior of footing in working limit state, but also on the variation in the concrete footings stiffness after cracking. The main purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of the reduction in the concrete footing stiffness due to cracking on the contact stress distribution beneath concentric isolated footings resting on cohesive soil. In this respect, numerical simulation and validation was carried out using a non-linear finite element program 'Abaqus'. A parametric study was conducted to extend this study by including soil cohesion, internal friction angle, rebars yield strength, and foundation depth as investigated parameters. The concrete foundation behavior and failure mode were analyzed. The findings of this research indicate that the different variations of cracks in reinforced concrete showed different shapes of contact stress distribution.