EFFECT OF RIGIDITY OF ECCENTRICAL LOADEDFOR RECTANGULAR FOOTINGS WITH WIDTH DIRECTION ON THE CARRYING CAPACITY

Abstract

The finite element method is utilized to study the behavior of eccentrically loadedrectangular footings (with width direction only) on clayey and sandy soils. Also theeffects of variation in footing dimensions and soil properties are investigated. It isproved that Meyerhof’s principle of effective width gives, in general, conservativevalues of the load carrying capacity for footings resting on clay, whereas it overestimates those for footings erected on sand. For the studied practical ranges, the variations in footing dimensions ratio (thickness of footing/ width of footing) and theratio of (Ef/Es) where (Ef the elastic modulus for footing and Ethe elastic modulus forsoil), have negligible effects on the values of carrying capacity reduction factor (Rs f