Probabilistic Foundation Settlement on Spatially Random Soil
This article has a reply.
VIEW THE REPLYPublication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 128, Issue 5
Abstract
By modeling soils as spatially random media, estimates of the reliability of foundations against serviceability limit state failure, in the form of excessive differential settlements, can be made. The soil’s property of primary interest is its elastic modulus, which is represented here using a lognormal distribution and an isotropic correlation structure. Prediction of settlement below a foundation is then obtained using the finite element method. By generating and analyzing multiple realizations, the statistics and density functions of total and differential settlements are estimated. In this paper probabilistic measures of total settlement under a single spread footing and of differential settlement under a pair of spread footings using a two-dimensional model combined with Monte Carlo simulations are presented. For the cases considered, total settlement is found to be represented well by a lognormal distribution. Probabilities associated with differential settlement are conservatively estimated through the use of a normal distribution with parameters derived from the statistics of local averages of the elastic modulus field under each footing.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
American Concrete Institute (1989). “Building code requirements for reinforced concrete.” ACI 318-89, Detroit.
Asaoka, A., and Grivas, D. A.(1982). “Spatial variability of the undrained strength of clays.” J. Geotech. Eng., 108(5), 743–756.
Canadian Geotechnical Society (1978). Canadian foundation engineering manual, Montreal.
Canadian Standards Association (1984). “Design of concrete structures for buildings.” CAN3-A23.3-M84, Toronto.
Chiasson, P., Lafleur, J., Soulié, M., and Law, K. T.(1995). “Characterizing spatial variability of a clay by geostatistics.” Can. Geotech. J., 32, 1–10.
D’Appolonia, D. J., D’Appolonia, E., and Brissette, R. F.(1968). “Settlement of spread footings on sand.” J. Soil Mech. Found. Div., Am. Soc. Civ. Eng., 94(SM3), 735–760.
De Groot, D. J., and Baecher, G. B.(1993). “Estimating autocovariance of in-situ soil properties.” J. Geotech. Eng., 119(1), 147–166.
de Marsily, G. (1985). “Spatial variability of properties in porous media: A stochastic approach.” Advances in transport phenomena in porous media, NATO Advanced Study Institute on Fundamentals of Transport Phenomena in Porous Media, J. Bear and M. Y. Corapcioglu, eds., Boston, 719–769.
Fenton, G. A.(1994). “Error evaluation of three random field generators.” J. Eng. Mech., 120(12), 2478–2497.
Fenton, G. A.(1999a). “Estimation for stochastic soil models.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 125(6), 470–485.
Fenton, G. A.(1999b). “Random field modeling of CPT data.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 125(6), 486–498.
Fenton, G. A., and Vanmarcke, E. H.(1990). “Simulation of random fields via local average subdivision.” J. Eng. Mech., 116(8), 1733–1749.
Paice, G. M., Griffiths, D. V., and Fenton, G. A.(1996). “Finite element modeling of settlements on spatially random soil.” J. Geotech. Eng., 122(9), 777–779.
Ravi, V.(1992). “Statistical modelling of spatial variability of undrained strength.” Can. Geotech. J., 29, 721–729.
Smith, I. M., and Griffiths, D. V. (1998). Programming the finite element method, 3rd Ed., J Wiley, New York.
Soulié, M., Montes, P., and Silvestri, V.(1990). “Modelling spatial variability of soil parameters.” Can. Geotech. J., 27, 617–630.
Vanmarcke, E. H. (1984). Random fields: Analysis and synthesis, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
Copyright © 2002 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Apr 5, 2000
Accepted: Aug 7, 2001
Published online: Apr 15, 2002
Published in print: May 2002
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.