Reliability-Based Design Approach for Differential Settlement of Footings on Cohesionless Soils
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 135, Issue 12
Abstract
A probabilistic method is presented to estimate the differential settlements of footings on cohesionless soils, considering the uncertainties in both the load and capacity sides of the design equation. A random field approach is employed to characterize the inherent soil variability. This method is first compared to typical limit values from the literature to denote critical combinations of design parameters that can lead to exceedance of tolerable differential settlements. Then, reliability-based design equations are developed for the serviceability limit state (SLS) design of footings on cohesionless soils. The key parameters controlling the SLS are the allowable angular distortion, site variability, and footing spacing. The results are given in a straightforward design format and indicate that currently suggested deformation factors (resistance factors for SLS) equal to 1.0 are likely to be unconservative for most design situations.
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Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 135 • Issue 12 • December 2009
Pages: 1779 - 1788
Copyright
© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: Jun 10, 2008
Accepted: Apr 9, 2009
Published online: Nov 13, 2009
Published in print: Dec 2009
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