Numerical Analysis of Soil Stress Distribution under Restrained and Eccentrically Loaded Footings Considering Soil Strength

One potential way to prevent overturning and increase efficiency of an eccentrically loaded footing is to hold the back of the footing down into the ground with a structural member such as a cable. A previous numerical analysis by the authors showed that under a specific condition by assuming a linearly elastic soil, a simplified model could be developed based on the elastic cracked concrete beam model to estimate soil stress distribution under the restrained and eccentrically loaded footing. In practice, however, soil has a limited shear strength, which is often described using the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion. Under eccentric loading, the soil may yield near the edge of the footing.