Transient Loading Tests on a Circular Footing

This report presents data obtained from transient loading tests on a 1-ft diam relatively rigid footing resting on the surface of a bed of sand. Results are presented showing the load applied to the footing and the resulting acceleration of the footing. Two types of load pulses were applied to the footing, having rise times of approximately 4 ms and 20 ms. The magnitude of the loads was such that the response of the footing was essentially elastic. This allowed a direct comparison to the theory for the response of a footing resting on an elastic half space acted upon by a transient load. The mass of the footing was varied to produce different footing response characteristics. The results of the tests show that the theory leads to a reasonable prediction of the response of the footing to transient loads.