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The response of shallow and raft foundations is having a significant importance due to its complex behavior because of the semi-infinite soil media. The Winkler model represents the foundation reaction as proportional to the soil displacement at a particular point, which results in the elasticity of the soil being the only parameter in consideration. But in reality the soil cohesiveness is having a significant contribution in soil structure interaction, and therefore the consideration of coupling effects of Winkler springs need to be accounted. Most of the existing elements either consider certain parameters of the foundation or assume an elastic beam and foundation response. In this research a new finite element formulation was developed in which these limitations were eliminated. This improved model can be viewed as a soil with a combination of cohesive behavior which transmits the rotation due to bending in addition to the Winkler effect. The non linear response of structures resting on this improved foundation model is analyzed by considering the tensionless behavior of the soil. The presented solutions show the superiority of the proposed nonlinear foundation model.
About the author
Dr. Mullapudi worked in different international projects in analysis and design of onshore, offshore and nuclear structures. He is the author of more than sixty publications in the field of Structural Engineering. His research interests include soil structure interaction, seismic and blast analysis, and modeling of reinforced concrete structures.
