Authors
Abstract
The object of this study is to find a construction solution to the problem of expansive soils by suggesting of a new shape of the conventional footing which has a sharp edge, this footing is named a “wedge footing” which is considered as an alternative shape to the strip footing to dissipate the swelling pressure produced in the soil when inserting the footing in it. These soils have a tendency
to absorb water and expand causing high damage to the lightly loaded buildings and structures. The analysis carried out using finite element method to assess the behaviour of displacement of the wedge footing compared with strip footing which is considered as a basic problem. An equation is obtained from the results of the computer package of “STATISTICA” based on the results of finite element analysis related to the displacement of wedge shaped footing as a function of soil properties and footing with coefficient of regression of (R2= 98.9%).
Keywords
)
