The influence of foundation stiffness on the load distribution below strip foundations

A foundation system consists of a footing which distributes an applied load over an area of soil large enough to form a stable system and the supporting soil. Foundation systems are complex interactive systems due to the variable material properties of the different constituents of the system. Neither the size nor the stiffness of the footing is taken into account during the structural design procedure, which could lead to the overdesign of footings. In this paper the extent to which increasing footing thickness influences the performance in terms of the settlement, deflection and stress distribution beneath a footing is investigated to determine whether current design procedures are valid and, if so, whether they are over conservative. The effect of footing stiffness on the settlement of and stress distribution beneath a strip footing on dense cohesionless sand was established.