A Review on the Application of Soft Computing Techniques in Foundation Engineering

Abstract

AbstractDetermining footing design parameters is crucial in designing buildings and other geotechnical structures. Bearing capacity and settlement of foundations are two important design parameters that can be determined with the aid of experimental, numerical, and analytical methods. However, estimating the aforementioned parameters using the above-mentioned methods can be difficult, time-consuming, and costly. On the other hand, recently, the importance of soft computing (SC) methods in solving civil engineering problems is underlined in literature. This study sheds some light on the workability of soft computing techniques in the quick prediction of bearing capacity and settlement of foundations. For this reason, in this book chapter, the first famous soft computing techniques are discussed. Subsequently, the recent studies which highlight the successful application of various SC methods for predicting bearing capacity and settlement of different types of foundations include shallow, skirted, and deep foundations. Overall, the reviewed studies suggest the feasibility of SC methods in predicting bearing capacity and settlement of foundations. However, the predicted values for the aforementioned design parameters should be interpreted with caution as some of the proposed predictive models are based on moderately unsound assumptions.