Investigating the Nonlinear Performance of Reinforced Concrete Shell Foundations

Abstract

The present study involved a numerical investigation of two types of shell foundation having the same dimensions, these are the "Inverted" and "Upright" shell foundations. This type of foundation is considered as an alternative of the shallow foundations when the footing is subjected to a high load or used in a weak soil. The study includes a comparison between these two types of shell foundations. The results showed that the “Inverted” shell footing is superior to the “Upright” one in terms of Load carrying capacity, settlement and contact pressure. The study involved the effects of using different edge angles namely (10°, 20°, 30 and 40°). It was found that by increasing the angle the load-bearing capacity increased in case of “Inverted” shell footing, while it was decrease in the case of “Upright” shell footing. Different thickness of footing is considered, these are 160,200 and 240mm. it was found that by increasing the thickness of footing, the load-bearing capacity increased in both types of shell footing.