Shallow Foundation Response Variability due to Parameter Uncertainty

Abstract

Uncertainty in soil parameters may play a crucial role in response variation of foundations and the supporting structures and, consequently, may control several design decisions. It is, therefore, extremely important to identify and characterize the relevant parameters. Furthermore, it is also important to identify the sources and extent of uncertainty of soil and model input parameters, along with the effect of their uncertainty on the shallow foundation response. This chapter intends to investigate the effect of soil and model parameter uncertainty on the response of shallow foundation-structure systems resting on dry dense sand. In this study, the soil-foundation interface is modeled using Winkler-based concept, where the soil-foundation interface is assumed to be an assembly of discrete, nonlinear elements composed of springs, dashpots, and gap elements. The sensitivity of both soil and model input parameters on various force and displacement demands of the foundation-structure system is investigated using first-order second-moment analysis and Latin hypercube technique. It has been observed that the force and displacement demands of the foundation-structure system are highly sensitive to the soil and model parameters.