Studies on Performance of Isolated Footing with Load Transfer Platform

Abstract

Foundations transfer the load of superstructure to the foundation soil, so the stability of a structure can be ensured by constructing foundation over good foundation soil. But due to increased developments, situations arise to construct structures on soft soil. Various methods of ground improvement techniques are adopted to construct a stable structure over soft soil. Studies show that the use of load transfer platform under structure foundation can homogenize settlement by establishing a resistant base layer. In this project compacted fiber reinforced load transfer platform (FRLTP) are used between isolated footing and foundation soil. In this study polypropylene fiber was mixed with clay, the fiber content (0%, 0.2%, 0.4%, 0.6% and 0.8% by weight of clay) in the clay was a varying parameter. The clay containing 0.4% of fiber is used as compacted FRLTP based on UCC strength. Plate load test was conducted on “Foundation soil + Compacted FRLTP” of varying thickness (0B, 0.25B, 0.5B and 1.0B, where B is the width of footing). For studying the effect of soil reinforcement in Compacted FRLTP, plate load test was conducted on “Foundation soil + Compacted Non-reinforced soil” of varying thickness (0B, 0.25B, 0.5B and 1.0B). Results show that, when Compacted FRLTP or Compacted Non-reinforced soil is used above foundation soil, the bearing capacity increases. The effect of reinforcement on soil was studied by comparing the results of plate load test of “Foundation soil + Compacted FRLTP or Compacted Non-reinforced soil”. Results show that, with the use of Compacted FRLTP instead of Compacted Non-reinforced soil above foundation soil, the bearing capacity increased by 47.2%, 39.5% and 35.3% for thickness of 0.25B, 0.5B and 1.0B respectively. By plotting a graph between percentage increase in bearing capacity versus Thickness of Compacted Non-reinforced soil or Compacted FRLTP, an optimum thickness of 0.35B is taken for both Compacted FRLTP or Compacted Non-reinforced soil above foundation soil.