Loading Of Foot Research Articles

Comparison of the effects of orthoses on hallux valgus angle and plantar pressure in individuals with hallux valgus.

Hallux valgus (HV) is a condition characterized by the lateral deviation of the first phalanx and medial deviation of the first metatarsal, leading to subluxation of the first metatarsophalangeal joint. Various orthotic applications are employed in the treatment of HV deformity. This study aimed to compare the effects of a toe separator (TS) and dynamic orthosis (DO) on hallux valgus angle (HVA), plantar pressure (PP), and quality of life (QoL). Thirty individuals aged between 18 and 65 years who had mild to moderate HV deformity were included in our study. Participants were randomized into TS and DO groups. Pretest and post-test evaluations at 4 weeks included goniometric measurement for HVA, PP measurement using the Sensor Medica device, QoL assessment using the American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society-Hallux MTP-IP Scale and Manchester-Oxford Foot Questionnaire, and numerical evaluation scale for orthosis satisfaction. No statistically significant changes were observed in HVA measurements (p > 0.05). In the DO group, significant differences were observed in PP assessment for right rearfoot loading (p = 0.048) and total average pressure measurement of the right foot (p = 0.025). QoL assessments were observed significant differences in the DO group compared with the TS group (p < 0.05). After a 4-week period of wearing the TS and DO orthoses, no change in HVA was observed. In the DO group, a more balanced load distribution between the right and left foot (50.2% left, 49.8% right) and a more pronounced effect in reducing deformity-related pain and improving QoL by increasing functionality were noted.

Experimental study on the performance of geogrid-reinforced soil (GRS) walls under monotonic footing loading

Geogrid-reinforced soil (GRS) is a widely employed compound material in the construction of retaining walls. This paper presents a set of reduced-scale model tests to study the performance of GRS walls with dry backfill under monotonic footing loading, varying parameters such as wall inclination angle and the number of reinforcement layers. Lateral deflections of the retaining wall, bearing capacity of the footing and the failure mode of the soil were analysed. The results indicated that augmenting the reinforcement layers will lessen wall lateral deflections, and increasing the angle of inclination could significantly enhance ultimate bearing capacity of the footing. A linear relationship was found between the overall lateral deflections of the retaining wall and the footing settlement. The failure of geogrid could lead to a breakdown in the connection between the geogrid and the soil, consequently causing local failure. The failure modes of the GRS wall under strip footing was composed of shear failure in the reinforcement layer and spiral failure in the weak layer. At last, the logarithmic spiral analysis method was modified slightly to calculate the ultimate bearing capacity. The analytical solution and the outcomes derived from experimental models exhibit a high level of concordance.

Investigating stone column effectiveness for sabkha soil improvement: field tests and numerical model

This study explores the application of stone columns to improve the bearing capacity of sabkha soil for the construction of a Lattice Communication Tower foundation in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Geotechnical investigation report, an on-site footing loading test to evaluate the foundation's bearing capacity and settlement behavior following stone column installation, and post-cone penetration tests (CPT) to assess soil densification are all part of the study data. The uppermost 4 m of the soil profile comprise a medium to dense layer of sand with silt, followed by a 12-m layer of weak sabkha soil (SPT, N less than 4). Below the sabkha layer, the strata exhibit varying densities, ranging from medium to dense and very dense layers, extending to the maximum depth of investigation. The comparison of Pre- and Post-CPT data revealed significant improvements in the sand and silt layer above the sabkha layer, as well as moderate improvements in the upper portion of the sabkha layer. However, the majority of the sabkha soils and underlying soil layers did not show significant improvement. Plaxis 3D numerical models were employed to provide insights into the performance of the composite area encompassing stone columns and the surrounding soil. Comparing field tests and numerical models showed that neglecting stone column installation effects in numerical models led to overestimating settlements. However, when examining the field data and numerical results with a raised coefficient of lateral earth pressure when of K∘=2\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${K}_{^\\circ }=2$$\\end{document}, a distinct alignment between settlement values consistent with those derived from field testing. The findings highlight the importance of including site-specific conditions and installation effects in numerical modeling to accurately predict the behavior of stone columns in sabkha soils.

Settlement prediction of shallow foundations for quality controls of sandy hydraulic fills

This paper describes a procedure for settlement prediction of shallow foundations on carbonate sands, but it is fully applicable and valid for siliceous sands. For practical purposes, the design of shallow foundations resting on medium dense and dense granular soils is typically governed by limiting settlement to tolerable values. Predicting foundation settlement is therefore important, but in standard practice it is necessarily based on indirect (and therefore often conservative) determinations of soil compressibility (or modulus), due to the intrinsic difficulties in obtaining direct measurements.While numerical analyses incorporating non-linear soil behaviour may be a preferred method for computing expected total and differential settlement of shallow foundations of given geometry and stiffness on sand under static loading, the method described in this paper consists of a simplified and expeditious method based on equivalent linear elasticity. The method uses: i) the elastic soil stiffness profile at small strain, E0(z) obtained from the shear wave velocity as the primary measurement of deformability and ii) the reduction in modulus as a function of strain magnitude, E(ε) to account for stiffness non-linearity. The beneficial effect on the soil initial stiffness of the applied footing load is also considered. The method was developed as an on-site tool for checking the compaction of hydraulic fills made of carbonate sand to form artificial islands, but its application can be extended to other natural and anthropogenic coarse-grained materials.

Biomechanical Properties of Bionic Collum Femoris Preserving Hip Prosthesis: A Finite Element Analysis.

Compared with total hip replacement, conventional collum femoris preserving prosthesis has a better bone retention effect. However, damage to the trabecular bone of the proximal femur leads to inevitable abnormal stress distribution, which leads to increased risks of femoral neck bone absorption, periprosthetic fracture, prosthesis loosening, rotation, and sinking. Thus, we compare the biomechanical properties of collum femoris preserving (CFP) and bionic collum femoris preserving (BCFP) hip prostheses. The Sawbone digital model (#3503, left, medium) was selected as the research object. We used the Mimics 21.0 software to reconstruct the digital model of the femur and the SolidWorks 2019 software to build and assemble the three-dimensional models of CFP and BCFP prostheses. With the ANSYS Workbench 2021R1 software, the models were meshed and assigned values to simulate the load of a single foot under slow walking. We measured the mechanical distribution of the whole model and obtained the stress nephogram. For CFP prosthesis, the peak stresses of the medial interface of the stem neck, the lateral interface of the stem neck, and the end of the stem were 64.894, 32.199, and 8.578 MPa, respectively; the peak stresses of the medial surface of the femoral shaft, the lateral surface of femoral shaft, the medial femoral neck bone-prosthesis interface (osteotomy interface), the lateral femoral neck bone-prosthesis interface (basal area), the lateral femoral neck bone-prosthesis interface (osteotomy interface), and the greater trochanter area were 28.093, 24.790, 14.388, 5.118, 4.179, and 8.245 MPa, respectively; the valley stress of the greater trochanter area was 1.134 MPa. For BCFP prosthesis, the peak stresses of the medial interface of the stem neck, the lateral interface of the stem neck, and the end of the stem were 47.015, 26.771, and 47.593 MPa, respectively; the peak stress of tension screw was 15.739 MPa; the peak stresses of the medial surface of the femoral shaft, the lateral surface of femoral shaft, the medial femoral neck bone-prosthesis interface (osteotomy interface), the lateral femoral neck bone-prosthesis interface (basal area), the lateral femoral neck bone-prosthesis interface (osteotomy interface) and the greater trochanter area were 28.581, 25.364, 15.624, 6.434, 4.986, and 8.796 MPa, respectively; the valley stress of the greater trochanter area was 1.419 MPa; the peak stress of bone-metal interface between the tension screw and the lateral surface of the femur was 5.858 MPa. Compared with the CFP prosthesis, the design of the BCFP prosthesis is based on the lever balance theory. With the bionic reconstruction of tension trabeculae, BCFP prosthesis makes up for the defects of CFP prosthesis design, optimizes the stress distribution, and reduces the stress shelter effect of the proximal femur, which has better biomechanical properties.

The long-term mechanical performance of geogrid-reinforced soil retaining walls under cyclic footing loading

The soil behind the retaining wall may be subjected to various cyclic loadings, for example, machine vibration, traffic and earthquake loading. To reduce soil deformation and improve the stability of a soil retaining wall, geosynthetics have been widely used for wall reinforcement. A set of physical model tests were performed to investigate the long-term mechanical performance of geogrid-reinforced soil retaining walls under cyclic footing loading. Fujian standard sand was used as the backfill in all the tests. Different locations of the footing relative to the retaining wall and locations of geogrid failure were considered in the test series. The soil retaining wall lateral deflections, footing settlement, vertical soil stress and geogrid strain were presented and discussed. Digital image correlation (DIC) analysis was performed to reproduce the ground deformation under different testing conditions. The test results show that the footing settlement is attributed to the cyclic loading-induced soil deformation and the settlement caused by the lateral facing deflection of the wall. In addition, the lateral facing deflection of the wall reduces the lateral confinement in the soil, which increases the cyclic loading-induced footing settlement. However, the effect of the lateral facing deflection of the wall on the footing settlement becomes limited if the footing is 4B from the soil retaining wall. The failure of the geogrid leads to greater lateral facing deflection of the retaining wall and a deeper zone of influence of the cyclic loading, so greater footing settlement can be observed than that in the tests without geogrid failure. Larger lateral deflection is associated with smaller vertical soil stress accumulation. The geogrid strain accumulation is largest directly below the footing and is related to vertical soil stress accumulation.

Finite element limit analysis of load-bearing performance of reinforced slopes using a non-associated flow rule

This paper presents a numerical study on the load-bearing performance of reinforced slopes under footing load using a finite element limit analysis (FELA) method where a non-associated flow rule is assumed in the analysis. The method was validated against results from full-scale model tests and a limit equilibrium (LE) analytical method. A series of parametric analyses was subsequently carried out to examine the influences that the soil dilation angle, footing location, and reinforcement design (i.e. length, tensile strength, and vertical spacing) could have on the load-bearing performance of reinforced slopes. Results indicate that dilation angle has a significant influence on the predicted magnitudes of bearing capacity, slope deformation, and mobilized reinforcement load. The predicted values of bearing capacity using the FELA are smaller than those from the Meyerhof's analytical method for unreinforced semi-infinite foundation, especially for larger friction angle values. Additionally, the ultimate bearing capacity of the slope and its corresponding horizontal deformation increase with the reinforcement tensile strength. Finally, the slip planes under the applied footing load are found to be y-shaped and primarily occur in the upper half of the slope.

Performance of two-tiered reinforced-soil retaining walls under strip footing load

In the current study, an attempt was made to investigate the performance of two-tiered mechanically stabilized earth walls (T-TMSEWs) under static footing loading using reduced-scale model tests. For this purpose, twenty-four T-TMSEW models were constructed with three different types of reinforcement (metal strips, geogrid and geostraps) and were loaded using the rotatable and non-rotatable strip footings in different distances to the wall crest. Findings indicated that, although decreasing the reinforcement stiffness and the soil-reinforcement interaction reduces the ultimate bearing capacity of footings, the use of extensible reinforcements with low pull-out capacity and allowing the footing to tilt can be two effective solutions in T-TMSEWs to minimize deformations of backfill surface and connection loads as well as lateral pressures. It was observed that the use of a two-tiered configuration in MSE walls and also reducing tensile stiffness and soil-reinforcement interaction simultaneously, not only lead to change in the slip surface geometry but also prevent the development of deep slip surfaces in the lower tier. On the other hand, increasing the footing distance to the wall crest in the range of reinforced zone was found to be another influential solution to improve the bearing capacity, reduce wall deformations and also minimize lateral pressures.

Limit Analysis of Lateral Earth Pressure on Geosynthetic-Reinforced Retaining Structures Subjected to Strip Footing Loading Using Finite Element and Second-Order Cone Programming

Limit Analysis of Lateral Earth Pressure on Geosynthetic-Reinforced Retaining Structures Subjected to Strip Footing Loading Using Finite Element and Second-Order Cone Programming

In-Situ Fracture Tolerance of the Metatarsals During Quasi-Static Compressive Loading of the Human Foot.

Accidental foot injuries including metatarsal fractures commonly result from compressive loading. The ability of personal protective equipment to prevent these traumatic injuries depends on the understanding of metatarsal fracture tolerance. However, the in situ fracture tolerance of the metatarsals under direct compressive loading to the foot's dorsal surface remains unexplored, even though the metatarsals are the most commonly fractured bones in the foot. The goal of this study was to quantify the in situ fracture tolerance of the metatarsals under simulated quasi-static compressive loading. Fresh-frozen cadaveric feet (n = 10) were mounted into a testing apparatus to replicate a natural stance and loaded at the midmetatarsals with a cylindrical bar to simulate a crushing-type injury. A 900 N compressive force was initially applied, followed by 225 N successive load increments. Specimens were examined using X-ray imaging between load increments to assess for the presence of metatarsal fractures. Descriptive statistics were conducted for metatarsal fracture force and deformation. Pearson correlation tests were used to quantify the correlation between fracture force with age and body mass index (BMI). The force and deformation at fracture were 1861 ± 642 N (mean ± standard deviation) and 22.6 ± 3.4 mm, respectively. Fracture force was correlated with donor BMI (r = 0.90). Every fractured specimen experienced a transverse fracture in the second metatarsal. New biomechanical data from this study further quantify the metatarsal fracture risk under compressive loading and will help to improve the development and testing of improved personal protective equipment for the foot to avoid catastrophic injury.

Spring-Based Trapdoor Tests Investigating Soil Arching Stability in Embankment Fill under Localized Surface Loading

Pile-supported (PS) embankments have been used increasingly to support highways and railways on soft subsoils. In addition to the self-weight of the embankment, this embankment system is often subjected to surface localized loading, such as traffic loading. In this embankment system, soil arching is a key load transfer mechanism. Stability of soil arching under localized surface loading is important because traffic loading applied on the embankment surface can transfer onto and between pile heads and affect the degree of mobilization and degradation of soil arching. Conventional trapdoor systems have a rigid trapdoor, control its displacement manually/automatically, and cannot represent load-induced subsoil settlement below the embankment. This study utilized a trapdoor supported on low-stiffness or high-stiffness compression springs that moved under the load above the trapdoor (called a spring-based trapdoor) to evaluate the effects of continuous trapdoor displacement on the soil arching stability under static footing loading. To investigate the trapdoor rigidity effect, a trapdoor consisting of three segments (called a flexible trapdoor) was utilized in this study as well. The trapdoor test results showed that soil arching was mobilized during fill placement as the fill height and the trapdoor displacement increased. Subsequently, under static footing loading, the degree of soil arching increased at a low applied pressure; however, it degraded under higher footing loading that caused a larger trapdoor displacement. The high-stiffness trapdoor increased the degradation pressure required to eliminate soil arching even though it reduced the degree of soil arching under a low applied pressure compared with the low-stiffness trapdoor. The flexible trapdoor resulted in a uniform stress distribution on the trapdoor but reduced the total load transferred to the supports. The conventional trapdoor resulted in a lower soil arching ratio compared with the spring-based trapdoor during the soil arching mobilization, but had a higher soil arching degradation rate than the spring-based trapdoor due to continuous soil movement.

Responses of buried steel pipes under footing loadings – a numerical parametric study

Buried pipes are among the most important urban facilities due to their use in multiple key applications such as drainage, sewerage, oil lines, electrical conduits, and culverts. The performance of such infrastructure under different loading conditions relies highly on their design, yet adequate design cannot be achieved unless their actual behaviours are well understood. This paper thus uses numerical analyses to investigate the response in terms of vertical stresses of buried steel pipes under monotonic static footing loads. Based on a reduced-scale physical test constructed in a test box under plane-strain conditions, a finite element model was built and verified using Plaxis3D software, and a parametric study to investigate the effects of footing width and loading condition, and pipe location or embedment ratio was then conducted. The results of the numerical analyses showed that the Hardening Soil (HS) model depicted the response of the backfill material adequately. The numerical analysis results also showed that increasing embedment depth decreased the pressure on the pipe, while increasing the footing width increased the pressure on the pipe when the embankment height was twice the pipe diameter. A critical footing width of 1B was identified that was responsible for the highest pressure on the pipe when the embankment height was equal to the pipe diameter (H/D = 1). When H/D = 1, the localised footing loading condition is thus critical due to the higher vertical stresses on the pipe than seen under uniform loading.

Numerical Study of Geosynthetic-Reinforced Soil Wall Subjected to Static Footing Loading

This study intends to examine the behavior of a GRS wall with static footing loading above it, while varying the positions of the footing. For the study of behavior of such complex structure, finite element modeling is handy and enables to look into the various stress/strain developed in the numerical model. In view of the above, a series of finite element (FEM) simulations using a software (Optum G2) is performed for the analysis of the GRS wall. The governing parameters, such as footing width (B), reinforcement length (L), offset distance (D), are evaluated and the effect of these factors on the ultimate bearing capacity (q) and settlement (s) of the footing is presented in this study. The results depict that the settlement of the footing substantially reduced in the range of 36% and its ultimate bearing capacity is increased to 42% more than the conventional retaining walls.

Influence of surface footing loading on soil arching above multiple buried structures in transparent sand

Constructing a new buried structure nearby an existing one or constructing multiple buried structures in close proximity may change overburden stresses, induce ground movement, and affect soil–structure interaction. Such issues become more complex when these nearby buried structures are subjected to surface cyclic footing loading. Cyclic loading is expected to have different influences on the buried structures from static loading. This paper presents two-dimensional trapdoor tests with transparent soil to investigate the influences of static versus cyclic surface loading, number of trapdoors, overburden soil height, and load frequency on soil arching above single or multiple adjacent buried structures. The particle image velocimetry technique was adopted to monitor soil movements during testing. The test results showed that soil arching degraded more under cyclic loading than under static loading. The interaction of buried structures, the thin overburden soil, and the high load frequency accelerated soil arching degradation and induced larger ground surface displacement.

Influence of typical handball characteristics on upper body posture and postural control in male handball players

BackgroundWell defined constitutional parameters support the physical fatigue resistance in handball to maintain the performance level for the majority of actions. Ideal constitutional conditions are necessary to achieve these physiological advantages in handball. But limited knowledge exists about the upper body posture or the postural control in correlation to the Body Mass Index (BMI), playing years, playing position and throwing arm in professional male handball.MethodsNinety-one male handball players participate (24.1 ± 5.9 years; playing experience 16.6 ± 5.7 years). A three-dimensional back scanner and a pressure measuring plate were used.ResultsCorrelations between BMI and upper body posture and postural control were not significant. Same counts for the comparison between the left and right throwing arm according to upper body posture and postural control (p ≥ 0.05). Correlations between the years of playing can be found at pelvis height (p ≤ 0.04) and for the length of the Center of Pressure (CoP) (p ≤ 0.01). Wing players are 6.5–8.5 cm smaller. The playing position is independently of BMI, age or upper body posture (p ≥ 0.05). Backcourt players have a higher load of the left and a lower load of the right foot compared to wing players (p ≤ 0.001). Left-right comparison (p ≤ 0.001/ 0.01) can be seen in pivot player (covered area), backcourt player (weight distribution left/right [rear] foot), wing player (weight and force distribution left/right foot, covered area).ConclusionGoalkeeper, Backcourt and pivot players are taller and heavier than wing players. These physiological demands are not detectable in the upper body posture and slightly in postural control. Wing players have the most asymmetric load distribution and the longest length of CoP. Since goalkeepers do not differ from pivot or backcourt players, this can be lead back to the same training.

Tarsal fusion for pes equinovarus deformity improves gait capacity in chronic stroke patients

BackgroundGait impairments are common and disabling in chronic stroke patients. Pes equinovarus deformity is one of the primary motor deficits underlying reduced gait capacity after stroke. It predisposes to stance-phase instability and subsequent ankle sprain or falls. This instability is most pronounced when walking barefoot. Tarsal fusion is a recommended treatment option for varus deformity, but scientific evidence is sparse. We therefore evaluated whether a tarsal fusion improved barefoot walking capacity in chronic stroke patients with pes equinovarus deformity.MethodsTen patients with a pes equinovarus deformity secondary to supratentorial stroke underwent surgical correction involving a tarsal fusion of one or more joints. Instrumented gait analysis was performed pre- and postoperatively using a repeated-measures design. Primary outcome measure was gait speed.ResultsWalking speed significantly improved by 32% after surgery (0.38 m/s ± 0.20 to 0.50 m/s ± 0.17, p = 0.007). Significant improvement was also observed when looking at cadence (p = 0.028), stride length (p = 0.016), and paretic step length (p = 0.005). Step length on the nonparetic side did not change. Peak ankle moment increased significantly on the nonparetic side (p = 0.021), but not on the paretic side (p = 0.580). In addition, functional ambulation scores increased significantly (p = 0.008), as did satisfaction with gait performance (p = 0.017).ConclusionsTarsal fusion for equinovarus deformity in chronic stroke patients improves gait capacity, and the degree of improvement is of clinical relevance. Our results suggest that the improved gait capacity may be related to better prepositioning and loading of the paretic foot, leading to larger paretic step length and nonparetic ankle kinetics.

Combined loading of strip footings on sand-over-clay with layers of varying extents

This study describes the numerical analyses performed to investigate the bearing capacity of strip footings placed on granular (frictional) material overlying soft clay subjected to combined vertical-horizontal and vertical-moment loading. A plane-strain finite element limit analysis is used to estimate the limiting load combinations for two layer soil geometries where the top layer is either fully extended in the horizontal direction or it is of limited horizontal extent, representative of rock or gravel berms commonly used in offshore practice.Bearing capacity envelopes for combined vertical, horizontal and/or moment loading are well-documented in the literature for cases of footings resting on single sand or clay soil. For two-layer sand-over-clay soil with a horizontally extensive top layer, the vertical-horizontal and vertical-moment envelopes initially coincide with the envelope for a single sand layer at low vertical loads, but show an abrupt reduction in the horizontal or moment capacity as the vertical load increases beyond a certain critical vertical load. The critical vertical load is found to vary as a function of the thickness and the lateral extent of the upper layer. Relationships are presented to enable the vertical-horizontal and vertical-moment envelopes to be estimated based on the problem geometry and material properties.The findings in this study provide insight into the response of subsea foundations placed on rock or gravel of limited extent overlying a clay seabed as well as the general response of shallow foundations on two-layer profiles.

Numerical Modelling of Stone Column Installation Effects on Performance of Circular Footing

In this paper, numerical analyses using Plaxis 2D code in axisymmetric model are carried out to evaluate the influence of stone column installation effects on the loading–settlement performance of circular footing supported by a small group of columns. First, the column installation inducing lateral expansion is modelled using large displacements as the undrained expansion of a cylindrical cavity. The focus is made on the evaluation of the installation effects in terms of stiffness and effective vertical, radial and circumferential stresses immediately after column installation and after consolidation. The results show that the dissipation of excess pore pressure, due to column installation, leads to more improvement in the effective radial than circumferential stresses in the vicinity of the column which induce to a significant increase in effective mean stress as well as the surrounding soil stiffness. Then, numerical investigations are performed on column group supporting a rigid circular footing to evaluate the influence of each improvement installation effect by producing the loading–settlement response. The results show more improvement of settlement is obtained when considering both effective horizontal stresses and soil stiffness improvements due to column installation and the improvement is more pronounced for high footing loading. Moreover, the columns bulging are mainly controlled by the effective horizontal stresses.

Effect of number of layers on coir geotextile reinforced sand under cyclic loading

The present investigation is on the behavior of coir geotextile-reinforced sandy soil foundations and to study the effect of different parameters contributing to their performance using laboratory model tests. The parameters investigated in this study included top layer spacing, number of reinforcement layers and vertical spacing between layers. The effect of coir geotextile reinforcement on the vertical stress distribution in the sand and the strain distribution along the reinforcement were also investigated. The test results established the potential benefit of using coir geotextile-reinforced sand foundations. The test results also showed that the reinforcement configuration/layout has a significant effect on the behavior of reinforced sand foundation. With two or more layers of reinforcement, the settlement can be reduced at all footing pressure levels. The inclusion of reinforcement can redistribute the applied footing load to a more uniform pattern, hence reducing the stress concentration, which will result reduced settlement.

Cyclic response of single-layer coir-mat-reinforced sand

The present experimental investigation is conducted to study the cyclic response of coir-mat-reinforced sandy soil foundations and the effect of different parameters contributing to their performance using laboratory model tests. The parameters investigated in this study included various positions of reinforcement layer. The test results established the potential benefit of using coir-mat-reinforced sand foundations. The test results also showed that the reinforcement configuration/layout has a significant effect on the behaviour of reinforced sand foundation. With a layer of reinforcement, the settlement can be reduced. The inclusion of reinforcement can redistribute the applied footing load to a more uniform pattern, hence reducing the settlement.