Experimental and numerical investigation on circular footing subjected to incremental cyclic loads

The results of laboratory model tests and numerical analysis on circular footings supported on sand bed under incremental cyclic loads are presented. The incremental values of intensity of cyclic loads (loading, unloading and reloading) were applied on the footing to evaluate the response of footing and also to obtain the value of elastic rebound of the footing corresponding to each cycle of load. The effect of sand relative density of 42%, 62%, and 72% and different circular footing area of 25, 50, and 100cm2 were investigated on the value of coefficient of elastic uniform compression of sand (CEUC). The results show that the value of coefficient of elastic uniform compression of sand was increased by increasing the sand relative density while with increase the footing area the value of coefficient of elastic uniform compression of sand was decreases. The responses of footing and the quantitative variations of CEUC with footing area and soil relative density obtained from experimental results show a good consistency with the obtained numerical result using “FLAC-3D”.