The Importance of Geotechnical Random Variability in the Elastoplastic Stress-Strain Behavior of Shallow Foundations Considering the Geological History

This study presents the influence of variation of geotechnical parameters using random fields for shallow foundations. Understanding stress-strain behavior can decrease foundation construction costs because foundations never use their entire bearing capacities. This study uses continuous-footing finite element models which are built on two constitutive elastoplastic laws. One of the two models takes into account the geological history of the soil. The parameters of each model were generated as random fields using the decomposition matrix technique. Then, these parameters were integrated into finite element models. Our simulations identify which parameters must be carefully obtained to reduce variability of the stress-strain curve. Furthermore, the results show that soil compressibility parameters significantly influence the load capacity limit.