Determination of the bearing capacity of model ring footings: Experimental and numerical investigations

In this paper, it was presented an investigation on the load-settlement and vertical stress analysis of the ring footings on the loose sand bed by conducting both laboratory model tests and numerical analyses. A total of twenty tests were conducted in geotechnical laboratory and numerical analyses of the test models were carried out using the finite element package Plaxis 3D to find the ultimate capacities of the ring footings. Moreover, the results obtained from both foregoing methods were compared with theoretical results given in the literature. The effects of the ring width on bearing capacity of the footings and vertical stresses along the depth were investigated. Consequently, the experimental observations are in a very good agreement with the numerical and theoretical results. The variation in the bearing capacity is little when r(i)/R-o <0.3. That means, when the ring width ratio, r(i)/R-o is equal to 0.3, this option can provide more economic solutions in the applications of the ring footings. Since, this corresponds to less concrete consumption in the ring footing design.