Study of Input Parameters of Layered Half-Space used for Soil Modelling

Abstract

This article deals with a problem of soil modeling. That is a necessary part of foundation modeling.The soil modeling can directly influent the resulting deformation of the foundations and therefore deformationof the whole building. The accurate procedure that can simulate the foundation-soil interaction is still unknown.A greater understanding of the issue through experiments and numerical modeling is important for a goodapplication and proper use in practice. To improve this understanding an experimental test of a concrete slabwas performed on special testing equipment. The experiment is complemented by numerical modeling.Numerical models are created in the Ansys software. The article features three cube models and a half-spheremodel. Deformations on all featured models are discussed and compared to the experimental values andsimplified hand calculation. The subsoil model is based on the Boussinesq half-space theory. The soil section isassumed homogeneous and layered. The size of models is assumed as a changing parameter from 10 m to 30 m.A recommended model size was evaluated from the parametric study as a match of deformation from modelsand the experiment. This computed model size is compared with an affected depth described by the standardČSN 731001. Computation was performed using supercomputer Anselm in the National SupercomputingCenter IT4Innovations in the VSB-Technical University of Ostrava.