Economic Design Optimization of Foundations

A geotechnical foundation design should address at least three basic requirements: ultimate limit state (ULS), serviceability limit state (SLS), and economics. Most conventional design approaches focus on ULS and/or SLS optimization, with economics being evaluated afterwards. As an alternative, this paper develops a design approach that explicitly considers the construction economics and results in a foundation that has the minimum construction cost. This design approach is expressed as an optimization process, in which the objective is to minimize construction cost, with the design parameters and design requirements as the optimization variables and constraints, respectively. This design approach is illustrated using a spread footing example. Because construction costs vary by locale, the economically optimized designs differ regionally. Sensitivity studies on soil properties and design requirements show that, for typical spread footing designs in cohesionless soils, Young's modulus (E) and the effective friction angle (ϕ′) are the key parameters. A quantitative assessment illustrates the importance of soil property variability on cost. It is also found that, for typical spread footing designs, a relatively stringent ULS requirement generally ensures fulfillment of the SLS requirement.