Yielding Pressure of Spread Footing above Multiple Voids

Abstract

The effect of multiple voids on the yielding pressure of strip footing was numerically investigated by a two-dimensional plane strain finite-element method analysis. The results indicated that the failure zone developed mainly towards the nearest void from the footing and did not generally extend to the other voids, and the failure zone was narrower and smaller than that of the no-void ground, resulting in smaller yielding pressure. A practical calculation formula was developed for estimating the yielding pressure of strip footing above multiple voids.