GATE CE 2023 Set 2 — Question 28
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Geotechnical Engineering → Shallow Foundations → Contact Pressure
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Question
The reason(s) of the nonuniform elastic settlement profile below a flexible footing, resting on a cohesionless soil while subjected to uniform loading, is/are:
Correct answer
(B) Variation of soil stiffness along the width of the footing
Solution
For a flexible footing on cohesionless soil (sand), the contact pressure is uniform. However, the soil stiffness (modulus of elasticity ) depends on the confining pressure. At the center of the footing, the soil is more confined than at the edges. Consequently, the soil is stiffer at the center and more compressible at the edges, leading to a settlement profile that is minimum at the center and maximum at the edges. Thus, the nonuniform settlement is primarily due to the variation of soil stiffness along the width of the footing.
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