Behaviour of Skirt Raft Foundation on Sandy Soil Using Plaxis 2D

Geotechnical engineers are trying to find an alternative and effective method for increasing bearing capacity and reducing foundation settlement. Providing skirts around the foundation system may help to improve the Bearing Capacity of shallow footings on sandy soil by restricting the soil movement beneath them and limiting the plastic flow of the soil. Structural skirts have been utilised to improve the effective depth of foundations in marine and other circumstances where water scour is a serious issue. However; only limited information is available in the literature about the performance of skirted foundations, and therefore in the present study an attempt has been made to analyse the various parameters on raft footings of various widths, skirt angles, and skirt depths. The aim of the study is to enlighten the behaviour of the skirt on sandy soil for the settlement of shallow foundations. For various widths of raft footings namely, 15 m, 20 m, 25 m, and 30 m, and skirt depth ratio of 0B, 1B, 1.5B, 2B, and 2.5B is employed with a skirt angle of 5° and 10°. This study shows the findings of a numerical analysis used to assess the settlement of raft foundations with and without skirts. The results of the skirted foundation show that the percentage settlement is increasing, with a larger skirt depth ratio, less width of footing, and high skirt angle.