A study of foundations on expansive soils

Abstract

The design of stiffened slabs involves an assessment of the range of deflections under the applied structural loads and the various environmental conditions likely to arise during the life of the building. In countries whose regions experience a wide range of climatic conditions, large seasonal soil deformations can occur. As differing soils react to widely varying degrees, a problem exists for the foundations in designing economical. The problem is most important for the most expansive soils. This paper describes a method for designing stiffened slabs for expansive soils, based on an analysis of soil-structure interaction. The method increases the understanding of slab behavior and allows an improvement on the empirical methods in use.