STUDY OF THE INTERACTION OF CONCRETE WALLS WITH THE FOUNDATION STRUCTURE

Resumo

This paper presents a study of the factors that influence the mechanism of soil-structure
interaction in a pilot building in concrete walls and their impact on their performance. Initially, a
research was made on the concrete walls structural system, following a brief bibliographical review on
the fundamental concepts for the study of the soil-structure interaction (SSI), such as: constitutive soil
models, discrete models for soil representation, soil properties, stress analysis and allowable stress,
among others. To illustrate the studies carried out, a numerical modeling of a four-floor concrete wall
pilot building was performed, subjected to vertical actions, supported by slab foundation, using the
Finite Element Method (FEM), using specific 3D software for analysis and structural dimensioning in
reinforced concrete. For the consideration of the geotechnical and structural system (foundation
structure), the discrete spring model (Winkler model) coupled to the superstructure was used and the
slab foundation thickness was varied by 16 cm (model 1), 25 cm (model 2) and 40 cm (model 3). The
local geotechnical formation was represented by a soft clay (SPT = 5) from the Belo Horizonte
Metropolitan Region, Brazil. The influential factors of the SSI analyzed in this research were: relative
rigidity ground structure, uniformity of the requesting stresses, repression in the building and
reinforcement rates found. For a better visualization of the influence of these various factors, an analysis
was made of the distribution of normal stresses and stresses at the base of the walls of this building, in
the form of graphs. Finally, it was concluded that the change in Slab Foundation, stiffness influences
the distribution of stresses and stresses in the foundation, with a tendency to uniformity as the slab
foundation thickness increases. However, this relationship is not linear.