Non-contact model test and numerical simulation of plastic zone in sandy soil foundation

Reasonable determination of the ultimate bearing capacity of the foundation is of great significance in engineering applications. Based on the self-developed non-contact testing device for the plastic zone of shallow foundation, this paper carries out model test research on the plastic zone of sandy soil shallow foundation and analyzes the development law of plastic zone under the action of foundation load. The main advantages and functional characteristics of the foundation plastic zone test system are that it can realize the non-contact test of displacement deformation of soil, the dynamic development process of shear deformation, and the plastic zone of model foundation can be obtained intuitively. The development process, morphological boundary characteristics, and foundation failure mode of the plastic zone of the sand foundation are obtained. The plastic zone of the foundation starts from the edges of both sides of the bearing plate; with the increase of the load, the plastic zone gradually develops downward and approaches to the center line, and finally crosses through at the bottom until the local shear failure of the foundation occurs. The measured plastic zone is a symmetrical spindle shape with thin ends and a bulge in the middle; the sand on both sides of the bearing plate partially bulges, forming a “V” shaped shear failure zone, and the bottom of bearing plate forms a triangular compression zone, the foundation failure mode of sandy soil represents a typical punching shear failure mode. In order to study the distribution characteristics of the plastic zone range of foundation under different foundation loads and foundation widths, the Universal Distinct Element Code (UDEC) based on the discrete element method is used for numerical simulation research. By conducting parameterized numerical simulation test for the plastic zone of foundation and analyzing the results, with the changes in the foundation load and the foundation width, the variation law of (1) the depth of the plastic zone on the foundation bottom, (2) the width of the plastic zone on both sides of the foundation, (3) the ratio for the depth of plastic zone to the width of foundation, (4) the ratio for the width of plastic zone to the width of foundation and (5) the ratio for the width of plastic zone to the depth of plastic zone is obtained. The research has significant guiding significance for the study of the development law of plastic zone and foundation design.