Application of thermodynamics to the global modelling of shallow foundations on frictional material

Soil-shallow foundation interaction has been theoretically analysed within the framework of thermomechanics. The design of a global interaction model has been achieved with an original treatment of the Clausius-Duhem inequality. The role of the gravity volume forces is emphasized. The paper is focused on a strip footing based on dense sand and subjected to time-independent plastic processes. The theoretical approach has confirmed that an associated global flow rule cannot be expected to hold true. The analysis of the sources of dissipation has led to the development of a soil-footing interface model and a complete interaction model accounting for the interface constraints and the intrinsic frictional properties of the soil. Finally, the abilities of the complete model are checked by comparisons with experimental results found in the literature.