NUMERICAL ANALYSIS TO INVESTIGATE THE INFLUENCE OF GARDEN WATERING ON A RESIDENTIAL SLAB BUILT ON EXPANSIVE SOILS

摘要

In areas of expansive soils, distortions of residential buildings caused by excessive lawn watering are often observed. In this study, a two-dimensional finite element model has been used to investigate the effects of garden watering on the overall behaviour of a stiffened slab on expansive soils. Movements of the foundation and the footing are generated by the initial soil suction conditions and subsequent changes in the boundary conditions. The numerical studies indicate that a residential footing can suffer a long term progressive edge heave resulting from garden watering. The results also show that garden excessive watering can cause more severe distortion to the footing than the seasonal climate changes.