The response of shallow foundations under lateral cyclic loading is generally nonlinear and involves rocking, sliding, settlement, and may also involve foundation uplift and soil yielding. Unlike pile foundations, the nonlinear Winkler model is not widely used for modeling cyclic soil-footing-structure interaction (SFSI) problems. Nonetheless, it has some important features that make it more attractive than conventional finite element approaches, and is a recommended approach in the FEMA 356 design guideline. This paper explores the strengths and limitations of the FEMA 356 nonlinear Winkler modeling approach, when used in predicting the cyclic response of various recent SFSI experiments. The results of the study show that the model is capable of satisfactorily predicting all the different cyclic response quantities apart from permanent horizontal displacements. This should therefore be noted when using the approach in design.
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