Ground tie-beams are widely used to connect shallow foundations (isolated footings, combined, strip..etc.). The primary purpose of ground tie-beams is to decrease the differential settlement between footings under applied load conditions. The scarcity of realistic design procedures for the ground tie-beams leads the foundation designers to rely on their experience and common local practices.
This paper studies the ground tie-beams connected with isolated footing in a coupled structural model using PLAXIS 3D and MIDAS GEN ( Finite element software). In the present study, both PLAXIS 3D (simulate soil as a 15-node 3D continuum model) and MIDAS GEN (simulate soil as a Winkler model) have been used to precisely determine straining action and settlements. A 3D model contains nine footings with different dimensions including 12 ground tie-beams with a constant depth and different widths. Founded on hard clay soil has been developed and studies.
The investigation resulted in a difference between the settlement of the PLAXIS 3D model and the MIDAS GEN model. A correction value was developed to account for the effect of interference of stress of footings because of the rigidity of ground tie-beams and superstructure by adjusting elastic settlement values.