Numerical modelling of soil-foundation interaction by a new non-linear macro-element

This paper focuses on the development of a new non-linear macro-element for the modelling of soil-foundation interaction. Material and geometrical nonlinearities (soil yielding and foundation uplift respectively) are taken into account in the present macro-element to examine the response of shallow foundations under monotonic and cyclic loads. Several applications of soil-foundation systems are studied. The results obtained from these applications are in very favourable agreement with those obtained through other numerical models in the literature.