Analysis of stresses and settlement for strip footings resting on jointed rock masses

Large-scale engineering structures with substantial loads, such as dams, towers, and bridges, are currently being constructed on rocks as a good load-bearing foundation. Because many rocks are jointed and thus inherently discontinuous, the analysis of stress and settlement is crucial to ensure a safe and reliable foundation design with no potential for failure or excessive settlement. This paper presents a new analytical solution based on the complex variable method for calculating stresses and settlements under vertically loaded strip footings. The rock mass was assumed to be elastic and intersected by two perpendicular joint sets parallel and normal to the rock surface. The jointed rock was modeled as an equivalent orthotropic continuum to obtain the analytical solution, and the theory of anisotropic elasticity was applied. Comparisons with the available isotropic solutions and results from the FEM models are also provided to verify the accuracy of the proposed solution. Finally, a parametric study is conducted to investigate the effects of various joint characteristics and Poisson’s ratios on the solutions.