Analysis of a viscoelastic water-saturated clay foundation subjected to a strip load

Designing buildings and structures on weak, water-saturated clay foundations necessitates calculating the stress-strain state of soils over time, considering consolidation processes. These soils exhibit creep behavior, respectively, making a viscoelastic representation of the foundation a promising modeling approach. Numerical analysis identified a parameter for solving the transcendental equation of a nonmonotonic function that describes the viscoelastic mechanical properties of the water-saturated clay loam. Experimental pore pressure data were compared with data obtained from the solution of the time function, with a maximum discrepancy of 4.44 per cent. A mechanical characteristic (a universal parameter of the kinematic soil model) obtained in this study can be used in future to fully calculate the stress-strain state of viscoelastic, water-saturated foudations. The proposed approach undoubtedly holds practical value in the design and construction of engineering structures.