Superficie óptima para zapatas rectangulares huecas o cimentacionescorridas cerradas: el área en contacto con el suelo está parcialmente comprimida

This work shows a model to estimate the minimum surface of a hollow rectangular footing or closed strip foundation (the width and the position where pressure is zero, since the sides of the construction are subject to the conditions of the superstructure), assuming that the soil is elastic, the distribution of pressures in the soil is linear and the surface in contact with the soil works partially in compression. The methodology is developed by integration to determine the axial load “P”, the moments “Mx” and “My” with respect to X and Y axes. Several numerical studies are presented to determine the minimum soil contact surface for hollow rectangular footings or closed strip foundations under biaxial bending and uniaxial bending. Main findings are: for biaxial bending, the area of the new model (the surface works partially under compression) shows a reduction up to 98.49 % with respect to the area of the current model (the surface works totally under compression); for uniaxial bending, the area of the new model (the surface works partially under compression) shows a reduction up to 96.13 % with respect to the area of the current model (the surface works totally under compression). Therefore, the new model is recommended as it will be of great help to structural foundation specialists.