A critical review on idealization and modeling for interaction among soil–foundation–structure system

The interaction among structures, their foundations and the soil medium below the foundations alter the actual behaviour of the structure considerably than what is obtained from the consideration of the structure alone. Thus, a reasonably accurate model for the soil–foundation–structure interaction system with computational validity, efficiency and accuracy is needed in improved design of important structures. The present study makes an attempt to gather the possible alternative models available in the literature for this purpose. Emphasis has been given on the physical modeling of the soil media, since it appears that the modeling of the structure is rather straightforward. The strengths and limitations of the models described in a single paper may be of help to the civil engineers to choose a suitable one for their study and design.