This technical note elaborates the phenomenon of displacement pattern of interacting footings resting on homogeneous, linearly elastic soil medium with transverse isotropy. The response of interference of twin and multiple footings with respect to the spacing between them is studied in terms of bearing capacity and settlement characteristics. The concept of plane of symmetry is employed in case of symmetrical foundations subjected to symmetrical loading conditions. Using anisotropy factor (α), the soil is modeled for both the cases - stiffer horizontally than vertically and vice versa. The results are reported in the form of normalized load-settlement plots measured beneath the footing for isolated case with a variation in the anisotropy factor, α. In addition, the interaction curves with respect to the bearing capacity as well as the settlement are also reported based on various parametric studies. To give a lucidity of the present study, typical contours of horizontal and vertical displacements are presented for different values of α at a particular spacing between the foundations.

Keywords: Cross - anisotropy, Interaction phenomenon, Elasticity, Twin and multiple footings.