A two-dimensional nonlinear soil spring model for mat foundation in clays is introduced in this paper. Hyperbolic function was used to model the nonlinear load-displacement relationships of the mat. The solutions from three-dimensional finite element analysis were analyzed to find the model parameters of the soil springs underneath the slab. Using the normalized functions of the model parameters across the mat, the two-dimensional modelling of the soil springs was suggested. The solutions from the proposed model with the finite difference analysis were found agreeable to the three-dimensional finite element analysis.
