FOUNDATION ENGINEERING

Kousik Deb
Associate Professor
Department of Civil Engineering
IIT Kharagpur

Lecture 01: Introduction-I

Detailed course plan
• Week 1 : Introduction, Soil Exploration

• Week 2 : Penetration Tests, Geophysical Exploration

• Week 3 : Bearing Capacity of Shallow Foundations

• Week 4: Settlement of Shallow Foundation

• Week 5 : Design of Shallow Foundations

• Week 6 : Deep Foundation, Load Transfer Mechanism in Piles, Pile Capacity
Pile Load Test
• Week 7 : Pile Group Capacity, Settlement of Pile, Design of Pile Foundation
• Week 8 : Lateral Earth Pressure- I
• Week 9 : Lateral Earth Pressure- II
• Week 10 : Earth Retaining Structures
• Week 11: Sheet Piles and Braced Excavation
• Week 12: Soil Arching, Underground Conduits
 List of Reference materials and Books

• Arora, K.R., “Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering.” Standard Publisher, New Delhi.

• Purnmia, B.C., “Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering.” Laxmi Publication.

• Ranjan, G. , Rao, A. S. R., “Basics and Applied Soil Mechanics”, New Age International,2007.

• Braja M. Das, “Principles of Foundation Engineering.” PWS Publishing, USA. 1999

• Bowles, J.E., 1997. Foundation Analysis and Design, fifth ed. McGraw-Hill, Singapore.
The design of foundations generally requires a knowledge of factors as:

• The load that is coming on the foundation

• The requirements of the local building code

• The behavior of soil that will support the foundation system

• The geological condition of the soil

Geotechnical Properties of Soil
• Grain-Size Distribution
Generally determined by
Sieve analysis for coarse-grained soil
Hydrometer analysis for fine-grained soil
For coarse-grained soil
Uniformity coefficient (Cu)
D60
Cu =
D10
Coefficient of Curvature (Cc)

(D30 )2
Cc =
D60 × D10
 100
• Well-graded soil 90
Well Graded
80

Cu > 6 for sands 70

> 4 for gravels 60

% finer
50

and Cc must lie between 1 and 3 40

Gap Graded
30

• Poorly-graded soil 20

10 Poorly Graded
0

• Gap graded soil 0.01 0.1 1 10

Particle size in mm
Weight-Volume Relationship

V
• Void ratio e= v
Vs

Vv
• Porosity n=
V
Vw
• Degree of saturation S (%) = × 100
Vv
• Moisture content w(%) =
Ww
× 100
Ws
Se = Gs w
Specific gravity of solids (Gs) is defined as the ratio
of the weight of a given volume of solids to the
weight of an equivalent volume of water at 4°C.
The unit weight of the soil at any water content or any degree of saturation can de
written as:
(Gs + Se)γ w
γ bulk =
1+ e
where Gs is the specific gravity of the soil, γw is the unit weight of the water (9.81 kN/m3 ≈
10 kN/m3). Specific gravity of solids (Gs) is defined as the ratio of the weight of a given
volume of solids to the weight of an equivalent volume of water at 4°C.
Gs γ w
γ dry = (in case of dry soil S = 0)
1+ e
γ
γ = bulk
dry
1+ w
(G s + e)γ w (in case of Saturated soil S = 1)
γ sat =
1+ e
FOUNDATION ENGINEERING
Kousik Deb

Associate Professor
Department of Civil Engineering
IIT Kharagpur

Lecture 02: Introduction-II

 Relative Density
In granular soils, the degree of compaction in the field can be measured by relative
density (Dr%)
Relative density (%) Classification
(emax − e)
Dr (%) = × 100
(emax − emin ) <15 Very loose
15-35 Loose
35-65 Medium
where emax = void ratio of the soil in the loosest state 65-85 Dense
>85 Very dense
emin = void ratio in the densest state
e = in situ void ratio

Ranjan and Rao, 2007

 Atterberg Limits

Solid Semisolid Plastic Liquid

state state state state

Increase of
moisture content
Volume of
the soil-water
mixture

Plastic Liquid
Shrinkage limit (LL)
limit (PL)
limit (SL)

Moisture content
Hydraulic Conductivity of Soil
• Darcy (1856) proposed the following equation for calculating the velocity of flow of
water through a soil
v = ki
where v = Darcy velocity (cm/sec)
k = hydraulic conductivity of soil (cm/sec)
i = hydraulic gradient (i = ∆h/L)

A ∆h B

Direction of flow
A L B
 In the laboratory hydraulic conductivity can be determined by
• Constant head method (more suitable for coarse-grained soil)
• Falling head method (suitable for soils such as fine sands and silts)

Type of soil Hydraulic conductivity (cm/sec)

Medium to coarse gravel >10-1

Coarse to fine sand 10-1 to 10-3
Fine sand, silty sand 10-3 to 10-5
Silt, clayey silt, silty clay 10-5 to 10-6
Clays 10-7 or less

Das, B. M. ,1999
Effective Stress
σ
• Effective stress can be defined as:

σ′ = σ - u
u
where, σ′ is the vertical effective stress

σ is the vertical total stress

u is the pore water pressure

• For dry soil, u = 0; σ′= σ

h1 Unit weight = γ

Ground water level

h2 Saturated unit weight = γsat

σ′= σ - u = (h1 γ + h2 γsat ) – h2 γw

= h1 γ + h2 (γsat - γw)
= h1 γ + h2 γ′

where γ′ is the submerged unit weight of the soil = (γsat - γw)

Compaction
• Expulsion of air from the void space in the soil mass
• Standard Proctor test is done to find out OMC (Optimum moisture content)
and MDD (Maximum dry density).

Air Air

V1 Water Water
V2

Soil solids Soil solids

The dry density is expressed as
γ Gγ w
dry =
 wG 
1+  
 S 

MDD
Dry Density

Zero air void (100% saturation line)

OMC
Water Content
Consolidation

Compression index, Cc = (e1 – e2) / (log p2 – log p1)

According to Skempton (1944): Cc = 0.009 (LL – 10)
If the present effective overburden pressure p = p0 is equal to the preconsolidated Pressure
pc (maximum past effective overburden pressure), the soil is normally Consolidated.

However, if p0 < pc, the soil is overconsolidated

pc
O (smallest radius of curvature)
A
Void ratio, e C
B

Pressure, p

Proposed by Casagrande, 1936

Consolidation settlement
Slope Cs pc

∆e ∆e1
Void Slope Cc Void
ratio ∆e ∆e2
ratio
(e) (e) Slope Cc

p0 P0 +∆p p0 P0 +∆p P0 +∆p

Case 1 Case 2
Pressure p (log scale)
Pressure p (log scale)

Normally consolidated clay Overconsolidated clay

Normally consolidated clay

Settlement S = (Cc/(1+e0)) H log ((p0+∆p)/p0)

Over-consolidated clay

Case 1: p0+∆p < pc

Settlement S = (Cs/(1+e0)) H log ((p0+∆p)/p0)
Case 2: p0 < pc < p0+∆p

Settlement S = (Cs/(1+e0)) H log (pc/p0) +(Cc/(1+e0)) H log((p0+∆p)/pc)

where Cs is swelling index

FOUNDATION ENGINEERING
Kousik Deb

Associate Professor
Department of Civil Engineering
IIT Kharagpur

Lecture 03: Shear Strength

 Shear Strength

The shear strength, τf , of a soil, in terms of total stress is

τf = c + σtan φ

where σ = total normal stress on plane of shearing

c = cohesion

φ = angle of friction
 Mohr-Coulomb Failure Criterion
(in terms of total stresses)
τ
τf = c + σtan φ

c
σ
τf is the maximum shear stress the soil can take without failure, under normal stress of σ.

Sivakugan
 Mohr-Coulomb Failure Criterion
(in terms of effective stresses)

τ
τf = c′ + σ′tan φ′

σ′ = σ - u
φ′
u = pore water pressure

c′
σ′
τf is the maximum shear stress the soil can take without failure, under normal effective stress of σ′.

Sivakugan
Direct shear test (generally for sands)

 Triaxial tests (conducted on sands and clays)

1. Consolidated-drained test (CD test)

2. Consolidated-undrained test (CU test)

3. Unconsolidated-undrained test (UU test)

Unconfined compression test

The shear strength of saturated clays (φ = 0)

Direct Shear Test

Loading Plate Normal Load (σ)

Shearing Load
Horizontal
Deformation
Soil

Shear Box

Direct Shear Test

https://www.indiamart.com/proddetail/direct-shear-test-apparatus-1799435048.html
Stress-strain relationship

Shear stress, τ
Dense sand

τf
Loose sand
τf

Shear displacement

Sivakugan
 Change in height
of the sample

Compression Expansion

Shear displacement
Dense sand

Loose sand
 σ1 = σc + σd
Triaxial Test

σc Soil
σc

σc = Confining Pressure
σd = Deviator Stress
σ1 = Axial Stress

σc + σd

http://tmltesting.com/w/index.php?title=Triaxial
 Consolidated-drained test (CD Test)

Stress-strain relationship during shearing

Deviator stress, Δσd Dense sand or

OC clay
(Δσd)f
Loose sand or NC
(Δσd)f Clay

Axial strain

Sivakugan
Volume change of

Expansion
Dense sand or OC
the sample
clay
Axial strain
Compression

Loose sand or NC
clay
Unconfined Compression Test
σ1 = σ d
τ

C
σc = 0 σc = 0
Soil
σ
σ1 = q u

τf = cu = qu/2

σ1 https://www.indiamart.com/proddetail/unconfined-compression-tester-3827917491.html
 List of Reference materials and Books

• Arora, K.R., “Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering.” Standard Publisher, New Delhi.

• Purnmia, B.C., “Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering.” Laxmi Publication.

• Ranjan, G. , Rao, A. S. R., “Basics and Applied Soil Mechanics”, New Age International, 2000.

• Braja M. Das, “Principles of Foundation Engineering.” PWS Publishing, USA. 1999

• Bowles, J.E., 1997. Foundation Analysis and Design, fifth ed. McGraw-Hill, Singapore.
FOUNDATION ENGINEERING

Kousik Deb
Associate Professor
Department of Civil Engineering
IIT Kharagpur

Lecture 04: Soil Exploration: Boring

 Introduction

• The field and laboratory investigations required to obtain the necessary data for the soils
for proper design and successful construction of any structure at the site are collectively
called soil exploration.

• The choice of the foundation and its depth, the bearing capacity, settlement analysis
depend very much upon the various engineering properties of the foundation soils.
 The primary objectives of soil exploration are
• Determination of the nature of the deposits of soil, depth and thickness of various soil
strata.

• Location of Ground water table and obtaining soil and rock samples from the various
strata.

• The determination of the engineering properties of the soil and rock strata that affect the
performance of the structure.

• Determination of the in-situ properties by performing field tests.

 Soil data required

Soil profile

- layer thickness and soil identification

 Index properties
- water content, Atterberg limits, etc.
 Strength & compressibility characteristics
- c′, φ′, Cc, OCR, …

 Others (e.g., water table depth)

Direct Methods – Test Pits
• Test pits or trenches are open type or accessible exploratory methods.

• Soils can be inspected in their natural condition.

• The necessary soils samples may be obtained by sampling techniques and used for
finding strength and other engineering properties by appropriate laboratory tests.

URL: http://www.biblioresearch.com/images/Testpit.gif
Direct Methods – Test Pits

• Test pits are considered suitable only for small depths - up to 3m; the cost of these
increases rapidly with depth.

• For greater depths, lateral supports or bracing of the excavations will be

necessary.

• Test pits are usually made only for supplementing other methods or for minor
structures.
 Semi Direct Methods - Boring

• Boring: Making or drilling bore holes into the ground with a view to obtaining soil or
rock samples from specified or known depths is called ‘boring’

• The common methods of advancing bore holes are:

• Auger boring

• Wash boring

• Rotary drilling

• Percussion drilling
 Auger Boring

• ‘Soil auger’ is a device that is useful for advancing a bore hole into the ground.

• Augers may be hand-operated or power-driven; the former are used for relatively small
depths (less than 3 to 5 m), while the latter are used for greater depths (upto 60 to 70 m in
case of continuous-flight augers).

• Augur boring is convenient in case of partially saturated sands, silts and medium to stiff
cohesive soils.
 Auger boring

Process
The soil auger is advanced by rotating it while pressing it into the soil.

As soon as the auger gets filled with soil, it is taken out and the soil
sample collected.

The soil samples obtained from this type of borings are highly
disturbed

Bowles, J.E, 1996 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6neYRCgdTw

 Shell and Auger

• Used widely in India

• The shell, (called a sand bailer) is a heavy duty pipe with
a cutting edge.
• The shell is raised and let fall in a hole. The soil is cut,
enters the tube which is emptied when full.
• Shell is used when auger boring becomes difficult.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yK4j5SIaGhE

Ranjan and Rao, 2000

 Wash Boring

• Wash boring is commonly used for exploration below ground water table for which the
auger method is unsuitable.

• This method may be used in all kinds of soils except those mixed with gravel and boulders.

• A casing pipe is pushed in and driven with a drop weight.

 Process

A casing pipe is pushed in and driven with a drop weight.

hollow drill bit is screwed to a hollow drill rod connected

to a rope passing over a pulley and supported by a
tripod.

Water jet under pressure is forced through the rod and

the bit into the hole which loosens the soil.

The soil-water suspension forced upward is led to a settling tank

where the soil particles settle while the water overflows into a sump.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PpbBnstrgs
Bowles, J.E, 1996
 Wash Boring

• The soil particles collected represent a very disturbed sample and is not very useful for
the evaluation of the engineering properties.

• Wash borings are primarily used for advancing bore holes; whenever a soil sample is
required, the chopping bit is to be replaced by a sampler.

• The change of the rate of progress and change of colour of wash water indicate
changes in soil strata.
 Rotary Drilling

• Can be used in sand, clay and rocks (unless badly fissured)

• This is a very fast method.

• Even rock cores may be obtained by using suitable diamond drill bits.
 Process
A drill bit, fixed to the lower end of a drill rod, is rotated by power while
being kept in firm contact with the hole.

Drilling fluid or bentonite slurry is forced under pressure through the

drill rod and it comes up bringing the cuttings to the surface.

When soil samples are required, the drilling rod raised and drilling
bit is replaced by a sampler.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxDDX_sfEm4
http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/water/tube-well/drilling-methods-for-tube-wells-and-its-selection/61098
 Percussion Drilling

• The method cannot be used in loose sand and is slow in plastic clay.

• The formation gets badly disturbed by impact.

 Process
A heavy drill bit is suspended from a drill rod or a cable and is driven
by repeated blows.

Water is added to facilitate the breaking of stiff soil or rock.

The slurry of the pulverised material is bailed out at intervals.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11EebRrB-XA
https://www.google.co.in/search?q=percussion+drilling+method+for+soil&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwictPKQ6PzZAhXKqo8K
HSdNCukQ_AUICigB&biw=1440&bih=769#imgrc=9FhqVgYMfI_ljM:
 List of Reference materials and Books

• Arora, K.R., “Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering.” Standard Publisher, New Delhi.

• Purnmia, B.C., “Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering.” Laxmi Publication.

• Ranjan, G. , Rao, A. S. R., “Basics and Applied Soil Mechanics”, New Age International, 2000.

• Braja M. Das, “Principles of Foundation Engineering.” PWS Publishing, USA. 1999

• Bowles, J.E., 1997. Foundation Analysis and Design, fifth ed. McGraw-Hill, Singapore.
FOUNDATION ENGINEERING
Kousik Deb

Associate Professor
Department of Civil Engineering
IIT Kharagpur

Lecture 05: Standard Penetration Test

Indirect Method
Standard Penetration Test (SPT) IS: 2131-1981

• The Standard Penetration Test (SPT) is widely used to determine the parameters of the soil

in-situ. The test consists of driving a split-spoon sampler into the soil through a bore hole at

the desired depth.

• The split-spoon sampler is driven into the soil a distance of 450 mm at the bottom of the

boring

• A hammer of 63.5 kg weight with a free fall of 750 mm is used to drive the sampler.
• The number of blows for a penetration of last 300 mm is designated as the “Standard

Penetration Value” or “Number” N.

• The test is usually performed in three stages. The blow count is found for every 150 mm

penetration.

• The blows for the first 150 mm are ignored as those required for the seating drive.
 63.5 kg Number of blows for the first 150 mm penetration
is disregarded due to the disturbance likely to
exist at the bottom of the drill hole

0.75 m
The test can be conducted at every 1m vertical intervals
(Not more than 1.5 m)
0.15 m Number of blows = N1
Drill rod 0.15 m
0.15 m Number of blows = N2
Number of blows = N3

Standard penetration resistance (SPT N) = N2 + N3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12J5D4WltYM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cUOBSF8bMg
The refusal of test when

• 50 blows are required for any 150 mm increment.

• 100 blows are obtained for required 300 mm penetration.

• 10 successive blows produce no advance.

 Standard Penetration Test (SPT):IS: 2131-1981
Two corrections due to:
(a) Overburden pressure (granular soil)
(b) Dilatancy (for saturated fine sands and silts)
The corrected N value is given by
N′ = CN N
where N′ = corrected value of observed N
CN = correction factor for overburden pressure
N′′= 15+0.5(N′-15) if N′ > 15 Ranjan and Rao, 2000
Stress-strain relationship

Shear stress, τ
Dense sand

τf
Loose sand
τf

Shear displacement

Sivakugan
 Change in height
of the sample

Compression Expansion

Shear displacement
Dense sand

Loose sand
 SPT Corrections
The standard blow count N′70 can be computed as (ASTM D 1586) (American Society for Testing
and Materials)

′ = C N × N ×η1 ×η 2 ×η3 ×η 4
N 70
where, ηi = correction factors
N′70 = corrected N using the subscript for the Erb and the ′ to indicate it has been
corrected
Erb = standard energy ratio value
CN = correction for effective overburden pressure p′0 (kPa) computed as [Liao
and Whitman, 1986]
1
 95.76  2
C N =  
 p0′ 
• Hammer Efficiency Correction

• Drill rod, sampler and borehole corrections

• Correction due to overburden pressure

Hammer Efficiency Correction
SPT is standardized to some energy ratio (Er)

Actual hammer energy to sampler , Ea

Er = ×100
Input energy, Ein

1
1 2 1W 2
Now Ein = mv = v and v = (2 gh) 2
2 2 g

1W
Thus Ein = (2 gh) = Wh
2 g W = weight of hammer
h = height of fall
Correction factor η1 for hammer efficiency

Er
η1 =
Erb

Different types of hammers are in use for driving the drill

rods. Two types are normally used. They are (Bowles, 1996)
1. Donut hammer with Er = 45 to 67
2. Safety hammer with Er as fellows:
• Rope-pulley or cathead = 70 to 80
• Trip or automatic hammer = 80 to 100.
Now if Er = 80 and standard energy ratio value (Erb) = 70,
then η1 = 80/70 = 1.14

Bowles, J.E, 1996