07 Foundation
07 Foundation
07 Foundation
Load from
roof to column
Load from
floor to column
(a) (b)
Load from
floor to column Fig. 3.69 Foundation failures: (a) sliding failure;
(b) overturning failure.
Load from
column to
foundation
Foundation loads resisted by ground
3.11 Foundations
(a) (b)
Foundations are required primarily to carry the dead
and imposed loads due to the structure’s floors, Fig. 3.70 Pad footing: (a) plan; (b) elevation.
beams, walls, columns, etc. and transmit and dis-
tribute the loads safely to the ground (Fig. 3.68).
The purpose of distributing the load is to avoid the foundations may bear directly on the ground or be
safe bearing capacity of the soil being exceeded supported on piles. The choice of foundation type
otherwise excessive settlement of the structure may will largely depend upon (1) ground conditions (i.e.
occur. strength and type of soil) and (2) type of structure
Foundation failure can produce catastrophic (i.e. layout and level of loading).
effects on the overall stability of a structure so that Pad footings are usually square or rectangular
it may slide or even overturn (Fig. 3.69). Such slabs and used to support a single column
failures are likely to have tremendous financial and (Fig. 3.70). The pad may be constructed using mass
safety implications. It is essential, therefore, that concrete or reinforced concrete depending on the
much attention is paid to the design of this element relative size of the loading. Detailed design of pad
of a structure. footings is discussed in section 3.11.2.1.
Continuous strip footings are used to support
3.11.1 FOUNDATION TYPES loadbearing walls or under a line of closely spaced
There are many types of foundations which are columns (Fig. 3.71). Strip footings are designed as
commonly used, namely strip, pad and raft. The pad footings in the transverse direction and in the
N = N = N = N
A B C D
Elevation
Plan
(a) (b)
Fig. 3.71 Strip footings: (a) footing supporting columns; ( b) footing supporting wall.
115
(a)
Fig. 3.72 Raft foundations. Typical sections through raft foundation: (a) flat slab; (b) flat slab and downstand;
(c) flat slab and upstand.
longitudinal direction as an inverted continuous the surrounding strata by end bearing and/or fric-
beam subject to the ground bearing pressure. tion. End bearing piles derive most of their carry-
Where the ground conditions are relatively ing capacity from the penetration resistance of the
poor, a raft foundation may be necessary in order soil at the toe of the pile, while friction piles rely
to distribute the loads from the walls and columns on the adhesion or friction between the sides of the
over a large area. In its simplest form this may pile and the soil.
consist of a flat slab, possibly strengthened by
upstand or downstand beams for the more heavily 3.11.2 FOUNDATION DESIGN
loaded structures (Fig. 3.72). Foundation failure may arise as a result of (a) allow-
Where the ground conditions are so poor that able bearing capacity of the soil being exceeded,
it is not practical to use strip or pad footings but or (b) bending and/or shear failure of the base.
better quality soil is present at lower depths, the The first condition allows the plan-area of the base
use of pile foundations should be considered to be calculated, being equal to the design load
(Fig. 3.73). divided by the bearing capacity of the soil, i.e.
The piles may be made of precast reinforced
Ground design load bearing
pressure = plan area < capacity of soil
concrete, prestressed concrete or in-situ reinforced (3.25)
concrete. Loads are transmitted from the piles to
Since the settlement of the structure occurs dur-
ing its working life, the design loadings to be con-
sidered when calculating the size of the base should
be taken as those for the serviceability limit state
(i.e. 1.0Gk + 1.0Qk). The calculations to determine
the thickness of the base and the bending and shear
reinforcement should, however, be based on ulti-
mate loads (i.e. l.4Gk + 1.6Qk). The design of a
Soft pad footing only will be considered here. The reader
strata is referred to more specialised books on this sub-
ject for the design of the other foundation types
discussed above. However, it should be borne in
mind that in most cases the design process would
Hard
be similar to that for beams and slabs.
strata
3.11.2.1 Pad footing
The general procedure to be adopted for the
Fig. 3.73 Piled foundations. design of pad footings is as follows:
116
1.0d
Punching shear
1.5d
perimeter = Face shear
column
1.5d
perimeter
+ 8 × 1.5d
Transverse shear
Fig. 3.75 Critical sections for shear. (Load on shaded areas to be used in design.)
Dead load
Assume a footing weight of 130 kN
Total dead load (Gk) = 1050 + 130 = 1180 kN
Serviceability load
Design axial load (N ) = 1.0Gk + 1.0Q k = 1.0 × 1180 + 1.0 × 300 = 1480 kN
Plan area
N 1480
Plan area of base = = = 8.70 m2
bearing capacity of soil 170
Hence provide a 3 m square base (plan area = 9 m2)
117
BENDING REINFORCEMENT
Design moment, M
Total ultimate load (W ) = 1.4G k + 1.6Q k
= 1.4 × 1050 + 1.6 × 300 = 1950 kN
W 1950
Earth pressure ( ps ) = = = 217 kNm−2
plan area of base 9
217 kN/m2
Ultimate moment
Effective depth
Base to be cast against blinding, hence cover (c) to reinforcement = 50 mm (see Table 3.8). Assume 20 mm diameter
(Φ) bars will be needed as bending reinforcement in both directions.
d
Φ
Cover
Ultimate moment
Mu = 0.156fcubd 2 = 0.156 × 35 × 103 × 5302
= 1534 × 106 Nmm = 1534 kNm
Since Mu > M no compression reinforcement is required.
118
of the footing parallel to the x–x and y–y axis (see clause 3.11.3.2, BS 8110).
Critical
1.5d
perimeter
Ultimate shear force (V ) = load on shaded area = ps × area = 217(3 × 0.770) = 501 kN
Design shear stress, υ, is
V 501 × 103
υ= = = 0.32 Nmm−2 υc
bd 3 × 103 × 530
Hence no shear reinforcement is required.
REINFORCEMENT DETAILS
The sketch below shows the main reinforcement requirements for the pad footing.
01-11H20-300
alternate bars
reversed
A A
01-11H20-300
alternate bars
reversed
75 kicker
Column starter
bars (not designed)
01 01
01 01 01 01
Section A–A
120