Chapter 1 Introduction

1.1 General

A foundation is that part of the structure, which is in direct contact with and transmitting,
loads to the ground.

1.2 Type of Foundation

Foundation may be broadly classified under two heads: shallow foundation and deep
foundation. According to Terzaghi, a foundation is shallow if its depth is equal to or less
than its width. In case of deep foundations, the depth of foundation is equal to or greater
than the width. Apart from deep strip, rectangular or square foundations, other common
forms of deep foundations are: pier foundation, pile foundation and well foundation. The
shallow foundations are the following types: spread footing, strap footing, combined
footing and raft foundation (mat foundation).

1.3 Raft Foundation or Mat Foundation

A raft foundation is a large concrete slab used to interface one column, or more than one
column in several lines, with the base soil. It may encompass the entire foundation area or
only portion. A raft may be used to support on-grade storage tanks or several pieces of
industrial equipment. Rafts are commonly used beneath silo cluster, chimneys, and
various tower structures. It becomes a matter of definition as to when the dimensions of
spread footing make the transition into being called mat.

A raft foundation may be used where the base soil has low bearing capacity and the
column load are so large that more than 50 percent of the area is covered by conventional
spread footing. It is common to use mat foundations for deep basement both to spread the
column load to a uniform pressure distribution and to provide the floor slab for the
basement. A particular advantage for basement at or below ground water table is to

1
 Introduction

provide a water barrier. Depending on local costs, and noting that a mat foundation
requires both positive and negative reinforcing steel, one may find it more economical to
use spread footing even if the entire area is covered. Piles in situations such as high
groundwater or where the base soil is susceptible to large settlement may support raft
foundation. The raft foundation is generally at 1 to 3 m below plinth level as shown in
figure 1.1

Plinth
beam

Raft

Figure 1.1 Raft Foundation.

2
 Introduction

1.4 Suitability of Raft Foundation

1) Whenever building loads are heavy or the allowable pressure of soil so small the
individual footing will cover more than floor area.
2) Where structure naturally lends themselves for the use of raft foundation such as silos,
chimneys, water tanks, etc.
3) Floating foundations cases where soil is having very poor bearing capacity and the
weight of the super structure is proposed to be balanced by the weight of the soil
removed.

1.5 Types of Raft Foundation

Raft can be classified into various types on the basis of criteria used for classifications: -
1) Based supported on soil:

a) Raft supported on soil.

b) Raft supported on piles, and

a) Buoyancy raft.
2) On the basis of structural system adopted for the structure of the raft:
a) Flat slab

b) Plate thickened under columns

c) Waffle slab

d) Plate with pedestals

e) Basement walls as part of mat.

3
 Introduction

1.6 Soil-stucture Interaction.

Generally structure is analyzed and designed assuming fixity at their support, ignoring the
effect of base of the foundation and supporting soil media along with the
structure. The structure analyzed and designed in this way does not give the
actual or realistic behaviour. In actual condition the structure is generally
supported on soil mass and there exits iteration between structure and soil mass.
The flexibility of foundation, the compressibility of soil mass and other factors
play an important role in the redistribution of moments and shear forces in the
superstructure because of differential settlement of soil mass.

Soil structure interaction may be defined as the interdependent response relationship

between a structure and its supporting soil. The effect of soil structure interaction is to
produce a difference between the motion at the base of the structure and the free field
motion, which would have occurred at the same point in absence of the structure.

In evaluating the response of structure to earthquake it is normally assumed that the

motion which is experienced by the foundation of a structure is the same as the free-field
ground motion, a term that refers to the motion which would take place at the base of the
foundation if no structure were present.

The 1985 Mexico-city and many recent earthquakes clearly illustrate the importance of
local soil properties on the earthquake response of structures. Theses earthquakes
demonstrated that the rock motions could be amplified at the base of a structure by over a
factor of five.

The effective damping of a soil-structure system incorporates the combined material and
radiation damping in some cases leading to substantial reductions in response. For large
concrete gravity platform this reduction may be as much as 50 percent. The period of
vibration of a given structure increase with decreasing stiffness of the subsoil.

4
 Introduction

There are four main aspects pertaining to the influence of soils and foundations on the
response of a building during an earthquake.

Effect of local soil-type on input ground motion,

Soil-structure interaction,
Effect of global soil-types along the path of seismic waves from the hypocenter to the
structure and
Differential settlement.

The local soil conditions in the immediate neighborhood of the structure play a vital role.
In general, soft soils amplify the ground motion more than stiff soils. Also the local soil
medium significantly alters the frequency content in the ground motion. In the long
period range, the design seismic force is higher for soft soils than for stiff soils, for a
given time period T.

Soil structure interaction leads to a higher natural period and a higher damping of the
building, and thus, generally, to a reduced seismic force. Hence, it is normally
conservative to ignore the effect of soil structure interaction in the seismic design of
buildings. Differential settlement leads to additional undesirable stresses in the structure,
causing its premature failure. Buildings, whose foundation systems behave as a single
entity with minimum differential settlement, behave better in earthquakes.

The area of soil-structure interaction is an interface domain of geotechnical and structural

engineers. A realistic analysis and design of foundation structure be it shallow or deep or
structures to retain soil are it rigid or flexible requires the understanding of the interaction
between the soil and the structure. This can seldom be achieved by the classical methods
of analysis, for the behaviour of the soil and the boundary conditions involved are quite
complex. Because of its versatility in meeting such requirements with relative ease, Finite
Element Method has been a natural choice in the analysis of soil-structure interaction
problems.

5
 Introduction

1.7 Theoretical Background of Soil

The term soil has various meanings, depending upon the general professional field in
which it is being considered. To an agriculturist, soil is the substance exiting on the
earths surface, which grows and develops plant life. To the geologist also, soil is the
material in the relatively thin surface zone within which roots occur, and all the rest of the
crust is grouped under the term rock irrespective of its hardness. To an engineer, soil is
the unaggregated or uncemented deposits of mineral and/or organic particles or fragments
covering large portion of the earths crust. It includes widely different materials like
boulders, sand, gravels, clays, and silts, and the range in the partial sizes in the soil may
extend from grains only a fraction of a micron (10 -4 cm) in diameter up to large-size
boulders.

1.8 Soil Parameters

Soil parameters are as follows: -

a. Bearing capacity.
b. Sub grade reaction
c. Modulus of elasticity.
d. Shear modulus
e. Poisson's ratio.

1.9 Important Definitions Related To Bearing Capacity of Soil

1.9.1 Bearing Capacity

The supporting power of a soil or rock is referred to as its bearing capacity.

1)

6
 Introduction

1.9.2 Ultimate Bearing Capacity (qf)

The ultimate bearing capacity is defined as the minimum gross pressure intensity at
which the soil fails in shear.

1.9.3 Net Ultimate Bearing Capacity (qnf)

It is the minimum net pressure intensity causing shear failure of soil.

1.9.4 Net Safe Bearing Capacity (qns)

The net safe bearing capacity is the net ultimate bearing capacity divided by a factor of
safety F.

1.9.5 Safe Bearing Capacity (qs)

The maximum pressure that the soil can carry safely without risk of shear failure is called
the safe bearing capacity. It is equal to the net safe bearing capacity plus original
overburden pressure.

Safe bearing capacity for isolated footing is calculated by using IS 6403:1981. Medium
dense sand is considered for the analysis. Ultimate bearing capacity is calculated by using
following formula:

qn CN c sc d c ic Df ( N q 1) sq d q iq 0.5 B N s d i W ' (1.1)

SBC of soil = qn/ factor of safety

7
 Introduction

i) Shape Factors.

Values shape factored required for computing ultimate bearing capacity are given in Table
1.2
Table 1.1 Shape Factor for various Base Footings

Shape factor.
Sr. No. Shape of Base
Sc Sq Sv
I Continuous 1.00 1.00 1.00
II Rectangle. 1.00+0.2B/L 1.00+0.2B/L 1.00-0.4B/L
III Square. 1.30 1.20 0.80
IV Circle 1.30 1.20 0.60

ii) Depth factor.

Depth factor is calculated by using following expression. Correction for depth is applied
only when back filling is done with proper compaction.

d c 1 0.2 D f N

dq d 1 For 10 0

dq d 1 0.1D f N

For 10 0

Where,
N tan 2 / 4 / 2

iii) Inclination factor.

8
 Introduction

Inclination factor is used when loading is inclined. It is computed by using following

expression. Inclination of the load to the vertical in degrees is denoted by .

2

i c i q 1
90

2

i 1

iv) Effect of Water Table.

The depth of water level affects ultimate bearing capacity of the soil. Correction factor
for water level is given in Table 1.2.

Table 1.2 Correction Factor for Water Level

Sr. No. Depth of water level Correction factor.

I More than Df+B. 1.00
Ii In between Df+B. 0.50 to 1.0
iii Equal to Df 0.50

Similarly, safe bearing capacity for raft is calculated by using following equation given
by Teng (1962).
q n 0.7( N 3) r ' wC D S a (1.2)
SBC of soil = q n / Factor of safety.

Where,

CD= Depth correction factor

Df
1 <2
B

9
 Introduction

Safe bearing capacity of a soil for raft is dependent on depth of foundation. Its value
increases with the depth. But as raft foundation the plan area provided for foundation area
is more than the required hence lesser value SBC dose not affects the design.

1.10 Bearing Capacity for Different Soil

Following table is given bearing capacity for different soil according to Indian Standard

IS 1904-1961: -

Table 1.3 Bearing Capacity of Soil

S.B.C
DESCRIPTION
(kN/m2)
Soft shale, hard or stiff clay in deep bed, dry 450
Medium clay readily indented with a thumbnail 250
Moist clay and sand clay mixture, which can be,
indent with strong thumb pressure. 150
Soft clay indent with moderate thumb pressure. 100
Very soft clay which can be penetrated several
inches with the thumb 50
Black cotton soil. 150

1.11 Modulus of Subgrade Reactions

The modulus of sub grade reaction is a conceptual relationship between soil pressure and
deflection that is widely used in the structural analysis of foundation members. It is used
for continuous footings, mats, and various types of pilings. This ratio is defined as
follows:

10
 Introduction

q
ks (1.3)

Range of modulus of subgrade reaction ks (Refer Table1.4)

Use values as guide and for comparison when using approximate equations.

Table 1.4 Modulus of Subgrade Reactions.

Soil ks, kN/m3

Loose sand 4800-16000
Medium dense sand 9600-80000
Dense sand 64000-128000
Clayey medium dense sand 32000-80000
Silty medium dense sand 24000-48000
Clayey soil: -
200<qa<200kPa 12000-24000
200<qa<800kPa 24000-48000
200<qa>800kPa >48000

11