Q 1. When is a foundation called shallow foundation ?
A foundation is shallow if its depth is equal to or less than its width. A shallow foundation is also known as an open foundation , since such foundation is constructed by open excavation. Hence, those foundations which have depth even greater than its width, but are constructed by way of open excavation also come under shallow foundations. A shallow foundation is placed immediately below the lowest part of the super structure supported by it. The term footing is commonly used in conjunction with shallow foundations.
Types of shallow foundations:
Spread fottings: Spread footings are those which spread the super-imposed load of wall or column over a larger area. Combined footings: A spread footing which supports two or more columns is termed as combined footing. Strap fottings: If the independent footing of two columns are connected by a beam, it is called a strap footing. Mat foundation(Raft foundation): A raft or mat is combined footing that covers the entire area beneath a structure and supports all the walls and columns.
Q 2. State the types of shallow foundations with short notes of each type .
There are four types of shallow foundations : 1)Spread footings. 2)Combined footings. 3) Strap footings. 4)Mat foundation.
1) Spread footings :
Spread footings are used to support an individual point load such as that due to a structural column. They may be circular, square or reactangular. They usually consist of a block or slab of uniform thickness, but they may be stepped or haunched if they are required to spread the load from a heavy column. Spread footings are usually shallow, but deep Spread footings can also be used.
2. Combined footings:
A spread footing which supports two or more columns is termed as combined footing. The combined footings maybe of the following kinds: 1) Rectangular combined footing 2) Trapezoidal combined footing 3) Combined column-wall footing
3.Strap footings.
Strap foundations are used to support a line of loads, either due to a load-bearing wall, or if a line of columns need supporting where column positions are so close that individual pad foundations would be inappropriate. The strap beam doen not remain in contact with the soil, and thus not transfer any pressure to the soil
4.Mat foundation/Raft foundation:
Raft foundations are used to spread the load from a structure over a large area, normally the entire area of the structure. They are used when column loads or other structural loads are close together and individual pad foundations would interact. A raft foundation normally consists of a concrete slab which extends over the entire loaded area. It may be stiffened by ribs or beams incorporated into the foundation. Raft foundations have the advantage of reducing differential settlements as the concrete slab resists differential movements between loading positions. They are often needed on soft or loose soils with low bearing capacity as they can spread the loads over a larger area.
Q 3. Write a short note on black cotton soils foundations.
Black cotton soil have the typical characteristics of shrinkage and swelling due to moisture movement through them. During rainy seasons moisture penetrates in these soils, due to which they swell. Most of the fine grained clays including the black cotton soils have their grains which are more or less in the form of platelets or sheets and their grains are not round. When moisture enters between the platelets under some hydrostatic pressure, the particles separate out , resulting in increase in the volume. This increase in volume is commonly known as swelling. If this swelling is checked or restircted, high swelling pressure, acting in upward direction will be induced.
This would result in severe cracks in the walls etc. and may sometimes damage the structural units such as lintels, beams, slabs. Black cotton soils and other expansive soils are dangerous due to their shrinkage and swelling characteristics. These soils have very poor bearing capacity, ranging from 50KN/M^2 to 100 KN/M^2
In designing footings on black cotton soils, the following points should be kept in mind : 1) The safe bearing capacity should be properly determmined, taking into account the effect of sustained loading. The long term effect of loading results in slow consoliadation. In absence of tests , the bearing capacity of these soils may be limited to 50 to 100 KN/m^2. 2)The foundation should be taken atleast 50cm lower than the depth of moisture movement. This depth should also be much more than the depth of tension cracks. 3)Where this soil occurs only in top layer, and where the thickness of this layer doen not exceed 1 to 1.5m. 4)Where the dept of clay layer is large , the foundation or footing should be prevented from coming in contact with the soil.
5) Where the soil is highly expansive, it is very essential to have minimum contact between the soil and the footing. 6) Where the bearing capacity of soil is poor, or soil is very soft. 7) The foundation should be constructed during dry season.
Q 4) Explain "Steps And lopes" in brick masonry strip/pad footing with sketches/formulas.
When the wall carries an heavy load or when safe bearing capacity of the soil is not very high, the base are is required to be increased. In that case it is essential to provide masonry offset, to achieve larger spread. The height & width of each offset should be so proportioned that rate of spread does not exceed the permissible value for the masonry, in which the spread of masonry is in the ratio of n:1. In brick work :1/2 horizontal to 1 vertical The implication of above recommendation is that in order to spread the bearing width from original T (width of wall) to B (footing width) minimum depth required would work as follows:-n:1:: B-T :Dmin2 (B-T)=2[n(Dmin-d)+n1d] Incase of brick wall, the offset should not be greater then 5cm; the corresponding height of each would work outo be 10cm. As an thumb rule the width B of the bottom brick coursshould not be less then twice the width of wall. Strip footing: a strip footing is the one which provides a continuous longitudinal bearing. B=W/qsWhere W= total super imposed load on the base of the footingqs= safe bearing pressure. Pad footing : a spread footing for a single column is either known as the isolated footing or pad footing. the base area A of such a footing is A= P/qs
Where P is the total transmitted by the column qsis the safe bearing capacity. In simple pad footing: if p is small, or qsis large, A will also be small. In that case footing may consist block projection out from the column face on all sides. In steeped pad footing: in the case of brick pillar, the offset should not exceed 5cm.the depth of concrete block is given by:d=a 3qmwhere: q & m are in the same units
