Reinforced Concrete Design by ELPLA

Example 6: Design of trapezoidal footing

1 Description of the problem

In the primary design of footings or rafts, it is generally assumed that the contact pressure
distribution is planar, whatever the type of model used in the analysis of the footing. Therefore,
to achieve a desirable uniform contact stress distribution beneath the footing it is necessary to
arrange the center of area of the footing directly beneath the center of gravity of the external
loads. This may lead to irregular-shaped footing. If equal column loads are symmetrically
disposed about the center of the footing, the contact pressure distribution will be uniform. If this
not the case, a theoretically uniform contact pressure distribution should be achieve. In order to
do that, the footing can be extended so that the center of area of the footing coincides with the
center of gravity of the external loads. This is easy to be done by rectangular footing.

A special case of footings is the trapezoidal footing, which may be used to carry two columns of
unequal loads when distance outside the column of the heaviest load is limited. In such case,
using a rectangular footing may lead to the resultant of loads which do not fall at the middle
length of the footing. To overcome this difficulty, a trapezoidal footing is used in such a way
that the center of gravity of the footing lies under the resultant of the loads. Correspondingly, the
distribution of contact pressure will be uniform.

As a design example for trapezoidal footing, consider the trapezoidal combined footing of 0.60
[m] thickness shown in Figure 80. The footing is supported to two columns C1 and C2 spaced at
4.80 [m] apart. Due to the site conditions, the projections of the footing beyond the centers of
columns C1 and C2 are limited to 0.90 [m] and 1.30 [m], respectively. Column C1 is 0.50 [m] ×
0.50 [m], reinforced by 8 Φ 16 [mm] and carries a load of 1200 [kN]. Column C2 is 0.60 [m] ×
0.60 [m], reinforced by 12 Φ 19 [mm] and carries a load of 2000 [kN]. The allowable net soil
pressure is (qnet)all = 240 [kN/m2]. The subsoil model used in the analysis of the footing is
represented by isolated springs, which have a modulus of subgrade reaction of ks = 50 000
[kN/m3]. A thin plain concrete of thickness 0.15 [m] is chosen under the footing and is
unconsidered in any calculations.

2 Footing section and material

The footing material and section are supposed to have the following parameters:

2.1 Section properties

The material of rafts is reinforcement concrete that has the following parameters:

Width of the section to be designed b = 1.0 [m]

Section thickness t = 0.60 [m]
Concrete cover + 1/2 bar diameter c=5 [cm]
Effective depth of the section d = t - c = 0.55 [m]
Steel bar diameter Φ = 25 [mm]

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P1 = 1200 [kN] R P2 = 2000 [kN]

0.5×0.5[m2] 0.6×0.6[m2]

l1 = 0.9 [m] l2 = 4.8 [m] l3 = 1.3 [m]

x
S = 3.0 [m]

Bs Bl
C1 CG C2

l = 7.0 [m]

Figure 80 Combined trapezoidal footing

2.2 Material properties

Concrete grade according to ECP C 250

Steel grade according to ECP S 36/52
Compressive stress of concrete fc = 95 [kg/cm2] = 9.5 [MN/m2]
Tensile stress of steel fs = 2000 [kg/cm2] = 200 [MN/m2]
Young's modulus of concrete Eb = 3 × 107 [kN/m2] = 30000 [MN/m2]
Poisson's ratio of concrete νb = 0.20 [-]
Unit weight of concrete γb = 0.0 [kN/m3]

Unit weight of concrete is chosen γb = 0.0 to neglect the self weight of the footing.

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3 Analysis of the footing

3.1 Determination of footing sides Bs and Bl

The primary design required to establish the area of footing so that the center of area of the
footing coincides with the center of gravity of the resultant. This will be conducted as follows:

Resultant of loads R is given by:

R = P1 + P2 = 1200 + 2000 = 3200 [kN]

Area of footing Af is obtained from:

R 3200
Af = = = 13.33 [m 2 ]
q( all ) net 240

Referring to Figure 80, area of footing Af is given by:

Af =
l
(Bs + Bl )
2

13.33 =
7
(Bs + Bl )
2
Simplifying,

Bs + Bl = 3.8 [m] (i)

Taking the moment of the column loads about the center of the column C1, the distance S
between the point of application of the resultant and the center of column C1 is obtained from:

S × R = P2 × l2

S × 3200 = 2000 × 4.8

S = 3.0 [m]

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 Reinforced Concrete Design by ELPLA

Hence, the point of application of the resultant is also the centroid of the footing area. Therefore,
it can be shown from the geometry of the footing that the distance x from the small side Bs to the
center of area is given by

l Bs + 2 Bl
x=
3 Bs + Bl

l Bs + 2 Bl
l1 + S =
3 Bs + Bl

7 Bs + 2 Bl
0.9 + 3.0 =
3 Bs + Bl

Simplifying,

2.04Bs - Bl = 0 (ii)

Solving Equation (i) and (ii) yields the required dimensions of Bs and Bl as follows:

Bs = 1.25 [m] and Bl = 2.56 [m]

Chosen dimensions of Bs and Bl are:

Bs = 1.30 [m] and Bl = 2.60 [m]

3.2 Finite element analysis

The footing is subdivided into 92 quadrature, rectangular and triangular elements to fit the exact
area of the footing as shown in Figure 81.

If a point load represents the column load on the mesh of fine finite elements, the moment under
the column will be higher than the real moment. Therefore, the column load is distributed at the
centerline of the footing on an area of (a + d)2 as shown in Figure 81 through activation the
option of distribution column load in ELPLA. Figure 82 shows the calculated contact pressure q
[kN/m2], while Figure 83 shows the moment mx [kN.m/m] at the critical section I-I of the
footing. Figure 84 shows the distribution of the moment my [kN.m/m] in the plan. For ECP
codes, the footing is designed to resist the bending moment and punching shear. Then, the
required reinforcement is obtained.

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 Reinforced Concrete Design by ELPLA

P 1 = 1200 [kN] P 2 = 2000 [kN]

0.5×0.5 0.6×0.6

Centerline
t = 0.60

P w1 = 992 [kN/m2] P w2 = 1389 [kN/m2]

1.1 1.2

0.9 4.8 1.3

a) Section I-I

0.31 0.33×6 = 1.98 0.31

B2 = 2.60
B1 = 1.30

I I

0.48×5 = 2.4[m] 0.46×10 = 4.6[m]

l = 7.0 [m]

b) Plan

Figure 81 FE-Net and distribution of column loads through the footing

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 Reinforced Concrete Design by ELPLA

P1 = 1200 [kN] P2 = 2000 [kN]

A sxt
d = 0.55
t = 0.60

(A sy ) C1 (A sy ) C2

(A sx ) C1 (A sx ) C2

x [m]
0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0
0.0
Contact Pressure q [kN/ m2]

100
187
200

300

400

500

600

Figure 82 Contact pressure q [KN/ m2] at section I-I

x [m]
0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0
-500
-378
-400
Moment mx [kN/ m2]

-300

-200
-100
0.0
24
100
138
200
300

Figure 83 Moment mx [KN.m/ m] at section I-I

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0 163 [kN.m/m]

0.31 0.33×6 = 1.98 0.31

0.48×5 = 2.4 [m] 0.46×10 = 4.6 [m]

Figure 84 Distribution of the moment my [kN.m/ m] in the plan

4 Design for ECP (working stress method)

Material

Concrete grade C 250

Steel grade S 36/52
Compressive stress of concrete fc = 95 [kg/ cm2] = 9.5 [MN/ m2]
Tensile stress of steel fs = 2000 [kg/ cm2] = 200 [MN/ m2]

Maximum moment

Maximum moment per meter at critical section obtained from analysis

M = 378 [kN.m] = 0.4 [MN.m]

Geometry

Effective depth of the section d = 0.55 [m]

Width of the section to be designed b = 1.0 [m]

Determination of depth required to resist moment dm

From Table 68 for fc = 9.5 [MN/ m2] and fs = 200 [MN/ m2], the coefficient k1 to obtain the
section depth at balanced condition is k1 = 0.766, while the coefficient k2 [MN/ m2] to obtain the
tensile reinforcement for singly reinforced section is k2 = 172 [MN/ m2].

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 Reinforced Concrete Design by ELPLA

The maximum depth dm as a singly reinforced section is given by

M
d m = k1
b

0.40
d m = 0.766 = 0.48 [m]
1.0

Take d = 0.55 [m] > dm = 0.48 [m], then the section is designed as singly reinforced section.

Check for punching shear

The critical punching shear section on a perimeter at a distance d/ 2 = 0.275 [m] from the face of
the column is shown in Figure 85. The check for punching shear under columns C1 and C2 is
shown in Table 68.

P 1 = 1200 [kN] P 2 = 2000 [kN]

0.5×0.5 0.6×0.6
d = 0.55
t = 0.60

2:1 A sx A sy 2:1

a) Section I-I qo1 = 305 [kN/m2] qo2 = 238 [kN/m2]

1.05
1.15
B1 = 1.30

B2 = 2.60
1.15
1.05

I I

b) Plan l = 7.0 [m]

Figure 85 Critical section for punching shear according to ECP

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 Reinforced Concrete Design by ELPLA

Table 68 Check for punching shear

Load, stress and geometry Column C1 Column C2

Column load P [MN] 1.2 2.0

Contact pressure qo [MN/ m2] 0.273 0.248

Column sides a × b [m2] 0.5 × 0.5 0.6 × 0.6

Footing thickness d [m] 0.55 0.55

Critical perimeter bo = 4 (a + b) [m] 4.2 4.6

Critical area Ap = (a + d)2 [m2] 1.1025 1.3225

Punching load Qp = P - qo.Ap [MN] 0.9 1.66

Punching shear stress qp = Qp/ (bo.d) [MN/ m2] 0.386 0.390

The allowable concrete punching strength qpall [MN/ m2] is given by

 a
q pall =  0.5 + q cp ,  q cp
 b

q pall = (0.5 + 1.0) 0.9,  0.9

qpall = 0.9 [MN/ m2]

For both columns qpall > qp, the footing section is safe for punching shear.

Determination of tension reinforcement

Minimum area of steel reinforcement As.min = 0.15 [%], Ac = 0.0015 × 60 × 100 = 9 [cm2/ m].
Take As.min = 5 Φ 16/ m = 10.1 [cm2/ m].

The determination of the required area of steel reinforcement in both x- and y-directions is
shown in Table 69 and Table 70. The details of reinforcement in plan and section a-a through
the footing are shown in Figure 86.

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Table 69 Determination of tension reinforcement for x-direction

Position Moment Calculated As Chosen reinforcement
M As =M/ (k2.d) As
[MN.m/ m] [cm2/ m]

Asxt 0.378 39.51 10 Φ 25/ m

(Asxb)C1 0.024 0.22 5 Φ 16/ m = As.min

(Asxb)C2 0.138 14.58 5 Φ 22/ m

Table 70 Determination of tension reinforcement for y-direction

Position Moment Calculated As Chosen reinforcement
M As =M/ (k2.d) As
[MN.m/ m] [cm2/ m]

(Asyb)C1 0.072 6.86 5 Φ 16/ m = As.min

(Asyb)C2 0.163 16.22 5 Φ 22/ m

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0.5×0.5 1025/m 0.6×0.6

t = 0.60

2:1 516/m 2:1

516/m 516/m 522/m 522/m

0.375 1.05 3.70 1.15 0.725

a) Section I-I
10 25/m

B2 = 2.60
B1 = 1.30

I I

l = 7.0 [m]
b) Plan

Figure 86 Details of reinforcement in plan and section a-a through the footing

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