Structural Design of Shallow

Foundations
CIVL 451 – Foundation Engineering –
Classroom Notes
Design Codes for Reinforced Concrete Foundations

• ACI Committee, American Concrete Institute, & International

Organization for Standardization, “Building Code Requirements for
Structural Concrete (ACI 318-11) and Commentary,” American
Concrete Institute, Detroit, 2011.

• BS 8110. “Structural use of Concrete: Part 1: Code of Practice for

Design and Construction,” British Standard Institution, London,
1997.
ACI 318 – 11 Design Philosophy

• Ultimate Limit State Design (USD),

– Various load combinations factored to obtain the most critical load case
representing ultimate limit state.
• Load factors mainly account for; accuracy of the estimated design loads,
variability of the design loads during the design life of the structure,
variability of the results of various analysis methods.

– Material strength reduction factors used to involve a safety factor on the

available strength.

– The main principle is such that;

ACI 318 – 11 Design Philosophy

• Serviceability Limit State (SLS),

– Although it is not explicitly mentioned, serviceability check is required to

ensure adequate performance of structural members at service load levels.

– This can be achieved by;

• estimation of settlement of foundations for overall performance, and,
• also by estimation of crack width of the designed structure under the
impact of the bending moment to satisfy the material performance.

– SLS check also involves checking of the deflection of the foundation system
along the footprint of the building structure (discussed in Chapter 2 of the
class notes).
Spread (Single, Pad) Foundation Design
• This type of foundation carries load applied by a single column.
• The material used in the construction of
spread footings is almost always
concrete.
• Could be reinforced or unreinforced.
• Usually only consists bottom
reinforcement, sometimes bent up along
the sides for better anchorage

Source: http://www.strukts.com/2012/06/types-of-shallow-foundation_94.html
ACI 318 – 11 Background Information

• Spread footings are

designed for flexure
(bending), shear and
bearing.
• Assuming a compressive
force is applied via the
foundation column, the
top side of the foundation
becomes under
compression and the
bottom side will be under
tension. Considering a
typical section through the
foundation;
ACI 318 – 11 Load Factors (9.1 and 9.2)
• Service loads (Design loads) are factored and converted to ultimate loads using
the following load combinations;

U: required strength (ultimate load), D: dead load, L: live load, S: snow load, R: rain
load, Lr: reduced live load, W: wind load, E: earthquake load, H: soil, soil water or
water load.
ACI 318 – 11 Material Strength Factors (9.3)
• The nominal design strength is factored to account for; uncertainty of material
strength, variations from designs, quality of construction, accuracy of modelling
and analyses, other deviations from design or material behaviour assumptions.

Based on ACI318-86, 9.3

ACI 318 – 11 Ultimate State Design (Ultimate Strength Design, USD)
Bending
• Considering the foundation section as a beam, the assumed stress distribution
in foundation section can be approximated as;

max= 0.75 b , min= 0.002 , b = (0.85 1 fc / fy) (600 / (fy + 600) ) ,
where 1 = 0.85 for fc < 27MPa and 1 = 0.85 – 0.05 (fc - 27) / 7 for fc > 27MPa,
whilst 1 should not be less than 0.65.
ACI 318 – 11 Ultimate State Design (Ultimate Strength Design, USD)
Shear
• Critical sections;

• Shear stress check governs the thickness design for foundations.

ACI 318 – 11 Ultimate State Design (Ultimate Strength Design, USD)
• Critical sections for moment and shear for foundations;
ACI 318 – 11 Ultimate State Design (Ultimate Strength Design, USD)
• Diagonal tension shear check for foundations;
ACI 318 – 11 Ultimate State Design (Ultimate Strength Design, USD)
• For wide beam shear check use d obtained from DTSC to calculate the applied
shear on the critical section as;

Bwbs = B / 2 – (x/2 + d), then

V = Bwbs qu , and V should be < vc for WBS.

Should the above criterion is satisfied, then

it is said that DITSC governs the design for
The foundation thickness, d.
Otherwise, the estimated vc can be
equated to V/bd and the equation solved
For d once again. In that case it is said that
WBS check governs.
ACI 318 – 11 Ultimate State Design (Ultimate Strength Design, USD)
• A typical shallow foundation design involves but are not necessarily limited to
the following steps ;
 References
• J. N. Cernica, Foundation Design, Wiley.