369

Design of Residential Footings Built on Expansive Soil

Using Probabilistic Methods
R. Barthur
B.E.
Postgraduate Student, University of Adelaide
M.B. Jaksa
PhD, M.I.E.Aust.
Lecturer, University of Adelaide
P.W. Mitchell
PhD, M.I.E.Aust.
National Manager, Geotechnical Services, Rust PPK Pty. Ltd.
Summary Expansive soils are clays which undergo large shrinkage and swelling movements as a result
oI changes in subsoil moisture. Previous methods Ior the design oI Iooting systems to minimise distortion and
cracking in buildings constructed on expansive soils have been based on idealised mathematical models. These
models inherently simpliIy the complex nature oI expansive soil behaviour. An alternative probabilistic design
approach, based on data derived Irom many built and tested Iootings is proposed, and has a number oI
signiIicant advantages over traditional deterministic methods. Relevant data required Ior this project were
obtained Irom six local councils within the Adelaide metropolitan area. The probabilistic approach enables the
level oI risk associated with each individual design to be quantiIied, whereas the current deterministic design
methods give no indication oI the associated risk. A probabilistic approach enables the design engineer and the
client to make inIormed decisions regarding the desired level oI risk and the economic cost, which is likely to
reduce the possibility oI Iuture litigation. This paper Iocuses on stiIIened raIt Iootings built on S, M and H sites.
1. INTRODUCTION
Expansive soils are generally well deIined clay
layers containing minerals which react to changes
in moisture. An increase in soil moisture causes
swelling oI the clay which results in vertical
movements oI the soil layers, where as a decrease
in moisture causes shrinkage. This expansive soil
problem is not only a concern Ior engineers and
home owners oI Australia but also those throughout
the world. Studies in the United States indicate that
damage losses to man-made structures Irom
expansive soils are greater than those Irom natural
catastrophes such as earthquakes, cyclones and
landslides. In South Australia, a considerable sum
oI money is spent on the repair oI structures due to
damage by expansive soil movements. Even
though stringent local government regulations are
enIorced in South Australia, some oI the structures
built on expansive soil undergo distortion and
cracking within the Iirst Iew years oI construction.
This distress can be tolerated, iI it Ialls within the
acceptable limits speciIied by AS2870.1-1988 and
AS2870.2-1990 (Standards Association oI
Australia, 1988a and 1990).
The majority oI houses which are built on
expansive soil in Australia, are either based on the
Mitchell (1979) or Walsh (1984) methods. These
techniques utilise highly idealised two-dimensional
and deterministic models to describe soil-Iooting
interaction. Even though these procedures are very
useIul Ior the design oI residential Iootings,
inherent uncertainties in the methods may
sometimes lead to unsatisIactory Iooting designs.
An alternative probabilistic method provides the
design engineer with some guidance to the level oI
risk associated with the design process.
Furthermore, this technique aims to provide a more
realistic approach to Iooting design by
incorporating the behaviour oI actual Iootings
tested under a variety oI site conditions. This paper
extends the work originally proposed by Kay and
Mitchell (1990) and Iocuses on S, M and H sites.
2. CURRENT DESIGN PRACTICE
Over the last 20 years or so, the design oI Iootings
on expansive soils concentrated on stiIIened raIts.
This type oI Iooting consists oI a grid oI reinIorced
concrete sub-beams cast integrally with a
reinIorced concrete slab. The present study Iocuses
only on this type oI Iooting, as it is the most
common type used in Australia. At present, two
diIIerent categories oI methods appear to be
available Ior the design oI residential Iootings.
AS2870.1-1988 and AS2870.2-1990 (Standards
Association oI Australia, 1988a and 1990), reIers to
these approaches as design by engineering
principles and deemed-to-comply standard footing
system design. The Iirst is an analytical approach,
based on the principle that when an impermeable
membrane is placed on the ground, changes in the
ground surIace proIile will occur. The interaction
370
between soil, the raIt and the structure are then
solved using computer techniques. The second is
an empirical approach, which consists oI selecting
raIt Iooting details directly Irom the tables
depending upon the reactivity oI the soil and the
type oI super-structure. The method proposed in
the present study is similar in nature to the second
category. It is recommended that this technique be
used to compliment the current design practices,
rather than to replace it.
2.1 Limitations of Deterministic Methods
As mentioned previously, the deterministic
approach suIIers Irom a number oI limitations,
some oI which, are listed below.
(a) Surface Heave
The surIace heave, y
s
, is deIined as "the design
movements at the surIace oI a reactive site caused
by moisture changes" (Standards Association oI
Australia, 1988a). The prediction oI Iree surIace
heave, in itselI, is subject to the Iollowing
limitations:
A parameter reIerred to as Instability Index, I
pt
,
is used to predict the Iree surIace heave oI the
soil. However the Instability Index is non-
linear and its magnitude changes according to
the direction oI the suction change. In
addition, common laboratory methods used to
determine the Instability Index have very poor
correlation between the predicted and the
measured values (Cameron, 1989).
Furthermore, these laboratory methods are time
consuming and very expensive Ior general
Iooting design. Subsequently a simple
technique, termed the visual-tactile method is
usually used. This method involves the manual
and visual inspection oI the soil to determine
the I
pt
using the plasticity index. However,
Eden and Hill (1994) have shown that
estimating I
pt
using this method, results in
extreme variability and depends greatly on the
classiIier.
In the prediction oI y
s
, AS2870.2-1990
(Standards Association oI Australia, 1990)
recommends the use oI linearly-increasing,
triangular suction change proIiles. This proIile
is a simpliIication oI a limited number oI case
studies where no allowances have been made
Ior: extreme dry or wet conditions; eIIects oI
vegetation; leaking services; poor irrigation
practices and poor drainage.
(b) Mound Shape of the Deformed Soil
Both the design by engineering principles and the
deemed-to-comply method are based on two
general mound shapes, the convex mound (centre
heave case) and the concave mound (edge heave
case). Such an approach has a number limitations,
which include:
The idealisation oI a 2D mound over the
extremely complicated 3D shape makes the
method very conservative (Kay and Mitchell,
1990). In addition, the Mitchell and Walsh
methods oI design incorporate a diIIerent
mound shape and the results vary accordingly.
The assumption oI mound shapes prior to the
construction oI the raIt contradicts the real
situation, in which mounds develop only aIter
the raIt has been constructed and loaded.
(c) Deflection Ratios
The allowable deIlection ratios used in the design
oI residential Iootings were developed empirically
using only a limited number oI cases, and only
domestic construction was considered.
Furthermore, the deIlection ratio will also vary with
changes in the environment subsequent to the
construction.
(d) Spatial Variability
The predicted value oI y
s
, is usually based on the
results oI two or three boreholes. As a
consequence, there is little allowance Ior the
variability oI soil properties across the site.
As can be seen, neither oI the methods account Ior
the complex site conditions that the Iooting and soil
will experience in practice. An alternative course
oI action, in order to minimise the eIIects oI
expansive soil, is to revert to an empirically based
design procedure. With the introduction oI the
empirically based probabilistic method, the
associated risk may be quantiIied prior to the
construction oI the structure.
3. PROBABILISTIC METHODOLOGY
The mathematical models discussed previously,
inherently simpliIy the complex nature oI
expansive soil behaviour and the soil-Iooting
interaction. Subsequently, an alternative
probabilistic design method is proposed in this
study, which is based on data derived Irom many
built and tested Iootings. This method has a
number oI beneIits over deterministic methods,
which include:
The degree of risk associated with a footing
design can be quantified: Litigation, as a result
oI residential Iooting Iailures, has cost the
community several millions oI dollars. Since
the probabilistic method enables the degree oI
risk to be quantiIied, a probabilistic Iooting
design will allow the client and engineer to
make inIormed decisions regarding the desired
371
level oI risk. As a consequence, such an
approach is likely to reduce litigation.
More reliable and rational design technique:
Since the probabilistic design approach is
based on the perIormance oI actual Iootings
which have been built and tested in a wide
variety oI design situations. Such an approach
provides a more realistic and reliable design
methodology than that given by deterministic
techniques.
Compliments existing deterministic design
techniques:
While the probabilistic method has a number oI
advantages, it also has a number oI limitations.
These include:
The Iinal model is dependent on the quality
and quantity oI inIormation within the
database.
The probabilistic method is only able to
account Ior design situations which are
included in this database.
4. DATA COMPILATION
In order to include a wide range oI soil types within
the database, this research has targeted the Council
areas oI Cambelltown, EnIield, Happy Valley
Marion, Prospect and Tea Tree Gully, which are
located in metropolitan area oI Adelaide. Data
required Ior this purpose was collected Irom houses
which were between 2 to 8 years old; have stiIIened
raIt Iootings; and are built on soils with a y
s
, oI less
than 70 mm. AS2870.1-1988 classiIies these as:
S (y
s
20 mm), M (20 y
s
40 mm) and H
(40 y
s
70 mm). E1 and E2 sites have been
examined previously by Leach et al. (1995).
In order to compile the necessary data a letter was
sent to each oI the Councils seeking permission to
use their databases to access the relevant
inIormation. As mentioned previously, only houses
built on S, M and H site classiIications were
targeted and selected randomly Irom the Council
database. Data collected Irom these Councils
consisted oI approximately 1000 Iootings. The
relevant inIormation recorded Ior each Iooting
included:
Soil borelog - to assess the reactivity and the
Iree surIace heave oI the soil.
Footing details and layout, including plan and
reinIorcement details and dimensions oI beam
and slab.
Type oI super-structure - e.g. articulated brick
veneer (ABV) or articulated solid brick (ASB).
The Address oI the site.
Date oI construction oI the Iooting.
The second part oI the study involved a visual
inspection oI each oI the houses. In order to
achieve this, letters were sent to each resident
seeking permission to survey their houses. Out oI
the 759 letters sent, only 258 questionnaires were
returned. OI these, 42 owners declined to take part
in the research. Each inspection took
approximately 20-30 minutes in which the
Iollowing procedure was adopted:
Internal and external inspections were carried
out to record the width oI cracks within walls,
cornices, Iloors and the ceilings oI the
structure. In addition, the position oI each
crack was recorded. Expansion joints were
also assessed Ior movement in the external
leaI.
To assist with damage assessment, various site
conditions, such as positions oI down pipes,
trees, taps, concrete pathways and drainage
were recorded.
The residents/owners were asked iI they were
aware oI any cracking or any other previous
damage that had needed repair.
5. INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS
Although 216 houses were surveyed in the study,
many variables such as soil reactivity, raIt stiIIness,
house Ilexibility and site conditions meant that
there were insuIIicient raIt stiIIness to enable a
direct comparison with crack width. As a
consequence, normalising the results in terms oI a
single speciIied raIt stiIIness was necessary.
5.1 Normalisation of Data
The outer Iibre strain Ior a simply supported elastic
beam is inversely proportional to the beam stiIIness
parameter, EI, where E is the Young's modulus oI
the concrete and I is the second moment oI area
about the axis oI bending. The same principle is
applicable to a cantilever beam, and can also be
applied to an elastic raIt. Furthermore, the width oI
a crack in brickwork which is placed on such a
beam should be approximately proportional to the
outer Iibre strain, and hence inversely proportional
to beam stiIIness (Kay and Mitchell, 1990). Walsh
(1985) indicated that the crack width varied
inversely with second moment oI area raised to the
power oI 0.8. Consequently, Kay and Mitchell
(1990) concluded that the assumption oI inverse
proportionality seems to be a reasonable
approximation. The same procedure was adopted
in the present study to normalise the data.
Using the survey results and the Iooting details
obtained Ior each house, the critical raIt stiIIness
was calculated. The critical section with the
maximum crack width in its primary direction oI
bending was used. A value oI 11.3 GPa Ior long
372
term Young's modulus was used in accordance with
AS3600-1988 (Standards Association oI Australia,
1988b), Ior 20 MPa compressive strength concrete,
typical Ior domestic construction. The second
moment oI area was determined using a Ilange
width oI 1000 mm Ior edge beams and 2000 mm
Ior internal beams in accordance with the AS3600-
1988 (Standards Association oI Australia, 1988b).
The unit stiIIness oI the raIt was obtained by the
ratio oI the sum oI all the individual EIs to the
length oI the raIt. These stiIIness values, Ior each
Iooting, were then set at an arbitrarily selected
number Ior each site classiIication. These arbitrary
numbers are tabulated in Table 1. By using the
inverse proportionality described beIore, associated
crack widths were then normalised. It will be
demonstrated later that these arbitrary stiIInesses
have no eIIect on the Iinal results.
Table 1. Arbitrary raIt stiIInesses (MN/m
2
) used in
the normalision oI data.
Site ClassiIication ABV ASB
M 25 150
H 25 60
5.2 Presentation of Data and Curve Fitting
Following the normalisation oI the data, the 216
cases were separated into three classes oI site
reactivity (S, M, H) and into two classes oI house
Ilexibility (ABV, ASB). However due to the
limited number oI data associated with S sites,
these are not considered in this paper. To obtain a
Irequency distribution, the equivalent crack widths
were divided into ranges according to a square root
scale bounded by the values 0-0.25, 0.25-1.0, 1.0-
2.25, 2.25-4.0, 4.0-6.25 and so on. The results
were subsequently plotted, each point plotted at the
end oI the range, and are shown in Figures 1 and 2.
Curve Iitting was carried out in order to produce a
continous representation oI the data. Preliminary
analyses have shown that the exponential type oI
curves best represent the data shown in Figures 1
and 2. The Iollowing equation was used in this
study Ior curve Iitting (Kay and Mitchell, 1990):
CF 100(1ae
bECW
) (1)
where: CF the percent cumulative Irequency oI
the equivalent crack width (ECW);
a, b curve Iitting parameters.
Curve Iitting parameters associated with the data in
Figures 1 and 2 are tabulated in Table 2.
Kay and Mitchell (1990) argued that a procedure
based on measurements taken within the Iirst ten
years oI construction is likely to be unconservative
1
1
1
1
1
P
P
P
P
P
P
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
0.1 1 10 100
Normalised Crack Width (mm)
Measured Data
Predicted Data
ABV
ASB
Figure 1. Cumulative Irequency Ior M sites.
P
P
P
P
P
1
1
1
1
1
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
0.1 1 10
Normalised Crack Width (mm)
Measured Data
Predicted Data
ABV
ASB
Figure 2. Cumulative Irequency Ior H sites.
Table 2. Curve Iitting parameters.
Site ABV ASB
React'y a b r
2
a b r
2
M 0.93 1.18 1.0 1.13 0.61 0.99
H 0.91 0.48 0.99 1.03 0.50 0.97
Ior engineering design purposes. In addition, both
theoretical and practical evidence indicate that
cracks measured over a longer period may be more
severe. Domaschuk et al. (1984) and Osman and
Hamadto (1984), also demonstrated that there is an
increase in damage levels with the age.
In light oI this evidence, it is reasonable Ior design
to incorporate long term eIIects. As result, Kay and
Mitchell (1990) doubled the crack widths measured
in their study. However, such a treatment oI the
crack widths was not undertaken in the present
study. This is due to the Iact that many oI the home
owners who participated in this study, did so
because their dwelling exhibited cracking. As a
result, the data tends to be biased towards damaged
houses. Hence it is not warranted to double the
crack widths to accomdate long term eIIects.
373
The probability oI occurrence, PC, Ior a particular
crack width, W
c
, may be taken as 100 CF, and by
using the inverse proportionality between the crack
width and the raIt stiIIness, PC may be written as:
PC ae
bEIW k
c
=

100 (2)
where: k arbitrary raIt stiIIness Irom Table 1.
This relationship was then used to calculate crack
widths Ior various raIt stiIIness's with diIIerent
probabilities oI exceedence. A standard
arrangement oI stiIIened beams was adopted
similar to that given by AS2870.1-1988 (Fig 5.1) so
that a direct relationship could be obtained between
beam depth and raIt stiIIness. Probability charts
were then generated, relating crack widths to the
depth oI the Iooting beams. Four such charts are
shown in Figures 3 to 6.
0.01
0.1
1
10
100
0 400 800 1200 1600 2000
Beam Depth, D (mm)
1 POE
50 POE
10 POE
AS2870.1-1988a
ABV Houses on M sites
(58 Cases)
POE Probability oI Exceedence
Figure 3. Probabilistic design charts Ior ABV houses
on M sites. (ReIer to AS2870.1-1988, Fig. 5.1)
0.1
1
10
100
0 400 800 1200 1600 2000
Beam Depth, D (mm)
ASB Houses on M sites
(9 Cases)
1 POE
50 POE
10 POE
AS2870.1-1988a
POE Probability oI Exceedence
Figure 4. Probabilistic design charts Ior ASB houses
on M sites. (ReIer to AS2870.1-1988, Fig. 5.1)
6. DESIGN EXAMPLE
The main purpose oI these design curves is to aid
the design engineer and the client to make an
inIormed decisions regarding the desired level oI
0.01
0.1
1
10
100
0 400 800 1200 1600 2000
Beam Depth, D (mm)
1 POE
50 POE
10 POE
ABV Houses on H sites
(56 Cases)
AS2870.1-1988a
POE Probability oI Exceedence
Figure 5. Probabilistic design charts Ior ABV houses
on H sites. (ReIer to AS2870.1-1988, Fig. 5.1)
0.01
0.1
1
10
100
0 400 800 1200 1600 2000
Beam Depth, D (mm)
1 POE
50 POE
10 POE
ASB Houses on H sites
(16 Cases)
AS2870.1-1988a
POE Probability oI Exceedence
Figure 6. Probabilistic design charts Ior ASB houses
on H sites. (ReIer to AS2870.1-1988, Fig. 5.1)
risk and the associated Iooting cost. This notion is
best explained by means oI an example. With
reIerence to Figure 5, a raIt beam oI depth 1000 mm
may have a 10 probability oI exceedence, that the
structure will suIIer wall cracking oI up to 0.6 mm
in width. Alternatively, a 1350 mm deep beam may
have a 1 probability oI suIIering the same level oI
cracking. In this way, this approach enables the
level oI risk associated with each individual design
to be quantiIied by determining the probability oI
cracking with respect to depth oI Iooting.
Superimposed on Figures 3 to 6 are the Iooting
depths speciIied by AS2870.1. Notice that the sizes
recommended by the standard are associated with
crack widths, oI the order oI 1 mm and greater.
This result seems to correlate well with experience.
374
7. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
A method has been presented Ior the design oI
residential Iootings built on expansive soil. This
study extends the work carried out by Kay and
Mitchell (1990) and Leach et al. (1995). A large
number oI council areas have been targeted to
incorporate a large number oI soil types and site
conditions. The proposed method is based on the
survey oI 216 houses built on either S, M or H sites
with articulated brick veneer or articulated solid
brick construction types. Using survey conclusions
based on Iooting perIormance and site
maintenance, probabilistic design curves were
created Ior the corresponding super-structure and
site classiIications.
Furthermore, it has been observed that the
estimated crack widths associated the Iooting sizes
recommended by AS2870.1 are likely to exceed
1 mm with a 50 probability oI exceedence. This
result suggests that the Iooting sizes recommended
by AS2870.1 may be somewhat unconservative.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors wish to acknowledge the support oI the
Australian Research Council Ior providing partial
Iunding Ior this project. In addition, the authors are
grateIul Ior the support given by the Councils oI
Campbelltown, EnIield, Happy Valley, Marion,
Prospect and Tea Tree Gully, and the numerous
home owners Ior their kind participation in this
study.
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