Ex: Design of a mat foundation following rigid design method.

A B C Design the mat foundation with the column

4m
D E
3m
Allowable bearing capacity for the foundation soil, qallowable=180kPa.
Young’s Modulus of concrete, Econcrete=20x106kPa, Coefficient of Subgrade
reaction, ks=3000kN/m3.
Load Factor, LF=1.6.
TOTAL LOADS (kN) loads given in the figure.
A 500 a) Calculate eccentricity of the resultant
B 600 load and soil pressures at points A, B, C,
C 650
D, E and F.
D 400
E 500 b) Determine thickness of the foundation
F 700 pad by diagonal tension shear check at
F Column F.
3m
c) Check rigidity of the mat. Use a strip
width of 2m.
d) Calculate adjusted average soil pressure
and the adjusted column loads for strip
ABC. Use a strip width of 2m.
e) Plot Shear and Moment diagrams for
strip ABC and indicate design moments
for top steel and bottom steel in the
longitudinal direction.

fc’= 25 Mpa and fy= 420 MPa for the column and the footing, Column
dimensions 40 x 40 cm.
a) eccentricity of the resultant load and soil pressures at points A, B, C, D, E and F.
 Soil pressures. All less than allowable
bearing pressure.

b)thickness of the foundation pad by diagonal tension shear check at Column F.

c) Checking rigidity of the mat using a strip width of 2m.

d) adjusted average soil pressure and the adjusted column loads for strip ABC, using a strip width of 2m.
Due to eccentricity of R for strip
ABC, the pressure distribution
needs to be reconsidered.
e) Plot of Shear and Moment diagrams for strip ABC, design moments for longitudinal direction.
Example exact solution using Microsoft Excel.

1000
920.351
800

600

400 425.643

200

V (kN)
65.926
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 -106.639
7
-200

-400
-522.405
-600
-724.139
-800

-1000 x-distance (m)

200

0 6.538 2.677
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

-200
M (kNm)

-400

-514.186
-600

-729.265
-800 -820.462

-1000
References
• J. N. Cernica, Foundation Design, Wiley.