ST706- DESIGN OF FOUNDATION STRUCTURES PART - A

1. List out the objectives of soil exploration.

The Objectives for soil exploration are to obtain the general and necessary
information needed for the project like:
 Selection of type and depth of foundation to suit the superstructure and soil
at site
 Determination of bearing capacity of the foundation
 Determination of the settlement of the foundation due to loads
 Locating the ground water level
 Determination of the earth pressure against retaining walls, abutments,
sheet piles
 To safeguard against construction difficulties
 Assessing the suitability of soil and the degree of compaction of fill for base
slabs, pavements, retaining walls and so on
 Soil exploration is also needed for investigation of the safety of existing
structures, that is, effect on settlement and carrying out the remedial measures if
necessary for the structures to ensure safety
 For highways and runways it is necessary for carrying out the following:
a. The location of the roads (and runways)
b. The location and selection of soils for fills and ground improvement, if
necessary
c. The design and location of ditches, culverts and drains
d. The design of highway or runways
e. The location of local construction materials when adopting them for
construction.

2. What are the advantages of design of foundation based upon limit state design
concept?
 Limit state method helps to design structures based on both safety and
serviceability. The structures are designed to withstand ultimate loads or the
loads at which failure occurs unlike working stress method where only service
loads are considered. This leads to enhanced safety. Also unlike the working
stress method, the structures are economical. It is also better than ultimate
load method as serviceability requirement is also taken care of by considering
various safety factors for all the load types and structures do not undergo
massive deflection and cracks.
 In limit state design, the design load or factored load is adopted as 1.50
times of the actual probable load. This is a practical approach.
 Maximum permissible stress in concrete is adopted as 0.40 to 0.44 times of
characteristic strength. As concrete production involves lot of variables, the
actual strength achieved may be much less than the actual target strength. The
stress strain relationship of concrete is respected.
 Factor of 0.87 is adopted for adopting stress in reinforcement steel. As steel
is factory made a higher stress is allowed.
 In working stress method, only actual loads are considered and a factor of
safety of 3.0 for concrete and 1.75 for steel are adopted.
 In ultimate design method load is multiplied by three and actual stresses in
materials are adopted.
  Limit state design also checks for serviceability.

3. What are the different types of raft foundation?

A raft foundation may be rectangular, circular, or annular as shown.

4. Draw the typical shape of pile cap supporting two pile, three pile and four
pile respectively.
Generally, piles are used in groups to carry the large loads coming from the
superstructure. The group may consist of three or more piles in general and two piles
occasionally. Optimum spacing between piles, s, generally recommended for use is 2.5D
to 3.5D.
5. Write down the components of well foundation with neat sketches.
 6. What is grip length?

7. What is meant by tuning of machine foundations?

Due provisions in construction should be made to allow tuning of foundations, that is,
changing the natural frequency as may be required to avoid resonance, at a later stage.
Accordingly provisions to increase the contact area of the foundation, thus to increase
the stiffness and natural frequency and reduce the amplitudes as well as to increase the
mass of the foundation (to reduce the natural frequency) at a later stage should be kept
during construction.
Accordingly enough dowel bars on the sides of the foundation block may be kept in
addition to space for enlarging the base area subsequently if needed. Similarly, few hollow
spaces could be kept in the block to be filled by concrete to increase the mass later if
necessary.
8. What is passive isolation?
Passive isolation. "Passive vibration isolation" refers to vibration isolation or
mitigation of vibrations by passive techniques such as rubber pads or
mechanical springs, as opposed to "active vibration isolation" or "electronic
force cancellation" employing electric power, sensors, actuators, and control
systems.
9. What are the different loads to be considered in the design of chimneys?
Loads to be considered for design of foundation for chimneys:
a. Normal Conditions: In this case, a combination of only 2 forces are taken
into account such as downward force & horizontal force ( Both Longitudinal &
Transverse direction ) Wind Force, H.
b. Broken Wire condition: In this case, a combination of all 3 forces acting on
the tower foundation such as downward force, uplift force & horizontal force
due to wind. (Longitudinal & Transverse)
A load factor of 2 is considered in a normal condition whereas the load factor
of 1.5 is taken into account in broken wire condition to get the ultimate load.
10. List out the various foundations adopted for the design of chimneys.
Types of foundation to be adopted in design of chimneys:
1. Sloped Type
2. Stepped Type.
11. Write short notes on significant depth of exploration.

12. What is strap footing? When it will be used?

13. Explain the design concept of pile cap.

14. How piles are classified based upon method of installation and mode of
load transfer?

15. What are the different types of forces considered for the design of
foundations for bridges?
16. How will you determine grip length of well foundation?

17. What are the different types of machine foundations?

18. What is meant by tuning of foundations?

19. What is the ratio of base width to height of the tower used to calculate base
width in transmission tower?

20. What are the general design criteria to be followed for the satisfactory
performance of transmission tower? .
 Part B (5x16=80 Marks)

11. (a) (i) Design a combined

footing (ii)Design a square
footing (Or)

12 (i)What is soil investigation? Explain in detail the soil investigation report for
the design of multistoried building.
(ii) Design a footing for 300mm thick masonry wall

13. (a) (i) Design a pile cap for a system of 3 piles

(ii) What are the different types of raft foundations? Explain in detail
the conventional method of design of raft foundation.
(Or)

(b) Design a raft foundation - problems

(ii) Design a precast pile carrying an axial load of
1000kN

14. (a) (i) Draw a neat sketch of well foundation and discuss the various
forces acting on well foundation?.
(ii) iefly discuss “Sinking of Wells”.
(iii) Explain the construction of open and pneumatic caisson in detail
(iv) riefly discuss the various shapes of well foundations.
(Or)

(b) (i) Checking the stability of box caisson or floating caisson – problems
(ii) Design an open caission
(iii) Discuss the advantages of well foundations over pile foundations.

15. (a) (i) What are the methods adopted for isolation of vibration effects.
(ii) Determine the magnification factor and the magnitude of transmitted
force - problems
(iii) Discuss the general criteria for design of foundations for rotary
machines.
 (iv) Briefly discuss any one field test conducted for the determination of
soil parameters used in dynamic analysis.

(Or)

(b) (i) What are the various foundations adopted for low frequency machines.
Discuss the requirements of design for reciprocating machines as per IS code.
(iii) Determine the natural frequency and damping ratio. Of a block
foundation weighs 1000 kN.

(iii) Write short notes on (i) Degrees of freedom (ii) Magnification factor (iii) Forced
vibrations with damping (iv) Free vibration with damping

10. (a) Analyse the chimney and pad foundation for an electric transmission tower
which is subjected the following forces. Assume that the soil is clay with C=15
kN/m2 and the unit weight = 15 kN/m3 Assume that the horizontal force is
applied at 0.3 m above the ground level. The allowable soil pressure of the soil is
200 kN/m2
Working load (kN)
Nature of the load NC BWC
Downward forces 175 240
Uplift forces 128 194
Shear (transverse) 10 148
Shear(longitudinal) - 6.4

(ii) Explain different types of tower foundations in detail with neat sketches.

(Or)

(b) (i) How is the safety of the tower is checked against overturning, uplift and
lateral thrust?
(ii) Explain in details about the following stability factors for foundation of towers:
l) Downward load on the leg.
2) Horizontal thrust
3) Uplift load on the leg
4) Overturning Moments