MAT3D Manual PDF

Mat3D Manual
Version 4.0.0
Advanced Software for Foundation Design

Dimensional Solutions, Inc.
WWW.dimsoln.com

Sl.No: Content Page No:
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Welcome to Mat3D 1

1.2 About this help system 1
2 Getting Started 1
2.1 Dialog size 1

2.2 Basic steps
2.3 Overview of Mat3D environment 2
2.4 Close windows 3
2.5 Examples 4
3 General 4
3.1 Project information 4

3.2 User defined options 4
3.3 Units 5
3.4 Reinforced Concrete design Codes 5
3.5 Basis of foundation design 5
3.6 File type File Type extensions 5
3.7 Automatic File Save 6
3.8 Calculator and Conversion Calculator 6
3.9 Loading sign convention 7
3.10 Pier/Base Plate/Wall Geometry Input 8
3.11 POS Elevation 11
3.12 Anchor Bolt Layout 12
3.13 Features in version 3.5 13
3.14 What's new in release 3.6 to 3.9 13
3.15 What's new in Version 4.0 13
4 Material Parameters 14
4.1 Concrete Parameters 14

4.2 Reinforcing Steel Parameters 14
4.3 Soil Parameters 14
4.4 Reinforcing Bar Tables 15
4.5 Pile Parameters 18
4.6 Special Options Parameters 18
4.7 Material quantities 18
5 Foundation Geometry and loads 18
5.1 Loading sign convention 19

5.2 Footing Geometry 20
5.3 Footing (Pile cap) thickness 22
5.4 Formwork sizes 22
5.5 Foundation depth 23
5.6 POS Elevation 23
5.7 Pier/Base Plate/Wall Geometry Input 23
5.8 Factored Loads 26
5.9 Applied Loads 26
5.10 Allowable Load Combinations 29
5.11 Ultimate Load Combinations 31
6 Pier Design 33
6.1 Concrete Clear Cover 33

6.2 Column Design 33
6.3 Pier/Column/Pedestal Design 33
6.4 Minimum Pier Reinforcement Ratio 35
6.5 Pier Information 35
6.6 Rebar pattern selection 37
6.7 Slenderness ratio limitation 37
7 Mat Design 37
7.1 Footing Design 37

7.2 Allowable Increase 38
7.3 Beam Shear 38
7.4 Buoyancy 38
7.5 Development Length 39
7.6 Maximum Moments 39
7.7 Punching Shear 39
7.8 Soil Bearing Pressures 39
7.9 Soil Cover 41
7.10 Stability Ratio 41
7.11 Temperature and shrinkage steel 41
7.12 Footing Reinforcement 41
7.13 Foundation Plan Sketch 42
7.14 Foundation Plan/Elevation sketch 42
7.15 Pier/Footing Elevation Sections 42
7.16 Pier, Soil and Mat Weights 43
8 Pile Foundation 44
8.1 Pile Analysis 44

8.2 Pile capacities 44
8.3 Pile location plan 45
8.4 Pile patterns 45
9 Printing 45
9.1 Elevation Sections 46

9.2 Printing Individual dialogs 48
9.3 Printing Reports 48
9.4 Reports 48
10 Plotting 50
10.1 Plot File 50

10.2 Plot Utility 50
10.3 Plot Dialog Box 51
11 CAD Interface 53
11.1 CAD Interface General 53

11.2 Advanced Drawing Settings 54
11.3 AutoCAD Interface 59
11.4 Microstation Interface 59
12 Interfaces 59
12.1 Vantage PDMS Interface 59

12.2 CAD Interface General 60
12.3 ACE Frameworks Utility Interface 61
13 Troubleshooting 63
13.1 Error Code ds104 63

14 Contacting Dimensional Solution 64
14.1 Dimensional Solutions Headquarters 64

14.2 Technical Support 64

Page 1
1.0 INTRODUCTION:
1.1 Welcome to Mat3D
Welcome to Mat3D™, the advanced software for foundation design from Dimensional
Solutions. Mat3D™ is a single program solution that allows you to accomplish foundation
design from concept to completion in minutes. You no longer need to use two, three or
more software programs to design your foundation.
Mat3D simplifies your complex work process from inputting foundation geometry to
completing foundation design to producing a construction drawing in minutes. To view the
many features and experience the many benefits of using Mat3D, simply run the program
with examples provided in the “Examples” directory. To open any of the example files, click
“Example” from the toolbar menu and choose the appropriate example.
1.2 About this Help System
The online help provides explanations of the many features and functions of Mat3D™.
To access help on various topics, simply click the topic displayed under the "Contents" tab
or type a help topic by clicking on the "Index" tab.
The online help also displays sequences of topics grouped by a common theme which can be
selected from the list in the drop-down box at the top. The appropriate topics are displayed
on the top and you can select these topics by clicking on the topic that you need help on.
2. GETTING STARTED:
2.1 Dialog Size
Since Mat3D displays minute details on many dialog boxes, the dialog size may seem big if
you are using a screen resolution of 800X600 pixels or lower. In such a case, move the
horizontal and vertical scroll bars to display the entire dialog box. It is strongly
recommended that you use a screen resolution of 1024X768 with small fonts for best
viewing of the dialogs.
2.2 Basic Steps
Mat3D is easy to use software. It is intuitive and has been developed by civil engineers.
Therefore the terminology used in the software should be familiar to most civil engineers.
To run a licensed version of the software, the following steps must be followed:
• Run “Mat3D” by clicking on the shortcut created under the folder “Mat3D”.
• A “Register” dialog with a product reference code is displayed.
• Mail or fax this code to Dimensional Solutions. See “Technical Support ”.
• On receiving this code, a customer support representative will e-mail or fax you the
license key required to run Mat3D.
• From the register dialog, click “Enter License Key”. A license dialog displays.
• Enter the license key in the displayed dialog.
• Click OK.
• Upon successful registration, a success message displays and Mat3D main
application window displays.
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When you start Mat3D, the main program window displays. See Overview of Mat3D
environment for an overview of the Mat3D graphical user interface and some of the
terminology used in this help document.
To enter pier/base plate/wall and footing geometry information, see Pier Geometry Input
and Footing Geometry.
Before you run Mat3D, it is important to define or set up a project. A project here is defined
as one unique foundation design.
The first step in setting up a project is to define project specific options using the User
defined options dialog box. This dialog box is where most of the data is entered. This data
usually remains constant for a project. Most of the controls in the Options dialog box have
default values. However, it is important this information be carefully reviewed prior to
inputting data.
2.3 Overview of Mat3D environment
The main program window of Mat3D consists of a left pane and a right pane, similar to the
familiar Windows Explorer. The left pane consists of a “Treeview” displaying a hierarchical
information of the dialogs with the main parent as “Mat3D” and all the other dialog items
displayed as children of the main parent, an “Element Listbox” listing all the elements on
the mat, a “Geometry” tab that displays field for footing and element information input, a
"Modify Elements" tab to modify the element geometry, and a “Modify Mat” tab to modify
the mat geometry. The right pane displays the input or output results dialog when the user
clicks OK on the displayed dialog or when an item is clicked in the treeview.
The left pane makes it easy for you to see the overall project view. Because you constantly
have the “big picture,” in the left pane, you can quickly view and make the necessary
decisions about its “pieces.” You can display the input and output dialogs as listed in the
treeview by simply clicking on the appropriate dialog item in the treeview. The Red Cross
icon adjacent to the dialog item in the treeview represents an inaccessible item at this time,
i.e. you cannot open that dialog since you have not completed the necessary steps to view
that dialog or the dialog item is not applicable to the current project. The blue checkmark
icon represents an accessible item. To view the dialog represented by the blue checkmark
icon, click on it and the appropriate dialog displays in the right pane. The status bar at the
bottom of the main program window displays a number of tabs. The first tab indicates the
concrete design code being used on the current project and whether the current project is
soil-supported or pile-supported. The remaining tabs indicate the status of some of the keys
on the keyboard such as "Insert/Overwrite", "Number lock on/off", "Caps lock on/off" and
the current date and time.
Some of the important navigational steps to remember while cruising through Mat3D:
1. To view more of the dialog in the right pane, you can close some of the left pane
items such as the element list box and the geometry tab. Closing these items will
give more room to view the dialog in the right pane. You can close these items in
any one of the following ways:
a. Click on View in the main menu bar. Then choose “View Geometry” or “View
Element List”. This will close the element list box and the geometry tab in the left
pane and only treeview will be displayed. “View Geometry” and “View Element List”
items under File View act as toggle items. Therefore, clicking it one more time will
display the pier list and the geometry tab in the left pane.
b. Click on “Pier/Footing Geometry” in the treeview will also close the element list
box and the geometry tab and will display the treeview completely in the left pane.
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“Pier/Footing Geometry” item in the treeview is also a toggle item. Therefore clicking
it one more time will display the element list box and the geometry tab.
When the element list box and the geometry tab are closed, the treeview in the left
pane completely fills up the left pane enabling you to view the entire project
input/output dialogs.
2. To change the size of the toolbar icons, click View on the main menu bar and then
choose Toolbar Small icons to view a smaller size toolbar and choose Large icons to
display larger size icons. To remove the toolbar display, click Standard buttons. To
enable the toolbar display, click Standard buttons again.
3. The "Modify Mat" tab in the lower left section of the window provides a way to modify
the mat dimensions in the positive and negative X and Z directions. It also enables
the rearrangement of the elements with respect to the old and new center of the
mat. This tab becomes available only after initial mat dimensions have been entered
using the "Geometry" tab.
4. The "Modify Elements" tab in the lower left section of the window provides a way to
modify the elements on the mat such as the piers and the base plates. This tab
becomes available only after at least one element has been placed on the mat using
the "Geometry" tab.
When you first start Mat3D or when you click on “New” under File menu to start a new
project, only the treeview in the left pane and the project information dialog displays.
Clicking OK on the project information dialog displays the Options dialog. Clicking OK on the
Options dialog displays the treeview, element list box, the geometry and the sign
convention tabs in the left pane and a foundation plan in the right pane. You can now start
entering the pier and the footing geometry information. Alternately, you can directly click
the Pier/Footing geometry in the treeview to display the left pane and click Foundation Plan
in the treeview to display the plan in the right pane.
When you open an existing project in Mat3D, only the treeview is displayed in the left pane
and the foundation plan in the right pane. Since you have saved all the information, you can
click “Run” in the main menu bar to run the project. If you want to change the geometry or
the loads, you can click on the appropriate items in the treeview to display the dialog in the
right pane. To view some of the important results of a saved project such as foundation
plan, elevation sections, and others click on the List box in the toolbar. This list box displays
the following items:
• View Plan/El Sketch

• View Pile Location Plan
• View Material Quantities
• View Pier Details
• View Anchor Bolt Details
You can click any or all of the above items to quickly display the results of a recently
completed foundation design or a saved project.
2.4 Close Windows
To close all the dialogs in the right pane opened by clicking on the items in the left pane,
click “Close All Windows” under “Window” in the main menu bar.
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2.5 Examples
Sample examples of horizontal exchanger, vertical vessel and miscellaneous foundation

designs are located in “<Installed Drive and Dir\Mat3D\Examples” subdirectory. Trying
these examples will show how easy and quick it is to design a foundation using Mat3D.
Try the following examples. Each example has been developed with a unique emphasis.
1. To view a pile supported mat foundation with 17 piers, run “Piers17MatPile.m3D”.
2. To view a soil supported mat foundation with 17 piers, run “Piers17Mat.m3D”.
3. To view a soil supported foundation with 11 piers, run “Piers11Soil.m3D”.
4. To view a pile supported mat foundation with 5 piers, run “Piers5Pile.m3D”.
5. To view a symmetrically placed piers but unsymmetrically placed piles, run
“SymPiersUnsymPile.m3D”.
3.0 GENERAL:
3.1 Project Information
To set project information, click the Project Information dialog item in the left pane to
display the “Project Information” dialog.
The “Company Name” and “Company Address” fields refer to your company or organization.
This information is displayed in the reports. The “Designed By” and “Checked By” fields are
meant for the individuals who completed and checked the design. These fields are displayed
on the reports.
The remaining information on this dialog refers to the general project for which the
foundation design is being completed.
Currently, information entered in fields such as Client Name, Plant Type etc. is stored only
for the currently active file. It does not form part of a permanent database. The information
entered in the fields on this dialog box will be used for all subsequent new projects.
3.2 User Defined Options
To set user defined options or project specific options, click the Options button under View
Menu or click the Options dialog item in the left pane. The Options dialog box displays
various tabs such as Concrete, Reinforcing steel, Soil, Pile, Rebar Table etc. Enter project
specific information in this dialog box. The values entered here will serve as default values
for all subsequent new files. However, these options can be different for each file.
Templates:
You can save the Options information specific to a project so that you can use it later for
foundation design on the same or a similar project by using templates. You must have at
least Internet Explorer 5.01 with service pack 1 installed in order to load or save templates.
Save an Options Template:
After making appropriate changes in the Options dialog, click the “Save” button. A “Save
As” dialog is displayed so that you can enter the filename of the template in which the
Options information will be saved. Mat3D uses the following path as the default location to
save the templates.
<Program directory>\Templates\Options\<filename>,
Where “<program directory>” is the location where Mat3D is installed,
<Filename> is the filename you give to the template. Mat3D gives a default extension of
“.dsxml” to the filename.
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Load an Options Template:
To load an existing Options information template into the current project, click the “Load”
button. An “Open” dialog is displayed. Choose the template file that you want loaded and
click the OK button. On successful loading of the template, a message is displayed
“Template loaded successfully”.
The templates are xml files that can be easily edited using a standard editing application
such as Notepad or WordPad. If you wish to make changes to the templates outside the
application, you can do so by opening the template in a standard editing application and
saving the desired changes. You can then load the template from within Mat3D.
3.3 Units
Mat3D supports three unit systems for input and output. They are English, Metric and SI.
You can input in one system of unit and view the results in another system of unit. In such
a case, appropriate conversions are made internally in the program to show the output
results in the requested system of unit.
Note: Due to rounding of numbers, the sum or difference of two dimensions may not be
exactly equal to the third dimension as noted on some dialog boxes. For e.g. on a pile
location plan, the sum of the pile ring radius and the edge distance may not exactly equal
half the out-to-out octagonal footing size.
3.4 Reinforced Concrete Design Codes
Mat3D supports the following concrete design codes:

ACI 318 with three different selections - 1999, 2002 and 2005 (American Concrete
Institute)
BSI 8110 - 1985 (British Standards Institute)
CSA A23.3 - 1994 (Canadian Standards Association)
IBC 2000 (International Building Code)
EN 1992-1-1:2004 (Euro Code)
IS 456:2000 (Indian Code)
CP 65: 1999 (Singapore Code)
Note: For ACI and IBC codes, all internal calculations are done in English units regardless of
the input and output units. Similarly, for BSI, CSA, EN, IS and CP codes, all internal
calculations are done in SI units regardless of the input and output units.
3.5 Basis of foundation design
The following assumptions form the basis of foundation design procedures used by Mat3D:
1. Both pier and footing are assumed rigid with respect to load, soil bearing and pile
load distribution purposes.
2. All loads at the top of pier, and base plate elements are assumed to act through the
centroid of the element.
3. Reinforced concrete pier and footing design are based on ultimate strength design
methods. Working stress or alternate design methods are not used.
3.6 File Type extensions
Mat3D uses .m3D as its default file extension. However, other file type extensions may be
used.
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3.7 Automatic File Save
When you start a new project in Mat3D, the new input is automatically saved in a file
(Mat1.m3D) located in your program directory. These automatics file save enables you to
retrieve the input in case of an untimely shutdown of the program.
Please note that this feature is meant to prevent the loss of information entered earlier due
to an untimely program shutdown. Therefore it is strongly recommended that you save the
design in another file. These files will be overwritten every time you repeat a foundation
design. In other words, if you start a new mat foundation design project, the auto file save
will create and save the work you have been doing in Mat1.m3D. If you start another mat
foundation design at a later time, the Mat1.m3D will be overwritten with the information
from the current foundation design.
3.8 Calculator and Conversion Calculator
On clicking the Calc icon on the toolbar, Calculator dialog box opens. It shows a plain
calculator and a conversion calculator. The conversion calculator converts units of
measurement such as length, force, pressure etc. from one system of unit into other.
Loading sign convention Page 1 of 1
3.9 Loading sign convention
Axial loads, Py, are positive when acting downward in the direction of the positive Vertical (+Y) axis.
Horizontal Shears, Vx, are positive when acting in the positive direction of the X-axis.
Horizontal Shears, Vz, are positive when acting in the positive direction of the Z-axis.
Moments Mz, produce overturning about Z-Axis. A positive Mz moment produces a clockwise rotation about the positive Z (+Z) Axis.
Moments Mx, produce overturning about X-Axis. A positive Mx moment produces a counterclockwise rotation about the positive X (+X) Axis.
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3.10 Pier/Base Plate/Wall Geometry Input
Mat3D allows you to input loads via pier, base plate or wall type elements. Following is a
general guideline of how these element types may be used:
Pier Element
If you would like Mat3D to design the piers (pedestals) placed above the top of the
mat, use the pier element type. When you select the pier element type, you will
need to input the size of the pier in the X and Z directions, the height of the pier
above grade, the offset of the center of the pier from the footing or mat origin as
well as the minimum reinforcement ratio to be used for the concrete design of the
pier. The pier element type is displayed by a grey color.
Base Plate Element
If you would like Mat3D to only design the mat or the pile cap and not the piers, and
if your load is a concentrated load on the mat, you can use the base plate element.
When you select the base plate element type, you will need to input the size of the
base plate in the X and Z directions, and the offset of the center of the base plate
from the footing or mat origin. The base plate element is displayed by a brick red
color. Mat3D does not design the base plate.
Wall Element
If you would like to input line loads for wall type members, you can choose the wall
element. When you select the wall element, you will need to input the dimensions in
the X and Z direction, its height above grade, and the offset of its center from the
footing or mat origin. When you enter the loads for this type of element, they are
assumed to be applied per linear dimension of the wall element. The wall element is
displayed by a green color. Mat3D does not design the wall member.
To enter pier or base plate or wall (also called Element) geometry input, follow the steps
below:
1. Click on the "Pier/Footing Geometry" item in the left pane to display the treeview,
the element list box and the "Geometry" tab. You can also use the "View Geometry"
or "View Element List" toggle commands under the View menu to display the
treeview, the element list box and the "Geometry" tab.
2. Enter the element information in the text boxes displayed under the “Geometry” tab.
Enter a unique element name for every pier, base plate or wall. When you start a
new project, the element name is automatically displayed as “P1”. Select the pier
shape as either a square, rectangular, octagonal or circular type and the base plate
shape as square or rectangular. Enter the element sizes in the X and Z direction, the
height of the element above grade, the offsets of the pier or base plate in the X and
Z direction and the minimum reinforcement ratio in the pier. For a base plate shape,
the height of the element above grade field is disabled and is always set to zero. The
minimum reinforcement ratio field is also disabled for a base plate shape. Element
offsets are always specified from the footing origin in X and Z directions. The footing
origin can be located anywhere on the mat. If the element type is base plate, the
height above grade field and the minimum reinforcement ratio are automatically
disabled. For a wall element, enter the appropriate dimensions, height above grade
Page 9
and the offsets from the footing origin. The pier on the mat is represented by a grey
color, base plate by a brick red color and a wall element by a green color.
3. Click “Place Element". This will place the element on the mat in the foundation plan
displayed in the right pane. This action will also add the element in the element list
box above. If the element is a pier, it's name is also displayed under the following
items in the treeview in the left pane – Pier Reinforcement, Pier Ultimate loads,
Anchor Bolt Layout and Pier – Plan, Elev and Section. If the element is a base plate,
it's name is also displayed under the Anchor Bolt Layout item in the treeview in the
left pane. If P1 was chosen as the name of the first element, the name text box will
be automatically filled with P2 and the other text fields will be blank ready to receive
the new information about P2. After filling the information, click "Place Element" and
the second element is displayed on the mat in the foundation plan and is added to
the element list box. Continue steps 1 and 2 until you have entered all the elements.
4. If you would like to modify the element geometry, click the "Modify Elements" tab. A
table with all the elements and their geometric properties is displayed. Make the
appropriate changes in the table and click "Apply". The changes in the elements are
displayed on the foundation plan. The second column in the table is the "Shape"
column. You must enter one of the following characters or strings: "S", "R", "O", "C"
for square, rectangular, octagonal and circular pier shapes respectively and "SBP" or
"RBP" for square and rectangular base plates respectively. For a "SBP" and "RBP"
(square or rectangular base plate) elements, even if the height above grade is
specified as non-zero, Mat3D automatically assigns a value of zero on clicking the
"Apply" button. The same is true for the minimum reinforcement ratio.
Note: Double clicking in the name text box clears all the element geometry text boxes. To
change the name of the element, first select the element in the element list box with a left
click. Change the element name in the text box on the geometry tab. Click “Place Element.
A message displays if you want the element modified. Click yes to accept the change.
Displaying Pier Geometry and Load Information:
To view the element geometry information you have just entered on the foundation plan in
the right pane:
1. Right click on the element whose geometry you want displayed in the foundation
plan in the right pane. This action will highlight the element, activates the selected
element in the element list box in the left pane and displays the element geometry in
the text boxes on the geometry tab.
2. Right click again on the highlighted element. A popup menu is displayed with the
following items:
o View Dimensions
o View Elem Offset Origin
o View Elem Offset Corner
o View Loads
o View All Load Combs
o View Ult Load Combs
o Remove Element
Pier Geometry Input Page 4 of 5
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Left click on any of the items to display appropriate information about the selected element.
The “View Dimension” displays the element dimension in x and z directions for a square and
rectangular pier/base plate, out-to-out dimension of an octagonal pier and the diameter of a
circular pier. The “View Elem Offset Origin” displays the offset of the selected element from
the footing origin. The “View Elem Offset Corner” displays the offset of the selected element
from the lower left corner of the mat. The “View Loads” displays the applied loads on the
selected element in the “Applied Loads” dialog. The “View All Load Combs” displays the
allowable or unfactored load combinations for the selected element in the “Allowble Load
Combinations” dialog. The “View Ult. Load Combs” displays the ultimate or factored load
combinations for the selected element in the “Ultimate Load Combinations” dialog.
You can also display all of the above information by selecting the element in the element list
box in the left pane. First left click on the element whose information you want displayed.
This will highlight the element. Right click on the selected element to display the same pop-
up menu described above. Left click on the appropriate item in the pop-up menu to display
the desired information.
Changing Element Offsets by Drag and Drop

Once an element has been placed, use drag and drop operation to move the element over
the footing.
To drag and drop an element:
• Select the element you want dragged in any one of the above ways – Either a right
click on the element you want dragged in the foundation plan or left click in the
element list box.
• Drag and drop the selected element with the left mouse button.
• The text boxes on the foundation plan indicate the offset value of the centerline of
the element from the footing origin in either direction. Fine tune the offset values by
entering numbers in the text boxes and then double-clicking in any one of the text
boxes to refresh the plan.
Removing Element
To remove an element already placed on the plan:

• Right click on the element you want removed. This will highlight the element.
• Right click again to display the pop-up menu.
• Left click on “Remove Element". A message displays if you want the selected element
removed.
• Click “Yes” to remove the element.
Alternately, left click on the element you want removed in the element list box. Click
“Remove Element" on the Geometry tab. A message displays if you want the element
removed. Click yes to remove the element.
Element Overlap
A circumscribed circle around an octagon is used to check for interference between
elements.
3.11 POS Elevation

POS elevation refers to the point of support elevation. It may also be referred to as top of
grout elevation (TOG elevation). Generally, top of concrete or top of pier elevation would be
POS elevation - grout thickness.
Anchor Bolt Layout Page 1 of 1
3.12 Anchor Bolt Layout
The anchor bolt dialog box as shown below gives you the ability to specify anchor bolt layout on the pier. You can specify rectangular or circular bolt patterns. The information on this
dialog box is used on the construction drawing. The grout thickness on top of the pier is also specified in this dialog box. The anchor bolt text at the bottom of the dialog box can be
changed so that you can meet your company or client standards. The revised text will be displayed in the sketches and on the construction drawings.
The offset angle refers to the angle between the x-x axis or horizontal line and the first anchor bolt in the northeast quadrant for a circular bolt pattern.
If you do not want to include the anchor bolt layout on the pier(s), choose No for “Include Anchor Bolts on sketch?” question. You may want to use this option if the anchor bolts on the
Foundation Plan and Elevation sketch clutter the plan view.
All the piers are listed under the “Anchor Bolt Layout” dialog item in the treeview in the left pane. To view the anchor bolt layout of a particular pier, simply click the pier in the left pane
under the anchor bolt layout and the anchor bolt layout of the selected pier is displayed in the right pane.
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3.13 Features in version 3.5
The new release of Mat3D incorporates a number of enhancements that will enable you to
complete even more different types of mat foundation designs providing a flexible solution
to both soil and pile supported mat foundation designs.
Input loads via base plates
Update pier and mat geometry of existing layouts
Top of mat above grade
Negative offsets for piers and base plates
Lateral resistance to sliding using unfactored load combinations
Pile reactions on each pile for each unfactored load combination
Updated graphical interface on various dialogs
Detail report in Microsoft Excel
Insufficient or inadequate design flagged in reports
Microstation and AutoCAD drawing updates
3.14 What's new in release 3.6 to 3.9
The newer releases of Mat3D (version 3.6 to 3.8) provide a number of enhancements that
will enable you to complete different types of mat foundation designs quickly and
accurately. Some of the major changes are:
User-friendly and status oriented Graphical User Interface
Import wizard to bring pertinent data from any 3rd party application into Mat3D
Addition of more concrete design codes
Ultimate concrete design capacity of piers with user specified rebar configuration
Ability to accept line loads
Display of pier, soil and footing weights for unfactored and factored load combinations
User specified excavation parameters for excavation quantity calculations
Tracking of user specified and program computed footing rebar configuration
Detail html report
Continuation of pier and footing design even when bearing capacity or stability ratio
inadequate
Ability to model foundations in Intergraph's Frameworks PDS
3.15 What's new in Version 4.0
Some of the major changes in version 4.0 are:

1. Support of international concrete design codes listed below to enable you to complete
more international projects and collaborate with your co-workers worldwide
• Euro code EN 1992-1-1:2004
• Indian code IS 456:2000
• Singapore code CP 65: 1999
2. Two different methods of calculating bearing capacity at the base of a soil supported
foundation allowing you to choose the method that meets your company or client
specifications. For more details refer to Soil Bearing Pressures.
3. For soil supported foundations, you can now specify the percent of the foundation base
that must be in compression allowing you to meet your company or client standards and
specifications.
4. Addition of intermediate calculations in the calculation report.
5. The tie bar design now displays the area required and the area provided to resist shear
loads.
6. The rebar design in the pier and the footing is now based on the Metric rebar table when
ACI Code is selected as the concrete design code.
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7. Pile shear loads now reflect the torsional moments on pile caps.
8. Many graphical user interface enhancements have been made to several dialogs.
9. Many enhancements have been made to Excel reports.
10. The ACE Frameworks Utility interface has been modified to allow modeling piles as
either drilled piers or column members
4.0 MATERIAL PARAMETERS:
4.1 Concrete Parameters
To set concrete parameters, click on the Concrete Tab in the Options dialog box (displayed
when options button is clicked in the left pane). Parameters such as compressive strength,
unit weight, concrete cover over rebars etc. may be set here. The values entered here will
become the defaults for all subsequent new files.
The concrete cover implies clear distance between the rebar and the edge of concrete. For
e.g. the concrete cover in the pier implies the clear distance between the tie bar and the
edge of concrete. For a soil-supported foundation, the bottom cover is the clear concrete
cover between the steel and the bottom of the footing. For a pile-supported foundation, the
bottom cover is the clear concrete cover between the steel and the top of the pile.
Note: Mat3D uses the allowable increase in concrete stress due to short term loads to
compute the wide beam shear and the punching shear in the footings. If you multiply the
load combinations containing short term loads by a reduction factor such as in a
combination of the following type: 0.75*(1.4Dead + 1.7Live +1.7Wind), do not allow for an
increase in the allowable stress.
4.2 Reinforcing Steel Parameters
To set reinforcing steel parameters, click on the Reinforcing Steel Tab in the Options dialog
box (displayed when options button is clicked in the left pane). Parameters such as yield
strength, unit weight, modulus of elasticity etc. may be set here. The values entered here
will become the defaults for all subsequent new files.
4.3 Soil Parameters
To set soil parameters, click on the Soil Tab in the Options dialog box (displayed when
options button is clicked in the left pane). Parameters such as allowable bearing pressure,
unit weight, foundation type etc. may be set here. The values entered here will become the
defaults for all subsequent new files.
Foundation Type:
On this dialog, the foundation type - Soil-Supported or Pile-Supported may be selected.

When Soil-Supported foundation type is selected, all of the input fields become enabled. All
of the input fields under the "Piles" tab of the Options dialog become disabled. Similarly
when Pile-Supported foundation type is selected, only the fields pertinent to Soil-Supported
foundation remain enabled but the rest of the fields become disabled. For a Pile-Supported
foundation, all of the input fields under the Piles tab of the Option dialog become enabled.
Bearing Capacity Method:

A selection of the type of method that the program must use to calculate the bearing
pressure under the foundation base is made at this input field. The two different types of
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methods used by the program are 1. Linear Soil Pressure Method 2. Reduced Effective Area
Method. For a brief description of these methods, refer to the topic Soil Bearing Pressures.
Allowable Net Bearing Pressure:

A geotechnical engineer typically gives the value entered here. It is computed by applying a
safety factor to the ultimate bearing pressure and represents NET ALLOWABLE bearing
pressure on the soil. This value plus the overburden constitutes the gross allowable bearing
pressure as indicated in the ‘BEARING CAPACITY’ dialog box displaying the bearing
pressures on the soil.
Base In Compression:
This dialog provides an option to select whether or not sizable base be in compression. The
default option is "No". When "Yes" is selected for this option, a field to input the percent
required in compression is enabled.
Cohesive/Granular Soils:
Enter coefficient of cohesion and/or coefficient of friction for a cohesive type soil and
coefficient of adhesion and/or coefficient of passive resistance for a granular type soil. These
values allow the program to calculate the lateral resistance of the soil. These values are
used in determining the lateral resistance of soil to the applied lateral load for both
unfactored and factored load combinations.
4.4 Reinforcing Bar Tables
Mat3D enables you to use different bar sizes for completing your foundation design projects.
It provides access to English and Metric bar tables so that you can complete foundation
designs using the appropriate bar sizes.
To display the English bar table, click “Show English Rebar Table”. The table displays the
english or imperial rebar sizes that Mat3D uses for the foundation design. To display the
Metric bar table, click “Show Metric Rebar Table”. The table displays the metric rebar sizes
that Mat3D uses for the foundation design.
Mat3D gives you the ability to select different maximum and minimum rebar sizes for pier
longitudinal bars, pier tie bars and the footing rebars. Enter the maximum and the minimum
rebar sizes for pier longitudinal rebar design, pier tie bar design and footing rebar design.
Mat3D uses these values to provide you with a truly flexible solution for pier and footing
design. In general, pier longitudinal rebar design considers the largest three bar sizes that
will satisfy the code requirements. The footing design displays the smallest rebar sizes that
will satisfy code requirements.
To add a rebar in the table that you would like to use, click the “Insert Rebars” button. A
message is displayed “Please add bar info in the highlighted boxes above”. Enter the bar
size, diameter, area and weight information in the boxes. Click the “Add” button to add the
rebar in the existing table. The rebar is inserted in the ascending order of the bar size.
To remove a rebar from the existing table, click “Remove Rebars”. A message is displayed
“Please select the bar row you want to remove”. Click the row of the rebar that you want
removed. The rebar is removed from the table.
Templates:
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You can save rebar information specific to a project so that you can use it later for
Save a Rebar Template:

After making appropriate changes to the rebar table by using the “Insert” or “Remove”
buttons as necessary, click the “Save” button under the “Templates” frame of the Rebar
Table tab. A “Save As” dialog is displayed so that you can enter the filename of the
template in which the rebar information will be saved. Mat3D uses the following path as the
default location to save the templates.
<program directory>\Templates\Rebar Table\<filename>,
where “<program directory>” is the location where Mat3D is installed,
<filename> is the filename you give to the template. Mat3D gives a default extension of
Load a Rebar Template:
To load an existing rebar information template into the current project, click the “Load”
button under the “Templates” frame of the Rebar Table tab. A “Open” dialog is displayed.
Choose the template file that you want loaded and click the OK button. On successful
loading of the template, a message is displayed “Rebar template loaded successfully”.
Note: The program displays the three largest bar sizes that meet code requirements for
strength, and spacing. If the pier rebars development length is not satisfied by any of the
bars displayed, a message is displayed with a warning. At such time, you may either
decrease the maximum rebar size or increase the footing thickness to satisfy development
length criteria.
Note: For ACI and IBC codes, all internal calculations are done in English units regardless of
the input and output units. Similarly, for BSI, CSA, EN, IS and CP codes, all internal
calculations are done in SI units regardless of the input and output units. For eg if ACI code
is selected, and if the output units selected is Metric or SI, all the internal calculations are
completed in English units and the results then converted to Metric or SI units and displayed
in various dialogs.
With version 4.0, when ACI code is selected and the output units are in Metric or SI
units, Mat3D now uses the Metric rebar table to determine and display the rebar
sizes in the pier and the footing.
Until versions less than 4.0, when ACI code was selected and if the output units
were in Metric or SI units, because the English rebar sizes were used internally and
then converted to an equivalent Metric rebar size for pier and footing design,
conversions had to be made to accomodate this change. The example and tables
below indicate how conversions were made.
Example of English and Metric Rebar Templates that may be used when ACI code is
selected and the output units is Metric or SI is displayed below. If Metric rebars are
intended to be used for the project, the English rebars may be modified as noted in
the table below such that the area of the English rebar in square inches is slightly
less than the equivalent Metric rebar area in square centimeters. For eg if the
maximum footing rebar size intended to be used is 32 mm, then the corresponding
maximum English footing rebar size may be set to 10. The English rebar size 10 has
an area of 1.245 sq in in the table below which corresponds to about 8.032 sq cm.
Since the bar area of Metric rebar size 32 mm is 8.04 sq cm (slightly larger than
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8.032 sq cm), this rebar of 32 mm will be displayed if the design is completed using
an English rebar size of 10 internally.
English Rebar Table:
Bar ID Bar Size Bar Diameter (in) Bar Area (sq in)
1 3 0.236 0.043
2 4 0.315 0.077
3 5 0.394 0.121
4 6 0.472 0.174
5 7 0.630 0.311
6 8 0.787 0.486
7 9 0.984 0.760
8 10 1.260 1.245
9 11 1.575 1.952
10 14 1.969 3.037
Metric Rebar Table:
Bar ID Bar Size (mm) Bar Diameter ( Bar Area (sq cm)
mm)
1 6 6 0.283
2 8 8 0.503
3 10 10 0.785
4 12 12 1.130
5 16 16 2.010
6 20 20 3.140
7 25 25 4.910
8 32 32 8.040
9 40 40 12.600
10 50 50 19.600
4.5 Pile Parameters
To set pile parameters, click on the Pile Tab in the Options dialog box (displayed when
options button is clicked in the left pane). Parameters such as pile type, pile size, pile
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spacing etc. may be set here. The values entered here will become the defaults for all
subsequent new files.
Pile Capacities:
Enter the compression, tension and lateral capacities of the piles.
Pile Group Reduction:
If pile group reduction is desired, enter the reduction percent. Choosing ‘program’
instructs the program to use Converse-Labarre equation in calculating the reduction
coefficient.
4.6 Special Options Parameters
Special options parameters such as using lightweight aggregate concrete or epoxy coated
reinforcement may be selected by clicking Special Options Tab under the Options dialog.
For Euro Code EN 1992-1-1:2004, additional Code Specific special options may be selected.
These values are equivalent to the "National Annex" factors mentioned in the Euro Code for
location specific values that may be used for foundation design such as Concrete partial
safety factor, Reinforcing steel partial safety factor etc. A check box against "Use Default
Values" allows the default values to be used in the program. However each value can be
individually changed to suit location specific requirements.
If these values are not selected or entered, default values are used by the program in
completing the foundation design.
4.7 Material quantities
Material quantities are calculated for concrete, reinforcing steel, formwork and excavation.
The reinforcing steel quantity indicated includes footing and pier reinforcing steel except
intermediate tie bars in the pier, i.e. it includes only the main tie bar tying the longitudinal
bars. By default, the excavation quantity is based on a 1.5:1 horizontal to vertical
excavation slope. However, if you would like that a different set of criteria be considered in
obtaining the excavation quantities, you can use the "Formwork" tab of the Options dialog
to specify these criteria. The grout quantity is based on a 45 deg slope from the top of
grout to top of concrete.
The concrete pier material quantity is calculated as follows:
If grout thickness is specified in the "Anchor Bolt Layout" dialog, the concrete pier quantity
is based on the pier height below the grout. The grout quantity is calculated based on the
grout thickness specified. If grout thickness is zero, the concrete pier quantity is based on
the total pier height from the top of the mat or pile cap to the top of grout elevation
specified.
5.0 FOUNDATION GEOMETRY AND LOADS:

Loading sign convention Page 1 of 1
5.1 Loading sign convention
Axial loads, Py, are positive when acting downward in the direction of the positive Vertical (+Y) axis.
Horizontal Shears, Vx, are positive when acting in the positive direction of the X-axis.
Horizontal Shears, Vz, are positive when acting in the positive direction of the Z-axis.
Moments Mz, produce overturning about Z-Axis. A positive Mz moment produces a clockwise rotation about the positive Z (+Z) Axis.
Moments Mx, produce overturning about X-Axis. A positive Mx moment produces a counterclockwise rotation about the positive X (+X) Axis.
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5.2 Footing Geometry
The Footing or mat geometry consists of the footing dimensions in the X and Z directions,
footing thickness and the footing origin offsets. It is entered in the text boxes on the
“Geometry” tab in the left pane.
The footing origin offsets imply the footing origin from the lower left corner of the footing.
The element offsets are given from this footing origin. The footing origin may be placed
anywhere on the mat. It can be the lower left corner of the mat or it can be at the
centerline of the mat or any other location. The element offsets must be entered
appropriately - either positive or negative depending on the location of the footing origin.
When you change the footing origin offset values you must click “Save Footing Geometry” to
save the revised values.
Modifying Mat Geometry
If the mat dimensions exist, the "Modify Mat" tab is enabled. You can modify the geometry
of the existing mat by clicking on the "Modify Mat" tab. You can change the mat dimensions
in the positive and negative X and Z directions by specifying the increase or decrease in the
appropriate direction and with an appropriate sign. If you would like the mat dimension to
be increased in the positive X direction, check "In the positive X-direction by" field and then
enter a positive number whose value equals the increase in the mat X dimension in the
positive direction. For eg if the existing mat X dimension is 30 ft and you would like to
increase the mat dimension to 32 ft by extending the mat dimension in both directions, then
check "In the positive X-direction by" field and enter a value of 1 ft and also check "In the
negative X-direction by" field and enter a value of 1 ft. This will increase the mat X
dimension to 32 ft with its center at 16 ft in the X direction.
You can choose to maintain the element offsets from the existing center of the mat or you
can choose to maintain the element offsets from the new center of the mat after the mat
dimensions have been revised. Select the appropriate option under "Element Offsets" and
then click "Apply" to accept the change. The mat dimensions, the centerline of the mat and
the element offsets are revised accordingly.
Footing Geometry Page 2 of 2
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5.3 Footing (Pile cap) thickness
The footing or pile cap thickness is user specified and hence it is kept constant. It is usually
based on criteria such as pier longitudinal bar development length requirements, pile
embedment etc. The footing or pile cap thickness is specified by clicking the "Geometry" tab
and entering the thickness under "Footing Dimensions". Anytime you attempt to change the
footing thickness, a message is displayed "Min footing thickness recommended is ....
Change footing thickness to recommended value?" if the footing thickness entered is less
than the program calculated value based on the parameters specified in the Options dialog.
If "Yes" is selected, the thickness is changed to the recommended value.
Click "Save Footing Geometry" to accept the footing thickness change.
5.4 Formwork sizes
To customize formwork sizes for piers, click the Formwork Tab under the Options dialog.
Formwork sizes for square/rectangular, octagonal and circular piers may be added, modified
or deleted at the start of a new project.
To add a formwork dimension to the existing values, first select the tab “Rectangular”,
“Octagonal” or “Circular” under which you wish to add the new dimension. Then simply
enter the value you want inserted in the blank field besides the formwork dimensions box.
The “Add” button will be enabled. Click “Add” to add the dimension to the box.
To remove a formwork dimension from the existing values, select the dimension you want
removed by clicking on it. The “Delete ” button is enabled. Click the “Delete” button to
remove the dimension.
You can also add or remove formwork dimensions by saving and loading formwork
templates.
Templates:
You can save formwork dimensions specific to a project so that you can use them later for
Save a Formwork Template:
After making appropriate changes to the formwork dimensions by using the “Add” or
“Delete” buttons as necessary, click the “Save” button under the “Templates” frame of the
Formwork tab. A “Save As” dialog is displayed so that you can enter the filename of the
template in which the formwork dimensions will be saved. Mat3D uses the following path as
the default location to save the templates.
<program directory>\Templates\Formwork\<filename>,
Load a Formwork Template:
To load an existing formwork template into the current project, click the “Load” button
under the “Templates” frame of the Formwork tab. A “Open” dialog is displayed. Choose the
template file that you want loaded and click the OK button. On successful loading of the
template, a message is displayed “Formwork template loaded successfully”.
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such as Notepad or Wordpad. If you wish to make changes to the templates outside the
Excavation Parameters
You can specify the excavation parameters such as the horizontal to vertical slope (denoted
as V and H), the distance beyond the edge of the mat required as working room during the
foundation pour (denoted as A), and the vertical cut (denoted as B) before the excavation
slope needs to be considered. These parameters are used for determining the excavation
quantity to construct a foundation.
5.5 Foundation depth
Foundation depth refers to the depth of the bottom of the foundation below grade. It is
usually set by certain conditions such as frost depth, minimum soil cover etc. above the top
of the footing. When the depth of the footing or pile cap below grade is less than the footing
thickness, the top of the mat is above grade as displayed in the dialog below. Mat3D
automatically assigns a value of zero to the minimum soil cover in this condition.
5.6 POS Elevation
POS elevation refers to the point of support elevation. It may also be referred to as top of
grout elevation (TOG elevation). Generally, top of concrete or top of pier elevation would be
POS elevation - grout thickness.
5.7 Pier/Base Plate/Wall Geometry Input
Mat3D allows you to input loads via pier, base plate or wall type elements. Following is a
general guideline of how these element types may be used:
Pier Element
If you would like Mat3D to design the piers (pedestals) placed above the top of the
mat, use the pier element type. When you select the pier element type, you will
need to input the size of the pier in the X and Z directions, the height of the pier
above grade, the offset of the center of the pier from the footing or mat origin as
well as the minimum reinforcement ratio to be used for the concrete design of the
pier. The pier element type is displayed by a grey color.
Base Plate Element
If you would like Mat3D to only design the mat or the pile cap and not the piers, and
if your load is a concentrated load on the mat, you can use the base plate element.
When you select the base plate element type, you will need to input the size of the
base plate in the X and Z directions, and the offset of the center of the base plate
from the footing or mat origin. The base plate element is displayed by a brick red
color. Mat3D does not design the base plate.
Wall Element
If you would like to input line loads for wall type members, you can choose the wall
element. When you select the wall element, you will need to input the dimensions in
the X and Z direction, its height above grade, and the offset of its center from the
footing or mat origin. When you enter the loads for this type of element, they are
Page 24
assumed to be applied per linear dimension of the wall element. The wall element is
displayed by a green color. Mat3D does not design the wall member.
To enter pier or base plate or wall (also called Element) geometry input, follow the steps
below:
1. Click on the "Pier/Footing Geometry" item in the left pane to display the treeview,
the element list box and the "Geometry" tab. You can also use the "View Geometry"
or "View Element List" toggle commands under the View menu to display the
treeview, the element list box and the "Geometry" tab.
2. Enter the element information in the text boxes displayed under the “Geometry” tab.
Enter a unique element name for every pier, base plate or wall. When you start a
new project, the element name is automatically displayed as “P1”. Select the pier
shape as either a square, rectangular, octagonal or circular type and the base plate
shape as square or rectangular. Enter the element sizes in the X and Z direction, the
height of the element above grade, the offsets of the pier or base plate in the X and
Z direction and the minimum reinforcement ratio in the pier. For a base plate shape,
the height of the element above grade field is disabled and is always set to zero. The
minimum reinforcement ratio field is also disabled for a base plate shape. Element
offsets are always specified from the footing origin in X and Z directions. The footing
origin can be located anywhere on the mat. If the element type is base plate, the
height above grade field and the minimum reinforcement ratio are automatically
disabled. For a wall element, enter the appropriate dimensions, height above grade
and the offsets from the footing origin. The pier on the mat is represented by a grey
color, base plate by a brick red color and a wall element by a green color.
3. Click “Place Element". This will place the element on the mat in the foundation plan
displayed in the right pane. This action will also add the element in the element list
box above. If the element is a pier, it's name is also displayed under the following
items in the treeview in the left pane – Pier Reinforcement, Pier Ultimate loads,
Anchor Bolt Layout and Pier – Plan, Elev and Section. If the element is a base plate,
it's name is also displayed under the Anchor Bolt Layout item in the treeview in the
left pane. If P1 was chosen as the name of the first element, the name text box will
be automatically filled with P2 and the other text fields will be blank ready to receive
the new information about P2. After filling the information, click "Place Element" and
the second element is displayed on the mat in the foundation plan and is added to
the element list box. Continue steps 1 and 2 until you have entered all the elements.
4. If you would like to modify the element geometry, click the "Modify Elements" tab. A
table with all the elements and their geometric properties is displayed. Make the
appropriate changes in the table and click "Apply". The changes in the elements are
displayed on the foundation plan. The second column in the table is the "Shape"
column. You must enter one of the following characters or strings : "S", "R", "O", "C"
for square, rectangular, octagonal and circular pier shapes respectively and "SBP" or
"RBP" for square and rectangular base plates respectively. For a "SBP" and "RBP"
(square or rectangular base plate) elements, even if the height above grade is
specified as non-zero, Mat3D automatically assigns a value of zero on clicking the
"Apply" button. The same is true for the minimum reinforcement ratio.
Note: Double clicking in the name text box clears all the element geometry text boxes. To
change the name of the element, first select the element in the element list box with a left
click. Change the element name in the text box on the geometry tab. Click “Place Element.
A message displays if you want the element modified. Click yes to accept the change.
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Displaying Pier Geometry and Load Information:
To view the element geometry information you have just entered on the foundation plan in
the right pane:
1. Right click on the element whose geometry you want displayed in the foundation
plan in the right pane. This action will highlight the element, activates the selected
element in the element list box in the left pane and displays the element geometry in
the text boxes on the geometry tab.
2. Right click again on the highlighted element. A pop up menu is displayed with the
following items:
o View Dimensions
o View Elem Offset Origin
o View Elem Offset Corner
o View Loads
o View All Load Combs
o View Ult Load Combs
o Remove Element
Left click on any of the items to display appropriate information about the selected
element. The “View Dimension” displays the element dimension in x and z directions
for a square and rectangular pier/base plate, out-to-out dimension of an octagonal
pier and the diameter of a circular pier. The “View Elem Offset Origin” displays the
offset of the selected element from the footing origin. The “View Elem Offset Corner”
displays the offset of the selected element from the lower left corner of the mat. The
“View Loads” displays the applied loads on the selected element in the “Applied
Loads” dialog. The “View All Load Combs” displays the allowable or unfactored load
combinations for the selected element in the “Allowble Load Combinations” dialog.
The “View Ult Load Combs” displays the ultimate or factored load combinations for
the selected element in the “Ultimate Load Combinations” dialog.
You can also display all of the above information by selecting the element in the element list
box in the left pane. First left click on the element whose information you want displayed.
This will highlight the element. Right click on the selected element to display the same pop-
up menu described above. Left click on the appropriate item in the pop-up menu to display
the desired information.
Changing Element Offsets by Drag and Drop
Once an element has been placed, use drag and drop operation to move the element over
the footing.
To drag and drop an element:
• Select the element you want dragged in any one of the above ways – Either a right
click on the element you want dragged in the foundation plan or left click in the
element list box.
• Drag and drop the selected element with the left mouse button.
• The text boxes on the foundation plan indicate the offset value of the centerline of
the element from the footing origin in either direction. Fine tune the offset values by
entering numbers in the text boxes and then double-clicking in any one of the text
boxes to refresh the plan.
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Removing Element
To remove an element already placed on the plan:

• Right click on the element you want removed. This will highlight the element.
• Right click again to display the pop-up menu.
• Left click on “Remove Element". A message displays if you want the selected element
removed.
• Click “Yes” to remove the element.
Alternately, left click on the element you want removed in the element list box. Click
“Remove Element" on the Geometry tab. A message displays if you want the element
removed. Click yes to remove the element.
Element Overlap
A circumscribed circle around an octagon is used to check for interference between

elements
5.8 Factored Loads
Reinforced Concrete design of the pier and the footing is in accordance with ultimate
strength theory. Therefore factored loads are used in determining stresses in concrete. You
can specify any load combination factors for the load cases
5.9 Applied Loads
To enter the loads on the element, the following “Applied Loads” dialog as displayed below
is used. The dialog displays a list box that contains the element name information, a list box
containing the element load case information and a table of load cases.
All loads are assumed to be applied through the centroid of the element in case of a pier
and a base plate element. When you enter the loads in the table for a wall type element,
the header row in the "Applied Loads" dialog displays the unit to be the force per unit length
of the wall element. Therefore you must enter the axial load, the shears and the moments
per linear dimension of the wall. The program determines the longer of the X and Z
dimensions to be the length of the wall and then uses it to determine the total load on the
wall.
Mat3D has the following default load cases built into the dialog as displayed below “Dead”,
“Live”, “Wind” and “Earthquake”. In order that Mat3D calculates the allowable soil bearing
pressures and the allowable pile capacities due to short term loads accurately, the following
strings as load cases may be used.
For load cases containing wind: Wind, WL

For load cases containing Earthquake: Earthquake, EQ, Seismic, Seis
For load cases containing Test: Test
For load cases that do not contain any of the above strings, Mat3D calculates the allowable
soil bearing or allowable pile capacity in compression and tension as the normal value
without applying the allowable increase for short term loads. These strings are also used in
determining the appropriate allowable increase in concrete stress due to beam shear and
punching shear in the footing.
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Add, delete or modify load cases:
Inserta Load Case:

• To insert a load case, click on the row above, which you want, the load case inserted.
• Right click in the table to display a pop-up menu as shown.
• Click “Add load case”. A blank line is inserted above the selected row followed by a
message box requesting the new load case name.
• Enter the load case name and click OK.
• Enter the loads in the empty fields.
Delete a Load Case:
• To delete a load case, click on the row with the load case you want deleted.
• Click “Delete load case”. A message displays “Are you sure you want to delete the
load case <loadcase>?”
• On clicking yes, the selected load case is deleted.
Modify an existing load case:
• To modify an existing load case, click on the row with the load case you want
modified.
• Click “Modify Load case”. An input box displays a message “Enter the new load case
name to replace the existing load case <loadcase>”
• On clicking yes, the selected load case is modified.
After performing any of the action above, the load case list box is updated. Clicking on the
load case displays the load graphic in the box for the selected element.
You can also cut, copy and paste load cases from a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.
Copy loads from a spreadsheet:
• Arrange the numbers in the same order of loads as that displayed in the table, i.e.
axial loads, shear in E-W direction, moment about N-S axis, shear in N-S direction,
moment about E-W axis.
• Perform the standard copy operation as you would in the spreadsheet.
• Click on the cell in the table where you want the contents from the spreadsheet
pasted.
• Right click to display the pop-up menu. Choose “Paste Load Case” to paste the
numbers.
When the foundation you are designing consists of an octagonal pier, an option is displayed
“Use Ultimate stress equation”. By default Mat3D uses the maximum tension caused in the
pier due to overturning moments based on unfactored loads to determine the octagonal pier
longitudinal rebars. However if you choose the option to use the ultimate stress equation,
Mat3D will use the maximum tension caused in the pier due to overturning moments based
on factored loads to determine the octagonal pier longitudinal bars.
You can now save and load templates of load cases and combinations for use on future
projects that would use the same or similar load cases and combinations.
Templates:
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You can save the load information specific to a project so that you can use it later for
Save a Load Template:
After making appropriate changes in the Applied Loads dialog, Allowable strength load
combination dialog and the Ultimate strength load combination dialog, click the “Save”
button under the Templates frame of the Applied Loads dialog. A “Save As” dialog is
displayed so that you can enter the filename of the template in which the load information
will be saved. Mat3D uses the following path as the default location to save the templates.
<program directory>\Templates\Load Cases\<filename>,
Please note that you must click OK to accept the values in the allowable strength load
combination and ultimate strength load combination dialog in order to save the appropriate
load factors in the template.
Load a Load Template:
To load an existing load information template into the current project, click the “Load”
button under the Templates frame of the Applied Pier loads dialog. A “Load template” dialog
is displayed with the load case templates listed in the box to the left. Clicking on any
template in the box displays the load cases, the allowable and ultimate strength load
combinations are displayed in the boxes to the right. This enables you to view the
information in the stored templates before loading it into the current foundation. Select the
template that you wish to load and click “Load”. On successful loading of the template, a
message is displayed “Template loaded successfully”.
Please note that when you load a template into an existing project, the current applied
element loads are replaced with zeros and the current load combination factors are replaced
with the load factors from the template.
Note: There can be situations when all the externally applied loads such as axial, shears and
moments are all zeros for a single pier of a spread footing or for both piers in case of a
combined footing. In such situations, it is imperative that factors for combinations
containing “Dead” loads be non-zero since the program uses these factors to determine the
weights of the pier, soil and footing and use them appropriately in different load
combinations.
5.10 Allowable Load Combinations
For the default load cases mentioned in the section “Applied Loads”, the following default
allowable strength load combinations with a factor of 1.0 are automatically generated:
1. Dead
2. Dead + Live
3. Dead + Live + Wind
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4. Dead + Wind
5. Dead + Live + Earthquake
6. Dead + Earthquake
These allowable strength load combinations are used for soil bearing capacity, and stability
ratio calculations for a soil supported foundation and for pile capacities for a pile supported
foundation.
Adding and Deleting Load Combinations
To add a load combination:
• To add a load combination, click on the row above, which you want, the load
combination inserted.
• Click “Add load combination”. A blank line is inserted above the selected row.
• Enter the load combination factors in the empty fields. Use the Tab key to move from
one column to another when you enter the load combination factors.
To delete a load combination:
• To delete a load combination, click on the row with the load combination you want
deleted.
• Click “Delete load combination”. A message is displayed “Are you sure you want to
delete load combination <loadcombnumber>? On clicking Yes, the selected the load
combination is deleted.
Clicking on the load combination in the list box displays the load combination graphic in the
box for the selected element.
Copy combination factors from a spreadsheet
You can also cut, copy and paste load combination factors from a Microsoft Excel
spreadsheet. To copy combination factors from a spreadsheet,
• Arrange the numbers in the same order as that displayed in the table.
Allowable Load Combinations Page 2 of 2
z Perform the standard copy operation as you would in the spreadsheet.

z Click on the cell in the table where you want the contents from the spreadsheet pasted.
z Right click to display the pop-up menu. Choose “Paste Load Comb” to paste the numbers.
Clicking on “Display Default Load Combinations” will override the saved load combinations and will display the default load combinations.
Viewing total applied loads
If you would like to view the total applied loads at the base of the foundation including the pier weight, soil weight, footing weight as well as the external applied loads for each
unfactored or allowable load combination, click the "All Self Wt" command under the View menu. A dialog with all the applied loads displays.
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5.11 Ultimate Load Combinations
For the default load cases mentioned in the section “Applied Loads”, the following default
Ultimate strength load combinations are automatically generated:
1. 1.4Dead
2. 1.4Dead + 1.7Live
3. 1.05Dead + 1.275Live + 1.275Wind
4. 0.9Dead + 1.3Wind
5. 1.05Dead + 1.275Live + 1.4025Earthquake
6. 0.9Dead + 1.43Earthquake
These ultimate strength load combinations are used for pier and footing design.
Adding and Deleting Load Combinations
Add a load combination:

• To add a load combination, click on the row above, which you want, the load
combination inserted.
• Click “Add load combination”. A blank line is inserted above the selected row.
• Enter the load combination factors in the empty fields. Use the Tab key to move from
one column to another when you enter the load combination factors.
Delete a load combination:
• To delete a load combination, click on the row with the load combination you want
deleted.
• Click “Delete load combination”. A message is displayed “Are you sure you want to
delete load combination <loadcombnumber>? On clicking Yes, the selected the load
combination is deleted.
Clicking on the load combination in the list box displays the load combination graphic in the
box for the selected pier.
You can also cut, copy and paste load combination factors from a Microsoft Excel
spreadsheet.
Copy combination factors from a spreadsheet

• Arrange the numbers in the same order as that displayed in the table.
• Click on the cell in the table where you want the contents from the spreadsheet
pasted.
Ultimate Load Combinations Page 2 of 2
z Right click to display the pop-up menu. Choose “Paste Load Comb” to paste the numbers.
Clicking on “Display Default Load Combinations” will override the saved load combinations and will display the default load combinations.
Viewing total applied loads
If you would like to view the total applied loads at the base of the foundation including the pier weight, soil weight, footing weight as well as the external applied loads for each factored
or ultimate load combination, click the "Ult Self Wt" command under the View menu. A dialog with all the applied loads displays.
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6.0 PIER DESIGN:
6.1 Concrete Clear Cover
Clear cover as indicated in the concrete parameters Tab under the Options dialog box refers
to concrete cover between the edge of pier and outside edge of tie bar.
6.2 Column Design: See Pier design
6.3 Pier/Column/Pedestal Design
The program supports four different pier shapes: square, rectangular, octagonal and
circular. Pier design is based on ultimate strength method. Pier design considers axial load
and biaxial bending.
Assumptions:
a. The pier is assumed to be a cantilever column with appropriate magnification
factors.
b. It is designed for ultimate loads occurring only at the interface with the footing,
i.e. the pier is designed for moment occurring at the base of the pier. If the
maximum moment does not occur at the base of the pier, further investigation may
be necessary in determining the reinforcement requirements.
c. Nominal pier ultimate strength loads satisfy equilibrium equations and linear
compatibility of strains equations.
d. Concrete tensile strength is ignored.
e. A rectangular compressive block is assumed for calculation of ultimate loads.
f. Special requirements as specified by ACI in satisfying seismic code provisions are
not included in the pier design.
g. The program does not consider the effect of anchor bolts on the pedestal design,
i.e. it does not consider the stresses caused in the concrete pier due to placement of
anchor bolts.
h. For details of ultimate load calculations, several research papers were used. They
are as follows:
1. Design criteria for reinforced columns under axial load and biaxial bending –
Boris Bresler
2. Ultimate strength design of rectangular concrete members subject to
Unsymmetrical bending – Tung Au
3. Biaxial eccentricities in ultimate load design – A. Aas-Jacobsen
4. Ultimate limit states of cracked arbitrary concrete sections under axial load
and biaxial bending – Troels Brondum Nielsen
5. Design of members subject to combined bending and tension – E.C. Harris
Ultimate Capacity
The ultimate capacity of the pier is determined using a trial and error solution. For the given
pier shape and size, a rebar layout is assumed. The program then performs a trial and error
solution to determine the location of the neutral axis and then determines the capacity of
the pier based on the eccentricity of the applied loads. The number of bars in each direction
is a function of the ratio of the applied moments. The "Pier Rebar Layout" dialog displays
the number of bars required in each direction. However if you would like to use a different
value of the number of rebars in each direction, you can specify these values and the
program recalculates the new capacity of the pier. The "Remarks" column on the "Pier
Ultimate Loads" dialog displays one or both of the following values:
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NG - implies "Not Good". This remark for a particular load combination indicates that
one or more of the applied loads is greater than the pier ultimate capacity.
NC - implies "Non Convergent". This remark for a particular load combination

indicates that the program was not able to achieve a convergent solution. Please
note that this does not mean that a solution does not exist but the message implies
that the program was not able to find one.
The applied and allowed pier ultimate loads can be viewed in the “Pier Ultimate Loads”
dialog box.
Convergent Solution
If none of the bar sizes between and including the minimum bar size and the maximum bar
size provide a convergent solution in obtaining the ultimate capacities of the pier, a
message is displayed that “a convergent solution could not be achieved for the pier for the
given loads and rebar configuration”. The longitudinal bar sizes are displayed but the
ultimate capacities for the selected bar size and for the ultimate load combination will
display a remark in the "Remarks" column indicating that one or more of the loads axial,
moment about X axis or moment about Z axis for one or more load combinations exceeds
the corresponding ultimate capacity of the pier.
The applied and allowed pier ultimate loads can be viewed in the “Pier Ultimate Loads”
dialog box.
In determining and displaying the pier ultimate capacity, Mat3D uses the following
guidelines:
• An attempt is made to determine the ultimate capacity using axial load and biaxial
bending for each factored or ultimate load combination. If for a specific combination,
a non-convergence is obtained, Foundation3D attempts to determine uniaxial
bending capacity and then uses the "Reciprocal Method" to determine the biaxial
capacity. If a non-convergence is obtained even with uniaxial bending capacity, the
load combination is displayed with a "NC" remark in the "Remarks" column of the
"Pier Ultimate Capacity" dialog.
• Because of the differences in the uniaxial and biaxial bending capacity methods in
determining the ultimate capacity, there may be instances in which for the same
loads applied on the pier, the ultimate capacity for a larger number of bars may be
displayed as inadequate or "NG" when compared to the smaller number of bars.
These instances usually indicate that the convergence for a smaller number of bars
was not achieved and therefore uniaxial bending capacity was determined.
• One or more of the following changes in the pier geometry or rebar configuration
may help in achieving convergence:
a. Changing the pier size
b. Changing the concrete cover in the pier
c. Changing the number of bars in the pier
d. Changing the maximum pier longitudinal rebar size
Note: If the pier size is inadequate in supporting the applied ultimate loads or if a
convergent solution is not obtained, the table showing the ultimate loads in “Pier Ultimate
Loads” will have a remark comment under the Remarks column.
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Tie bars
The tie bar design results are displayed in the Tie Bar dialog when "Display Tie Bars" button
is clicked on the Pier Rebar Layout dialog. This dialog displays various parameters such as
tie bar size, upper and lower closely spaced tie and spacing, the remaining tie spacing and
the shear area required vs provided values for the program computed or selected tie bar
size and spacing.
6.4 Minimum Pier Reinforcement Ratio
Minimum pier reinforcement ratio refers to the ratio of the longitudinal steel area to gross
concrete area. It is usually governed by code requirements. The area of longitudinal steel
provided in a square, rectangular or circular pier always meets or exceeds the minimum pier
reinforcement ratio as set by the user when the pier geometry is entered in Mat3D.
However, for octagonal piers this ratio may not be met. The amount of longitudinal steel in
an octagonal pier as calculated by the program is governed by the maximum tension caused
in the pier due to overturning moments.
When the foundation you are designing consists of an octagonal pier, the “Applied Pier
Loads” dialog displays an option “Use Ultimate stress equation”. By default Mat3D uses the
maximum tension caused in the pier due to overturning moments based on unfactored loads
to determine the octagonal pier longitudinal rebars. However if you choose the option to use
the ultimate stress equation, Mat3D will use the maximum tension caused in the pier due to
overturning moments based on factored loads to determine the octagonal pier longitudinal
bars.
This ratio is only used for pier elements and is ignored for wall elements.
6.5 Pier Information
The pier plan, elevation and section dialog displays the dimensions and rebar details of each
pier. When you click OK the pier anchor bolt dialog, the pier plan, elevation and section
dialog displays.
To capture the image of the plan sketch, click the “Capture Image” button. To paste this
image in Excel or Word, simply use the Paste command or press ctrl+V together to paste
the image in a desired location.
All the piers are listed under Pier – Plan, Elev & Section dialog item in the treeview in the
left pane. Clicking on the pier you want to view the details of will display the pier
information of the selected pier in the right pane.
Pier Information Page 2 of 2
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6.6 Rebar pattern selection
In square and rectangular piers, longitudinal bars are increased in multiples of four starting
with a minimum of four bars. In octagonal pier, bars are increased in multiples of eight
starting with a minimum of eight bars. In circular pier, bars are increased in multiple of four
starting with a minimum of four bars.
The program calculates the rebar arrangement in the pier and the footing.
Pier rebar selection dialog box provides three different choices of rebar size and spacing.
This is useful when one of the choice presents an interference with anchor bolts in which
case an alternate rebar size/spacing option may be selected. Mat3D also gives you the
ability to change the number of bars in the pier. Enter the desired number of rebars in the
Pier Rebar layout dialog. Mat3D automatically updates the other parameters. When you click
OK at the pier rebar layout dialog, the ultimate capacity of the pier for the revised rebar
layout is calculated. To display the program computed values of the number of longitudinal
bars, click “Display Program Values”.
Mat3D also gives you the ability to change the tie bars in the pier. Click “Display Tie Bars”.
A “Tie Bar Configuration” dialog is displayed. The program-computed values of the tie bars
are displayed the first time the dialog is accessed. You can then change the values of the tie
bars by entering the appropriate numbers in the available fields. You can choose the closer
upper ties and spacing, the closer lower ties and spacing and the tie spacing between the
upper closer and lower closer ties. The remaining ties and the total number of ties are
automatically updated with the input in the other fields. The graphical display changes
automatically as you enter the information. To display program computed values of the tie
bars, click “Program Computed Values”.
When you open the “Tie Bar Configuration” dialog, Mat3D automatically assumes at least
two ties - one near the top of the pier and the other close to the top of the footing
regardless of the pier height. If you want only one tie to be used for very short piers, do not
open the tie bar configuration dialog. This forces Mat3D to use only one tie for very short
piers.
6.7 Slenderness ratio limitation
This program considers slenderness ratio of the pier in the analysis/design. However, the
pier must be analyzed for secondary effects if the slenderness ratio exceeds certain code
allowable values and is beyond the scope of this program. If the slenderness ratio of a pier
exceeds the code allowable upper limit of the slenderness ratio of columns designed by the
moment magnification method, the program does not design the foundation and comes
back to the main dialog box displaying the message that the slenderness ratio has exceeded
the upper limit.
7.0 MAT DESIGN:
7.1 Footing Design
Footing or mat design is in accordance with ultimate strength method.

Critical sections for wide beam shear stress and two-way or punching shear stress in a
square/rectangular footing are determined based on ACI Code recommendations.
Assumptions:
a. Concrete tensile strength is ignored for footing design.
b. For load combinations, where the sum of the applied external loads and the
weight of the pier produces tension or uplift, a soil-supported foundation is
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recommended such that the sum of the footing weight and the weight of the soil
above the footing is at least 1.5 times the tension or uplift load.
c. For rectangular footings, reinforcing steel in the short direction is increased to
comply with the ACI code specified center band steel band and hence a uniform
layer of steel is provided.
d. Mat3D does not consider the CRSI Handbook guidelines for determining shear
stresses in the pile cap when the piles are located inside the critical sections d or d/2
from the face of the column as mentioned in ACI 318 –1999, section 15.5.3.
7.2 Allowable Increase
Soil Bearing Pressures:
Due to short-term loads such as wind, earthquake etc. an increase in allowable soil bearing
pressure is usually permitted. A geotechnical engineer generally gives the increased value.
To set increase in allowable soil bearing pressure due to short-term loads, click the Soil Tab
under Options dialog.
Pile Capacities:
Due to short-term loads such as wind, earthquake etc. increase in allowable pile capacities
is usually permitted. Typically, the increase is restricted to pile compression and tension
capacities. A geotechnical engineer generally gives the increased value. To set increase in
allowable pile capacities due to short-term loads, click the Pile Tab under Options dialog.
Concrete Stresses:
Code allowable increase in concrete stresses in computing wide beam shear and two-way or
punching shear stresses in the footing may be input in the Options dialog box.
Note: Do not increase allowable concrete stresses if you multiply the loads by ACI
recommended load multipliers such as 0.75 for short-term loads.
7.3 Beam Shear
The maximum shear dialog displays the actual maximum shear values in the footing for
each ultimate or factored load combination in the X and the Z direction. It also displays the
location along the axes where the maximum shear occurs for each load combination. If the
beam shear for any of the load combination is greater than the code allowable value, the
check box is checked with the label “Exceeds Allowable” in red. The load combination for
which the beam shear exceeds allowable is also highlighted in red.
7.4 Buoyancy
Buoyancy refers to the load condition in which the depth of the water table below grade
plays a significant role in determining bearing pressure on the soil, stability ratio of the
foundation, pile capacities etc. Increase in buoyant forces leads to decrease in applied
bearing pressure on the soil as well as a decrease in the stability ratio of the foundation.
If buoyancy is to be considered in the design, click the “Consider Buoyancy” option under
the “Foundation Parameters” dialog box, and specify the depth of water table below grade.
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The buoyant force is calculated on the weight of the volume displaced by concrete. To
consider the weight of the volume displaced by soil in buoyancy calculations, choose “Yes”
for the option “Consider soil for buoyancy”.
7.5 Development Length
When the footing dimension beyond the pier face (footing extension) is not adequate to
satisfy either the footing rebar development length or the pier longitudinal bar extension in
the footing, an appropriate message is displayed. If the footing extension is inadequate for
the pier longitudinal bar extension, you can do one or more of the following to reduce the
required extension:
a. Choose a smaller pier longitudinal bar size since a smaller bar requires a smaller
extension.
b. Increase the footing dimension in the appropriate direction so that the pier
longitudinal bar extension
requirement is satisfied.
c. Choose an alternate means of satisfying the code required development length.
Note: The program checks for the required footing extension to satisfy the pier longitudinal
bar extension only for spread footings and strip footings.
If the footing extension is inadequate for developing the footing rebar, you can do one or
more of the following:
a. If the required footing extension is not the minimum value as required by the
code, decrease the bar spacing or increase the bar size so that the provided area is
more than the required area. Since the development length is a function of the
excess reinforcement factor, the required development length may reduce as a
result of the increased provided area.
b. Increase the footing dimension in the appropriate direction so that the footing
rebar development length is satisfied.
c. Choose an alternate means of satisfying the code required development length.
7.6 Maximum Moments
The maximum moments in the footing about each axis is displayed in the Maximum
moments dialog. For each ultimate or factored load combination, this dialog also displays
the required steel ratio and the area of steel required by code. The reinforcement level
indicates whether it is bottom steel or top steel.
7.7 Punching Shear
The punching shear dialog displays the actual and allowable punching shear or two-way
shear values for each pier. If the punching shear under any of the piers is greater than the
code allowable value, the check box is checked with the label “Exceeds Allowable” in red.
The pier under which the punching shear exceeds allowable is also highlighted in red.
7.8 Soil Bearing Pressures
Mat3D calculates soil bearing pressures on the basis of service loads and not ultimate loads.
The bearing capacity dialog box shows the results of a soil-supported foundation. It consists
of the actual gross bearing pressure on the soil, allowable gross bearing pressure on the
soil, actual stability ratios in both directions, allowable stability ratio as defined by the user,
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load eccentricities at the bottom of the footing in both directions, unfactored moments at
the bottom of the footing in both directions and factor of safety against sliding in each
direction.
Bearing pressures under the foundation base are calculated by two different methods based
on the user selected option in the Soil Tab of the Options dialog.
• Linear Soil Pressure Method
The linear soil pressure method assumes the soil pressure distribution under the
footing base to be linear in nature.
In general, the soil bearing pressure for square and rectangular footings is
calculated as follows:
Condition I:
Eccentricity e < Footing length or width L/6
Max soil bearing = P/A*(1 + 6*e/L)
Min soil bearing = P/A*(1 – 6*e/L)
Condition II:
Eccentricity e > Footing length or width L/6
Max soil bearing = 2*P/(3*B*(L/2 – e))
Min soil bearing = 0
P = Total axial load on the footing
A = Area of the footing
L = Footing dimension in the direction of soil pressure consideration or overturning
moment
B = Footing dimension perpendicular to the direction of soil pressure consideration
or overturning moment.
For biaxial bending conditions, a trial and error solution is used in obtaining the
maximum bearing pressure under the foundation base by considering various
positions of the neutral axis resulting in different compression lengths along each
orthogonal direction.
• Reduced Effective Area Method
Bearing pressure using this method is based on Meyerhof's theory of bearing

capacity on footings with eccentric or inclined loadings. According to Meyerhof's
theory, effective footing dimensions obtained as
L' = L - 2ex B' = B - 2ey
should be used in bearing capacity analyses to obtain an effective footing area
defined as Af = L'B'
with the center of pressure using a rectangular pressure distribution of q' is the
center of area Af.
For more details on this method, reference may be made to "Foundation Analysis
and Design" by Joseph E. Bowles (Fifth Edition).
When the actual bearing pressure exceeds the allowable gross bearing pressure for one or
more unfactored or allowable load combinations, Mat3Ddisplays a message stating that the
bearing pressure has exceeded. However, it will continue to display the results in the
"Bearing Pressure" dialog. Clicking OK at this dialog will display the message one more time
and prompts if you would like to continue with the design. If Yes is selected, Mat3D will
continue with the footing design.
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Percent Compression Under Base
Mat3D also allows input of what percent of the entire base be in compression in the Soil tab
of the Options dialog. The percent in compression value is used in the Design mode to
determine the foundation dimensions that would provide the required percent of the total
base in compression for each unfactored load combination. To view the percent base in
compression for each load combination, click the "Calculation Report" under the Reports
menu after the foundation design is completed. If one or more unfactored load combinations
do not satisfy the percent base in compression, a message in red displays on the Bearing
Capacity dialog stating "Compression on Base less than selected for one or more
combinations".
7.9 Soil Cover
Soil cover refers to the thickness of soil layer between grade and top of the footing.
Minimum soil cover may be a function of certain parameters such as frost depth,
underground piping layout requirements etc. For top of footings below grade, a minimum
soil cover value can be specified. For top of footing above grade, Mat3D automatically sets
the soil cover to zero.
7.10 Stability Ratio
Stability ratio is defined as the ratio of total resisting moment to total overturning moment.
Its value is based on service or unfactored loads. A minimum value of 1.5 is usually
recommended for any load condition. To set these ratios, click the Soil Tab under Options
Menu.
7.11 Temperature and shrinkage steel
Temperature and shrinkage steel refers to the amount of reinforcing steel to be provided in
the footing due to temperature change effects and concrete shrinkage effects. If reinforcing
steel amount as determined by stress, spacing and development length requirements in the
footing do not exceed that due to temperature and shrinkage effects, then temperature and
shrinkage steel is provided in the footing in the bottom layer.
7.12 Footing Reinforcement
The program calculates the footing reinforcement based on a number of criteria such as
minimum temperature and shrinkage steel requirements per code recommendations,
moments in the footing and other code requirements. These are presented in the “Footing
rebars” dialog box.
Soil Supported
For a soil supported mat foundation, the reinforcement is calculated based on the maximum
soil pressures under the foundation in each direction using factored loads.
Pile Supported
For a pile supported mat foundation, the reinforcement is calculated based on the pile
reactions contributed in accordance with the Code requirements in each direction using
factored loads.
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The temperature and shrinkage steel is provided in the bottom layer only. Top layer is not
considered for placing the temperature and shrinkage steel.
You can view or restore program-computed values of rebar options by clicking on “Restore
Program Computed Values” button. You can change rebar size and spacing by clicking on
“Change Rebar Config” button. The other parameters such as total number of rebars and
area provided will change accordingly.
When the program computed footing rebar configuration differs from the user specified
rebar configuration by a certain margin, a message is displayed in the upper right hand
corner of the footing rebar layout dialog stating that the "Area provided and area required
different" in red. This message helps you identify the change in footing rebar configuration
as a result of the change in input.
Note: When you open a previously saved file, the rebar options shown are the ones that
were saved by clicking OK on this dialog box. If there have been any changes made to the
program input in the current run resulting in different rebar options, they will not be
reflected in these options. To view the effect on rebar options as a result of those input
changes, click on “Restore Program Computed Values” button.
7.13 Foundation Plan Sketch
The foundation plan sketch displays the mat foundation with the footing dimensions in the X
and the Z direction and all the piers with their offsets from the centerline of the footing. The
piers also display the anchor bolt layout. To view more detail about each pier such as the
rebar arrangement, see Pier Information.
7.14 Foundation Plan/Elevation sketch
To view or print foundation plan or elevation sketches of an existing project without running
the project through Mat3D, click on “View Plan/El Sketch” listed in the list box in the
toolbar. The foundation plan displays in the right pane. Click OK on the Plan sketch dialog
and the Elevation section dialog displays. Click OK on the Elevation section dialog to display
the elevation sketches. For more information on selection of elevation sections, see
Elevation Sections.
7.15 Pier/Footing Elevation Sections
When you click OK on the Elevation Sections dialog, the sections you have selected are
displayed in the right pane. These sections display the pier and the footing rebar
arrangement. The sections are listed in the treeview in the left pane. Clicking on them will
display the appropriate section in the right pane.
7.16 Pier, Soil and Mat Weights
Mat3D calculates the pier, soil and footing weights and adds them where required to the
total external load applied via pedestal or base plate for pier and footing design. These
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weights are calculated for each unfactored or allowable and factored or ultimate load
combination.
To view these weights, click on the "View" command in the main menu bar and then click on
the appropriate command in the sub-menu to view the self-weights for allowable or ultimate
load combinations. Click "All Self Wts" in the sub-menu to view the self- weights for each
allowable load combination. Click "Ult Self Wts" in the sub-menu to view the self-weights for
each ultimate load combination.
These self weights are also displayed in the HTML report.
8.0 PILE FOUNDATION:
8.1 Pile Analysis
When the following “Pile Analysis – Layout Plan” dialog displays, you can do either of the
following:
1. Choose one of the appropriate pile patterns – triangular, or rectangular by clicking

on the option button. For a rectangular pile pattern, enter the number of piles in
both directions. Click on “Generate Pile Pattern” button. The program generates
maximum number of piles based on pile parameters such as edge distance,
minimum pile spacing, and others as specified in the Options dialog. To accept the
generated piles pattern and analyze the pile foundation click OK. To modify the
generated pile pattern, right click in the pile coordinate table. A pop-up menu is
displayed as shown. You can now do any one of the following actions - insert, delete
or edit the pile coordinates. You can do one action at a time. To undo the last action,
click undo. A copy and paste operation can also be performed in the table.
2. Choose one of the appropriate pile patterns – triangular, or rectangular by clicking
on the option button. For a rectangular pile pattern, enter the number of piles in
both directions. Enter the pile coordinates individually in the pile coordinate table by
selecting “Insert” button in the pop-up menu.
Mat3D supports unsymmetrical pile pattern. Therefore you can choose any pile pattern by
first generating a symmetrical pile pattern and then modifying the pattern by inserting,
editing or deleting the piles.
8.2 Pile Capacities
Mat3D calculates pile capacities on the basis of service loads and not ultimate loads.
The axial compression/tension pile reaction is calculated as follows:

Max pile reaction Prmax = P/N + Mc/I
Min pile reaction Prmin = P/N – Mc/I
P = Total axial load
N = Total number of piles
M = Overturning moment at the base of the pile cap
C = Distance from the center of gravity of the pile group to the pile under
consideration
I = Moment of inertia of the pile group
The eccentricity of the applied loads with respect to the pile group centroid is considered in
determining the pile reactions.
The pile capacities can be viewed in the “Pile Capacities” dialog box.
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Pile capacities in the "Pile Capacities" dialog are listed with reference to three criteria:
Maximum Load by Load Combination
When this button is clicked, the table displays the following:

For each unfactored combination with and without buoyancy, the table displays
the maximum compressive load on the pile, the allowed compressive load, the pile
that experiences this maximum compressive load, the maximum uplift or tensile
load on the pile, the allowed uplift load and the pile that experiences this maximum
uplift load, the shear load on the pile and the allowed shear load for that
combination. All piles are assumed to resist the shear equally.
The table also displays the maximum pile compression load, maximum pile uplift
load and maximum pile shear load among all combinations in bold font and in
different colors. These maximum loads on the piles for combinations without
buoyancy are displayed in blue color and for combinations with buoyancy are
displayed in magenta color.
The results displayed in this dialog are also printed in the reports.
Maximum Load by Pile
When this button is clicked, the table displays the maximum compression, tension
and shear loads on each pile along with the combination that generates these
maximum values on the pile. The pile coordinates from the center of the pile cap
are also listed.
The results displayed in this dialog are also printed in the reports.
Pile Load for each Load Combination
For each load combination, the pile reactions in compression, tension and shear are
listed for each pile.
The results displayed in this dialog are not printed in the reports. However, to print
the results in Excel, follow the steps below:
• Click the button "Pile Load For Each Load Combination"
• Click the "Print" button to display the results in Excel
If the piles are inadequate in resisting the applied compressive, uplift or shear loads, the
inadequacy is displayed in a number of ways:
a. The "Remarks" column indicates that pile capacity is exceeded.
b. The load values in the appropriate rows are displayed in red.
c. The check box next to the "Exceeds Allowable" label is checked and the label is displayed
in red.
8.3 Pile Location Plan
For a pile-supported foundation, Mat3D displays a sketch of the pile location plan. The pile
location plan displays the pile layout with compression and tension piles as shown in the
legend.
8.4 Pile Patterns

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Mat3D considers triangular, square and rectangular pile patterns. You can choose the pile
pattern by clicking the appropriate button on the Pile location dialog. Clicking on the
rectangular pile pattern displays the maximum number of piles that can be placed in the
specified footing based on the edge distance and pile spacing criteria.
Note: A symmetrical pile pattern for uplift piles is generated if some of the piles are in
tension or uplift. The symmetry is based on assuming loads acting in orthogonal directions.
If there is a possibility of the loads acting in non-orthogonal directions, then further
investigation may be necessary in determining the piles in uplift.
9.0 PRINTING:
Elevation Sections Page 1 of 2
9.1 Elevation Sections
With Mat3D you can create sections through piers or base plates and the footing on the fly. You can choose the piers or base plates you want included in the sections. Therefore you
can view straight and staggered sections. These sections are used to draw the elevation sketches and draw the sections in the Cad engine such as Autocad, and Microstation.
When you click Ok on the plan sketch dialog, the elevation sections dialog displays.
The dialog displays the Section Axis: X or Z, the left element list box and the right element list box.
The left list box lists all the element either individually or in conjunction with other element that fall along the same centerline along the selected axis. Each line in the left element list box
indicates a section with the indicated element. To add any of the displayed sections in the left element list box:
z Left click on the section you want included in the drawing of sketches and in the cad engine.
z Click Add. This action will add the section to the right element list box.
To remove a section from the right element list box, left click the section you want removed. Then click Remove. This action will remove the section from drawing and will be displayed
in the left element list box.
Add Custom Sections
To enter your own custom sections, click on “Add Custom Section” in the Elevation Sections dialog above. The “Custom Section” dialog displays.
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Elevation Sections Page 2 of 2
This dialog is similar to the Elevation sections dialog displayed above except that each element is listed individually in the left list box. To create your own section about each axis:
z Simply select the element in the left list box you want added to your custom section
z Click Add. This action will add the element to the right list box.
z When you are done entering the elements you want included in your custom section, click “Add Section”. The Custom section dialog closes and the Elevation Sections dialog
displays.
z Your custom section is added to the right element list box in the Elevation sections dialog.
When you save the project, these sections will be saved just the way you entered them. Therefore, when you open your project, you can view these sections without running the project.
To view the elevation sections you have saved without running the project,
z Click “View Plan/El Sketch” in the list box in the toolbar. The foundation plan sketch displays.
z Click OK on the plan sketch dialog. The Elevation Sections dialog displays.
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9.2 Printing Individual dialogs
You can print individual dialogs, by clicking on the “Print” button of that dialog.
9.3 Printing Reports
There are two ways in which a report can be printed.

1. Click Analysis/Design Report under Reports Menu.
2. Click Print Set Up or Print button under File Menu.
9.4 Reports
Mat3D allows you to generate a variety of foundation design reports. They are:
1. Summary Report
2. Detail Report
3. Selective Report
4. Report in Excel
5. Html Report
6. Calculation Report
Analysis and Design reports may be produced which provide the necessary input and output
data.
Summary Report - Concise Hard Copy Report

Summary report consists of the following:
1. Pile location plan sketch for pile-supported foundations.
2. Foundation plan and elevation sketches.
Detail Report - Detail Hard Copy Report
Detail report consists of the following:

1. All user input
2. Applied and allowable bearing capacities of soil, stability ratios of the
foundation in two directions, load eccentricities at the bottom of the footing in
both directions and moments at the bottom of the footing in both directions.
3. Pier and footing design dimensions and their rebar requirements.
4. Applied and allowable ultimate axial loads and biaxial moments on pier for
various load combinations.
5. For pile supported foundation, applied and allowable pile capacities of each
pile.
6. A pile layout sketch showing the number of piles, pile spacing, pile edge
distances, and pile legend.
7. A Foundation plan showing the pier layout with their offsets on the mat.
8. Elevation sketches showing the rebar requirements in the pier and the
footing.
9. Material quantity reports showing required materials of construction such as
concrete, reinforcing steel, and formwork, and excavation quantity.
Selective Report - Selective Hard Copy Report
Selective report enables you to select or choose what you want printed in the report
by selecting various printing options in a dialog.
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Report in Microsoft Excel
Analysis/Design report in Excel generates the following in Microsoft Excel:
Summary Sheet:
A concise report of the important parameters in Microsoft Excel including some of

the sketches generated in Mat3D. The worksheet is named "Summary" and is the
first worksheet in the workbook.
Detail Sheet:
A detailed report of the completed foundation design including some of the sketches.
The worksheet is named "Detail" and is the second worksheet in the workbook. If
you would like to add additional design sketches from Mat3D included in the Excel
report, you can use the "Capture Image" command on the dialog containing the
sketch and then paste the image into the desired location in the Excel worksheet.
You can choose to print either "Summary" or "Detail" worksheet or both worksheets
by using the standard Excel print commands. You can also customize the report in
Excel according to your company or client needs within Excel.
Html Report
The Html report is a detail report generated within the application window enabling
you to view the input and the results of a completed design quickly on the screen
prior to printing the report.
Calculation Report
The calculation report lists some of the intermediate results of a completed foundation
design. This report is only available when the foundation design is being completed in and is
not saved with the input file. Therefore to view the report, "Run" must be clicked and
appropriate steps must be completed to view the entire report.
For a soil supported foundation, the report lists intermediate values such as the minimum
bearing pressure at the base of the foundation, the X direction compression length, the Z
direction compression length, the area of the foundation base in compression, and the
percentage of the total foundation area in compression.
For pile supported foundation, if the piles fail in punching shear, the same message about
the particular piles failing in punching shear as displayed on screen is displayed in the
report.
If a message regarding the inadequacy of the rebar development lengths in pier and/or
footing is displayed on screen, the same message is also displayed in the report. In order
that this message is displayed in the report, OK must be clicked on the Footing rebar dialog
to view development length messages related to the footing rebar design and OK must be
clicked on the Pier rebar layout dialog to view development length messages related to the
pier design.
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10.0 PLOTTING:
10.1 Plot File
To save a completed foundation design from Mat3D into a plot file to be used by a drafting
technician or designer in your company at a later time, choose “Save Plot File” under the
File menu of Mat3D. For details on how your company’s drafting technician can create
construction drawings instead of engineers, refer to Plot Utility.
10.2 Plot Utility
If your organization has drafting technicians or designers who usually handle the
construction drawing creation or drafting or 3D modeling of the foundations, the plotting
utility M3DPLOTUTIL included with Mat3D could significantly help in adhering to your
company’s work flow while allowing you to automate the modeling and/or drawing
production process.
M3DPLOTUTIL can be installed on your technician’s or designers workstation. It is a stand-

alone plotting utility that has its interface very similar to the Mat3D plotting interface.
To generate a 3D model of the completed foundation design in AutoCAD or Frameworks
Plus (using ACE Frameworks Utilities), or to create 2D construction drawings in popular CAD
engines, please follow the steps below:
1. Complete foundation analysis/design in Mat3D.

2. Save the design to a plot file using the "Save Plot File" command under the "File" menu
of Mat3D. A plot file with .mdp extension is created in the specified directory.
3. Open Mat3D Plot Utility on a technician's or designer's machine.
4. Open the plot file saved in step 2 above. A message displays "File loaded successfully" if
the import is successful.
5. Select the appropriate icon in the toolbar to generate 3D model or 2D drawings.
6. Click OK at the appropriate dialog to start the modeling or drawing process
Plot Dialog Box Page 1 of 3
10.3 Plot Dialog Box
The Plot dialog box shown below forms the interface between Mat3D and the CAD engine. The required values in the fields shown below depend on the type of drawing format desired.
You can choose from two different formats to create a construction drawing. They are:
z AutoCAD (version AutoCAD 2000 or higher)

z Microstation (version Microstation SE and Microstation J)
In order to view the construction drawing in the CAD engine that you select, you must have that CAD software installed on your machine. For e.g. if you choose AutoCAD as your CAD
engine in the Drawing File Format list box, in order to view the construction drawing in AutoCAD 2000, you must have AutoCAD 2000 installed on your machine.
When you select Microstation or AutoCAD as your CAD engine in the Drawing File Format list box, a Draw list box displays to its right with two different options; Foundation Plan and
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Pile Location Plan. You can choose to create a construction drawing of the Foundation Plan
or Pile Location Plan.
Foundation Plan:
The Foundation Plan drawing in all the CAD engines consist of the foundation plan, an
elevation section through the piers and the footing displaying all the necessary details,
sections through the piers displaying the longitudinal bars and the main tie bar around the
longitudinal bars. The inner tie bars in the pier are not displayed since these are
organization dependent.
Pile Location Plan:
The Pile location plan drawing consists of the pile layout indicated with compression and
tension piles, a pile coordinate table listing the x and z coordinates of the piles and the pile
type of compression or tension, and a legend describing the compression, tension pile
display.
Plot Size:
AutoCAD & Microstation: Select the desired plot size to display the foundation plan drawing.
Recommended Scale Factor:
AutoCAD & Microstation: For the selected plot size, the plan and elevation dimensions of the
foundation, a recommended scale factor is displayed. This scale factor is based on the
assumption that the foundation plan and the elevations will be drawn on the same drawing.
Used Scale Factor:
AutoCAD & Microstation: Choose a scale factor that you want the foundation plan to be
displayed at. The plan view in the construction drawing will be drawn to a scale of 1”=1’ in
Microstation and to a scale of 1” = 1” in AutoCAD. However the text sizes, cell sizes will be
appropriately scaled according to the scale factor you specify here. When you plot the
drawing created with this scale factor, the plan view will scale to the scale factor. For e.g. if
you choose a scale factor of 3/8” = 1’, the foundation plan in Microstation will be created at
a 1” = 1’ scale, the text sizes and the cells used will scale up to a size = 8/3 = 2.667 and
displayed on the plan view and when you plot this drawing, the plan will scale to 3/8” = 1’
scale.
Cell Library:
AutoCAD: This feature is not currently available in AutoCAD.

Microstation: Choose the cell library that you want to use for displaying the cells from it in
your foundation plan and pile location plan. You can select the location of the cell library by
clicking the button to its right displayed with …
Border Sheet Cell:
AutoCAD & Microstation: This field is not used since the user is expected to attach the
border or title sheet manually.
North Arrow Cell:
AutoCAD & Microstation: This field is not used since the user specifies the North arrow cell
in the Drawing Settings dialog.
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Seed File:
AutoCAD: Not applicable.

Microstation: Specify the seed file you want used in creating the construction drawings.
Please specify the appropriate seed file for generating the drawings in specific system of
units. In other words, specify a seed file using English units to create a construction drawing
in English units and specify a seed file with Metric units to create a construction drawing in
Metric units.
Save Drawing File As:
AutoCAD: The default file type displayed when you choose AutoCAD is .dwg. The drawing
file displayed in AutoCAD 2000 is not saved automatically according to the file name you
specify here. You can save the drawing from within AutoCAD.
Microstation: The default file name displayed when you choose Microstation is
Drawing1.dgn. If you do not specify a path, the drawing “Drawing1.dgn” created in
Microstation is saved in the root directory of Microstation. If you specify the full path name
and the file name, Microstation will save the file in the specified location.
Notes:
Enter the drawing notes you want displayed in the drawing. To go to the next line while
entering notes in the “Notes” box, press “Ctrl + Enter” key together. Just pressing the Enter
key will start the drawing creation in your CAD program.
Save Defaults:
To save the fields you have entered here as your defaults, click the “Save Defaults” button
below. When you create a new construction drawing, the text boxes in the Plot Drawing
dialog will be automatically filled with the default values you saved earlier.
Advanced:
To specify advanced settings for drawing creating such as text sizes, fonts, line styles, line
weights, levels or layers on which to place elements of the drawing, click the Advanced
button. For detailed explanation of the drawing settings, see individual CAD interfaces or
refer to Advanced Drawing Settings
11.0 CAD INTERFACE:
11.1 CAD Interface General
Mat3D interfaces directly with Autocad, and Microstation to create a construction drawing.
To create a construction drawing, click the Plot button under the File Menu. The Plot dialog
box displays. Clicking OK on the Plot dialog displays a completed construction drawing in the
CAD engine you have chosen.
Advanced Drawing Settings Page 1 of 6
11.2 Advanced Drawing Settings
When you click the “Advanced” button on the Plot Drawing dialog, the “Drawing Settings” dialog displays.
Setting Drawing parameters
You can choose drawing parameters such as text fonts, text heights, text widths, line styles, line weights, etc. in the Drawing Settings dialog. This will enable you to customize the
drawing creating according to your company standards.
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Setting Text Parameters:
To set text parameters, click the Text Tab.
Drawing Text:
AutoCAD: Set the text font you want used in the drawing for all the text other than
the dimension text and the title or label text by clicking the button displayed to the
right with … A list of supported fonts is displayed. Select the font from the list. Enter
the text height and the text width that you would want to use if the drawing were
created at a 1:1 scale. The CAD interface uses this text height and text width to
scale the text size up or down according to the scale factor you chose in the Plot
Drawing dialog.
Microstation: Set the text font you want used in the drawing for all the text other
than the dimension text and the title or label text by choosing from the font numbers
displayed in the list box. Enter the text height and the text width that you would
want to use if the drawing were created at a 1:1 scale. The CAD interface uses this
text height and text width to scale the text size up or down according to the scale
factor you chose in the Plot Drawing dialog.
The text height and width must be specified in the appropriate units. For e.g. if you
are creating a construction drawing in English units and you want to use a text size
of 1/8” = 1’ then specify the text height and width = 0.125. If you are creating a
construction drawing in Metric units and you want to use an equivalent text size
corresponding to 1/8” = 1’ then specify the text height and width = 0.125*25.4 = 3
mm (approx.).
Dimension Text:
Choose or select the text you want to use for the dimensions used on the drawing.
The text parameters entered here will be used for all the dimensions on the drawing.
Label Text:
Choose or select the text you want to use for the labels or titles used on the
drawing. The text parameters entered here will be used for all the labels or titles on
the drawing. For e.g. if the label or title under the foundation plan is “PLAN” then
enter the text parameters you want used to display the label “PLAN”. The text height
and width of the label text is usually larger than the Drawing or Dimension Text size.
Setting Drawing Line Parameters:
To set drawing line parameters, click the Drawing Lines Tab.
Plan Lines:
Outline Style: This line style is used to draw the outlines of the plan view (pier and
footing outlines) in the Foundation Plan and the outlines of the plan view (footing
outlines) in the Pile Location Plan.
Outline Weight: This line weight is used to display the outlines of the plan views in
the Foundation Plan and the Pile Location Plan. Usually the outline weight is
displayed heavier than other line weights in the Plan view in order to emphasize the
piers and the footing.
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C.L. Style: This line style is used to draw the centerlines of the piers and the footing
in the plan view of the Foundation Plan and Pile Location Plan.
C.L. Weight: This line weight is used to display the centerlines of the piers and the
footing in the plan view of the Foundation Plan and Pile Location Plan. The centerline
weight is smaller or lighter than the outline weight.
Elevation Lines:
Outline Style: This line style is used to draw the outlines of the elevation section
(pier and footing outlines) in the Foundation Plan.
Outline Weight: This line weight is used to display the outlines of the elevation
sections in the Foundation Plan.
Rebar Style: This line style is used to draw the rebars in the elevation section of the
Foundation Plan. The elevation section displays the longitudinal rebars and tie bars
in the pier and longitudinal and transverse rebars in the footing.
Rebar Weight: This line weight is used to display the rebars in the elevation section
of the Foundation Plan. Since an elevation section emphasizes the rebar layout in the
pier and the footing, usually the rebar line weight is heavier than the outline weight.
Section Lines:
Outline Style: This line style is used to draw the outlines of the pier section in the
Foundation Plan. The pier section refers to the section through the pier(s) in the
elevation section looking down.
Outline Weight: This line weight is used to display the outlines of the pier section in
the Foundation Plan.
Rebar Style: This line style is used to draw the rebars in the pier section of the
Foundation Plan.
Rebar Weight: This line weight is used to display the longitudinal and pier rebars in
the pier section of the Foundation Plan. Since a pier section emphasizes the rebar
layout in the pier, usually the rebar line weight is heavier than the outline weight.
Setting Dimension Line Parameters:
To set dimension line parameters, click the Dimension Lines Tab.
Plan Dimension Lines:
Dim Line Style: This line style is used to draw the dimension lines in the plan view
(pier and footing dimension, pier offsets, anchor bolt spacing dimensions etc.) in the
Foundation Plan and the dimension lines in the plan view (footing dimensions, pile
spacing, pile edge distance etc.) in the Pile Location Plan.
Dim Line Weight: This line weight is used to display the dimension lines in the plan
views in the Foundation Plan and the Pile Location Plan.
Elevation Dimension Lines:
Dim Line Style: This line style is used to draw the dimension lines in the elevation
view (pier height, footing thickness etc.) in the Foundation Plan.
Dim Line Weight: This line weight is used to display the dimension lines in the
elevation view in the Foundation Plan.
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Arrowhead:
The arrowhead refers to the arrows or terminators at the end of dimension lines.
Style:
AutoCAD: Select from one of the options in the list box – Closed Filled, Closed Blank
or Closed.
Microstation: Select from one of the options in the list box – Open, Closed or Filled.
Height: Enter the out to out dimension of the arrowhead in the y direction. This
option is used only for AutoCAD. For Microstation, the height and width of the cell
are defined in the cells.
Width: Enter the out to out dimension of the arrowhead in the x direction for
AutoCAD only.
Setting Layers or Levels:
AutoCAD: Choose or select the layers on which different elements of the drawing are
to be placed.
Microstation: Choose or select the levels on which different elements of the drawing
are to be placed.
Setting Colors:
AutoCAD & Microstation: Choose or select the colors you want used for different
elements of the drawing.
Setting Cell Parameters:
AutoCAD: The cell parameters cannot be specified for AutoCAD drawing

Microstation:
To display your company specific cells in foundation plan, elevation and section
views:
o Click the “General Cells” Tab.
o Enter the cell names from your company cell library for the following:
Anchor bolt or Rebar – Mat3D uses the same cell for displaying anchor bolts
in the foundation plan and the rebars in the elevation and section views. This
is to produce consistency in drawing presentation.
Dimension line terminator – The dimension line terminator or arrowhead cell.
North Arrow – The north arrow cell to be placed on the drawing.
Plan Label – The label or title of the text cell to be displayed below the
Foundation Plan.
Elevation Label - The label or title of the text cell to be displayed below the
Elevation view.
o Enter the cell height and width of all the cells mentioned above. The cell
height is the out to out vertical dimension of the cell when created at 1”=1’
scale. The cell width is the out to out horizontal dimension of the cell when
created at a 1”=1’ scale.
o Enter the Xscale and Yscale of the cells mentioned above to scale the cell size
up or down. The default Xscale and Yscale of the cells are the inverse of the
plan scale specified on the Plot Drawing dialog.
o Click the “Section Cells” tab.
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o Enter the cell names from your company cell library for the following elevation
and section view cells:
Left section down - The section mark cell looking down placed on the left side
of the elevation section.
Right section down - The section mark cell looking down placed on the right
side of the elevation section.
Section Label - The label or title of the text cell to be displayed below the
Foundation Elevation sections.
Setting Scale Factors for Elevation and Section Views:
Click the “Scale Factors” tab.

To display the elevation and section views at the same scale as the plan view
Check the box that displays “Use Same Scale For Entire Drawing”
To display the elevation and section views at a scale different than the one used for
the foundation plan,
Select the scale factor from the drop down list for the elevation and section views.
Save Settings
To save these settings for new drawings, click “Save Settings”. For subsequent new
drawings, the settings saved will be displayed in the Drawing Settings dialog.
Override Cell X, Y Scales

Microstation: For a new project, the cell X and Y scales is the inverse of the plan
scale factor specified in the “Plot Drawing” dialog. For e.g. if you specify a scale
factor of 3/8” = 1’ in the “Plot Drawing” dialog and then click the “Advanced” button,
the cell X and Y scales will display a value of 8/3 = 2.667. If you change these
values manually to say 3.00, click OK and save the file the manually entered values
will be displayed next time when you open the file. If you now change the plan scale
factor to 1/2” = 1’, and you want to change the cell X and Y scale values to 2 instead
of 3 as is displayed, click the “Override Cell X, Y Scales” button. This action will
change all the cells X and Y values to 2.
Templates:
You can save the drawing settings information specific to a project so that you can use it
later for foundation design on the same or a similar project by using templates. You must
have at least Internet Explorer 5.01 with service pack 1 installed in order to load or save
templates.
Save a drawing settings Template:
After making appropriate changes in the drawing settings dialog, click the “Save” button
under the Templates frame. A “Save As” dialog is displayed so that you can enter the
filename of the template in which the Options information will be saved. Mat3D uses the
following path as the default location to save the templates.
<program directory>\Templates\Drawingsettings\<filename>,
Load a drawing settings Template:
To load an existing drawing settings information template into the current project, click the
“Load” button under the Templates frame. A “Open” dialog is displayed. Choose the
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template file that you want loaded and click the OK button. On successful loading of the
template, a message is displayed “Template loaded successfully”.
such as Notepad or Wordpad. If you wish to make changes to the templates outside the
11.3 AutoCAD Interface
The Mat3D-Autocad interface uses AutoCAD 2000 or higher to create construction drawings.
To view a construction drawing created in AutoCAD, choose “AutoCAD” on the plot dialog.
To set AutoCAD settings such as text size, drawing layers, colors etc., click the “Advanced”
button on plot dialog. The “Drawing Settings” dialog displays.
For detailed explanation of the drawing settings, refer to Advanced Drawing Settings
Choose/Enter/Select your company specific drawing settings and click “Save Settings”.
These settings will be the default settings used for all subsequent drawings.
Click Ok on the Drawing Settings dialog. Click OK on the Plot dialog. This will initiate the
construction drawing creation in AutoCAD. A completed construction drawing is displayed in
AutoCAD.
11.4 Microstation Interface
For a direct interface with Microstation, choose the drawing format in the Plot dialog box as
“Microstation”. Choose the scale factor you wish to plot the drawing at. Specify the location
of the cell library. If the cell library is not specified or is non-existent, the cells specified in
the Drawing Settings dialog box will not be used. The border sheet cell and north arrow cell
is not used. The north arrow cell is specified in the Drawing Settings dialog. Since the
border sheet or title sheet is usually attached as a reference file, you can attach your
company’s border or title sheet by referencing it. If the file name is not specified in “Save
drawing file as…” text field, the drawing file is created under the base microstation
directory. For e.g. if your Microstation root directory is C:\ustation then the drawing is
created under that root directory. It is important to enter a proper filename in that field or
else Microstation will crash. If a drawing with the same file name as that specified in that
text box exists, it will be overwritten with the new drawing without a message or warning.
To display and use advance settings for construction drawing creation, refer to Advanced
Drawing Settings
12.0 INTERFACES:
12.1 Vantage PDMS Interface
If you would like to complete the foundation designs of structures whose foundations have
been modeled in Vantage PDMS (Plant Design Management System) from Cadcentre, you
can do so by importing files created in PDMS into Mat3D. If you want to generate foundation
models in PDMS of the foundation designs completed in Mat3D, you can do so by exporting
the files from Mat3D. Mat3D-PDMS is a two-way interface that enables you to complete
foundation designs in Mat3D and generate the models in PDMS. In order to use the
interface, you must have at least Internet Explorer 5.01 service pack 1 or higher installed
on your machine.
Importing from PDMS to Mat3D
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If a foundation model has been generated in PDMS, you can import the foundation
geometry from PDMS into Mat3D to complete the foundation design. Refer to the help in
PDMS-Dimensional Solutions interface in PDMS to generate the files required by Mat3D.
In Mat3D,
• Open a new project by clicking File New
• Choose File, Import, Vantage PDMS
• An “Open” dialog is displayed. Select the PDMS file that you want imported into
Mat3D and click OK
• On successful import, a message displays “Interface file loaded successfully.”
• Choose or enter the appropriate parameters in the Options dialog.
• The “Footing Parameters” dialog displays the information imported from PDMS. Fill in
the required information such as the minimum soil cover and click OK.
• The “Applied Pier Loads” dialog is displayed. Enter the load cases and the loads for
all piers on the mat to continue with foundation design.
• Follow the steps you would normally follow to complete the design
•
Exporting from Mat3D to PDMS
From Mat3D,
• Complete the foundation design as desired. You will have to “Run” the foundation
design project if you open an existing project to export to PDMS
• Choose File, Export, Vantage PDMS
• A “Foundation Coordinates” dialog is displayed
• Enter the X, Y and Z coordinates at the top of the centerline of the footing. These
coordinates are used in placing the foundation model within PDMS. Click OK
• A “Save As” dialog is displayed. Enter the filename of the file that will be imported
into PDMS
• In PDMS, import the file saved in the above step. For instructions refer to the help in
PDMS-Dimensional Solutions interface in PDMS
Benefits
Data interchange/Integration between PDMS and Mat3D (two way process) provides
significant benefits such as:
• Provides the user with an integrated foundation analysis/design and modeling tool
• Interface with other third-party engineering applications provides further integrated
solution
• Provides intelligent information to the user such as material quantities of foundations
in the model instead of just envelopes for interference detection
12.2 CAD Interface General
Mat3D interfaces directly with Autocad, and Microstation to create a construction drawing.
To create a construction drawing, click the Plot button under the File Menu. The Plot dialog
box displays. Clicking OK on the Plot dialog displays a completed construction drawing in the
CAD engine you have chosen.
12.3 ACE Frameworks Utility Interface
To generate 3D models of foundations in Intergraph's Frameworks PDS takes just a few

mouse clicks. Through an interface with ACE Frameworks Utility, you can now generate 3D
models of foundations consisting of pedestals, footings and piles in Frameworks.
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If you have completed the foundation design in Mat3D, and would like to generate 3D
models of that foundation in Intergraph's Frameworks, you can use the File --> Export -->
Ace Frameworks Utilities sub menu. When you click this sub menu, a dialog displaying the
some of the required information such as the foundation coordinates, pile length, pier and
footing class and grade is displayed. After this information is entered, click OK to display a
file save as dialog. Entering the file name generates a file with a .FDN extension. This file
contains the information required by ACE Frameworks Utilities to generate a 3D model of
the foundation in Frameworks.
If you would like to append several foundation designs together and generate models of
these foundations at one time instead of generating a model one at a time, you can provide
the file name to which you would like to append the currently completed foundation design
at the "Foundation Coordinate" dialog. All the foundation design information in the
appended file can then be used to generate the models at one time.
Foundation Coordinates:
Enter the coordinates of the top of the centerline of the mat or pile cap. These
coordinates will be used in placing the model in Frameworks.
Units:
Enter the "Length" units that the model must be generated in.
Pile Information:
For a pile supported foundation, enter the length of the pile, the bell diameter and
length that the 3D model must use.
Frameworks Export Information:
Pier Information: If pier class and grade information are left blank, Mat3D
automatically fills this information.
Class refers to a type that is required by Frameworks Plus to group members when
creating material reports, analysis input files or performing other operations. It is a
number that ranges from 0 to 9, and 2 is a default value used by Mat3D. Entering
any value between 0 and 9 does not affect the model generation in any way but may
have an impact if the PDS administrator was trying to generate material reports
based on an internal classification.
Grade refers to the grade of the material. By default, Mat3D assigns a concrete
grade to the pier such as "Fc_3000" meaning 3000 psi compressive strength
concrete. However a different pier grade may be entered.
By default, Mat3D treats the pier as a solid member. However, if the pier may be
treated as a slab element if necessary by making the appropriate selection.
Footing/Mat/Pile Cap Information: If the footing/mat/pile cap class and grade
information are left blank, Mat3D automatically fills this information.
The class and grade definition for the footing is the same as that described above for
the pier.
The footing/mat/pile cap may be treated as a solid or a slab. By default it is treated
as a solid.
Pile Information:
The class and grade definition for the pile is the same as that described above for
the pier. The pile type refers to whether the pile is a drilled pier type or a column
member type. If pile type is "Drilled Pier", the piles are generated as solids. If the
pile type is "Pile", the piles are generated as members of column type. If "Drilled
Pier" pile type is selected, the pile material is selected to be concrete. For more
details on pile types and orientation of piles in Frameworks Plus, refer to ACE
Frameworks Utility documentation.
In order to model the piles with a desired configuration in Frameworks, the interface
provides two different options.
Page 62
a. Select the pile from a list of predefined pile types displayed in the list box
The pile configuration consisting of the pile name, pile class, pile grade, pile
type, pile material and pile orientation may be predefined using an Ascii file
called "PileInfo.txt". This file must be named as "PileInfo.txt" and must be
defined containing the entries as follows. This file may be created using any
Ascii editor such as "Notepad".
PileName,PileType,PileMaterial,PileOrientation,PileClass,PileGrade
HP12X53,Pile,Steel,EW,3,A190
12"Circular,Drilled Pier,Concrete,EW,3,Fc_3000
14"Square,Pile,Steel,NS,3,A36
600mmCircular,Drilled Pier,Concrete,NS,3,Fc_4000
800mmSquare,Pile,Steel,NS,3,A198
HP10X35,Pile,Steel,NS,3,A190
H10X45,Pile,Steel,NS,3,A190
The first line must be as indicated above.
Each line after the first line is a pile configuration line describing the contents
separated by a comma respective to the label in the first line. For eg the first
entry in the pile configuration line consists of the pile name, the second entry
is the pile type etc. Each entry must be separated by a comma. Mat3D reads
this file and populates the list box in the dialog with the pile names.
If the pile name in the list box is selected, all the other fields are
automatically filled.
A sample file "PileInfo.txt" is automatically created during the installation in
the following folder:
<Mat3DProgramDirectory>\Templates\PileInformation.
For eg if Mat3D is installed in "C:\Program Files\Dimensional
Solutions\Mat3D" then the sample file "PileInfo.txt" is installed under
"C:\Program Files\Dimensional Solutions\Mat3D\Templates\PileInformation".
The default file "Pileinfo.txt" contains information on one pile as an example.
Note: If pile definitions are added or modified in the existing "Pileinfo.txt" file
while the dialog "Foundation Coordinates" is open, it must be closed and then
reopened to see the revisions to the file displayed in the pile list box.
If the list box containing pile names displays "CircularPile" as the last item
even though the file "Pileinfo.txt" does not contain any pile name with that
name, it indicates one or more blank spaces after the last pile configuration
line in the "Pileinfo.txt" file. To remove this display in the list box, simply
click the "Delete" key on the keyboard a few times after the last character of
the last valid pile configuration line.
Saving "Pileinfo.txt" file on a network:
If "Pileinfo.txt" needs to be saved to a location on the network so that the
same file is available to all the users, a registry key must be changed to
indicate the location of the file on the network. To change the registry key,
you must have administrator privileges.
Note: Changing a setting in the registry must be performed by an individual
knowledgeable about the registry such as an IT administrator. Mishandling
registry settings can cause undesired results not only in Mat3D but to other
applications as well.
The file location can be specified in the following registry key:
Hkey_Local_Machine\Software\Dimensional
Solutions\Applications\Mat3D\Templates\PileInformation
A string value named "Default Directory" with a path to the location of the
file "PileInfo.txt" file must be created under the above key. For eg. if the file
is placed on a network with the path as
Page 63
"\\Machine1\CivilTools\Mat3D\Templates\PileInformation" then the path

name under the "Default Directory" string value must be changed to
"\\Machine1\CivilTools\Mat3D\Templates\PileInformation".
b. Enter the pile information manually in the fields provided
If all the fields are entered manually without selecting the pile from the list
box to the right, a model can still be generated using the values from those
fields.
If a file "PileInfo.txt" does not exist either in the default location or in the
location specified by the registry key as mentioned in item a above, a
message displays "There was an error reading the file" followed by another
message "There was an error reading pile information XML document." These
messages may be ignored if the manually entered values are to be used to
generate the model.
13.0 TROUBLESHOOTING:
13.1 Error Code ds104
This error is generated when the software is unable to find Microstation. Install Microstation
on the machine if it is not.
Reserved for future use.
This warning is generated when a border cell or file is not specified in the plot dialog box.
Note that specifying the border cell name without specifying the cell library name will not
generate a border around the drawing in case of Microstation drawing format.
This warning is generated when a north arrow cell or file is not specified in the plot dialog
box. Note that specifying the north arrow cell name without specifying the cell library name
will not generate a north arrow on the drawing in case of Microstation drawing format.
This warning is generated when a seed file is not specified in the plot dialog box. Note that
the seed file name is required in generating the fonts and dimensions on the drawing
according to your company standards in case of Microstation drawing format.
This warning is generated when a cell library name is not specified. Note that specifying the
border cell or the north arrow cell without the cell library name will not generated the
pertinent graphics on the construction drawing in case of Microstation drawing format.

This error code is generated when the data file being opened was generated by a newer
version of the software than the one currently being used. Please upgrade your software to
the newer version.
Page 64
14.0 CONTACTING DIMENSIONAL SOLUTION:
14.1 Dimensional Solutions Headquarters
Dimensional Solutions, Inc.

16010 Barkers Point Lane, Ste 500
Houston, TX 77079
USA
Tel: 281-497-5991
Fax: 281-293-9470
Email: Info@dimsoln.com
Web URL: www.dimsoln.com
14.2 Technical Support
Before contacting Technical Support, please check the online Help system. If you still cannot
solve the problem, you can obtain product support in several ways:
E-mail Help
Ask questions and receive answers from the Technical Support Department via
email. Just send e-mail to support@dimsoln.com. You will receive a reply via e-mail.
Fax
You can also fax your questions. You will receive a response via email or fax.
Dimensional Solutions Software Technical Support Fax: 281-293-9470
Telephone
You can reach Dimensional Solutions Software Technical Support by phone between
9:00 A.M. and 5:00 P.M. Central Time, Monday through Friday.
Technical Support Phone: 281-497-5991
When you request support by using any one of the methods above, please provide the
following for a speedy resolution:
• Product Name
• Product Version No.
• The windows operating system (including the version no and service pack
numbers if any) on the machine on which you are experiencing problems
• The exact wording of any messages that appears on your screen.
• What happened and what you were doing when the problem occurred.
• How you tried to solve the problem.
For the usual "How To ...." questions, you can use any one of the above methods to obtain
technical support. However it is strongly recommended that for questions specific to the
foundation design problem you are trying to solve in Mat3D, you email the questions to
support@dimsoln.com with the input file of the problem foundation design project attached.
This will help the technical support team to reply to your questions efficiently.

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Mat3D Manual

1.1 Welcome to Mat3D 1

2.1 Dialog size 1

3.1 Project information 4

4.1 Concrete Parameters 14

5 Foundation Geometry and loads 18

5.1 Loading sign convention 19

6.1 Concrete Clear Cover 33

7.1 Footing Design 37

8.1 Pile Analysis 44

9.1 Elevation Sections 46

10.1 Plot File 50

11.1 CAD Interface General 53

12.1 Vantage PDMS Interface 59

13.1 Error Code ds104 63

14 Contacting Dimensional Solution 64

14.1 Dimensional Solutions Headquarters 64

1.1 Welcome to Mat3D

1.2 About this Help System

2.1 Dialog Size

2.2 Basic Steps

2.3 Overview of Mat3D environment

• View Plan/El Sketch

2.4 Close Windows

Sample examples of horizontal exchanger, vertical vessel and miscellaneous foundation

3.1 Project Information

3.2 User Defined Options

Save an Options Template:

Load an Options Template:

3.4 Reinforced Concrete Design Codes

Mat3D supports the following concrete design codes:

3.5 Basis of foundation design

3.6 File Type extensions

3.7 Automatic File Save

3.8 Calculator and Conversion Calculator

3.9 Loading sign convention

3.10 Pier/Base Plate/Wall Geometry Input

Base Plate Element

Displaying Pier Geometry and Load Information:

Changing Element Offsets by Drag and Drop

To drag and drop an element:

To remove an element already placed on the plan:

3.11 POS Elevation

3.12 Anchor Bolt Layout

3.13 Features in version 3.5

3.14 What's new in release 3.6 to 3.9

3.15 What's new in Version 4.0

Some of the major changes in version 4.0 are:

4.0 MATERIAL PARAMETERS:

4.1 Concrete Parameters

4.2 Reinforcing Steel Parameters

4.3 Soil Parameters

On this dialog, the foundation type - Soil-Supported or Pile-Supported may be selected.

Bearing Capacity Method:

Allowable Net Bearing Pressure:

4.4 Reinforcing Bar Tables

Save a Rebar Template:

Load a Rebar Template:

English Rebar Table:

Metric Rebar Table:

4.5 Pile Parameters

Enter the compression, tension and lateral capacities of the piles.

Pile Group Reduction: