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University of Dar es Salaam

College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Transportation & Geotechnical Engineering
2024

TR334: FOUNDATION ENGINEERING I (8.0 CREDITS)

Instructor: Eng. Gabriel Paul

Contact: [email protected]

CHAPTER 0: INTRODUCTION
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Chapter 0: Introduction
Objectives

✓ To equip students with the knowledge of soil

structure interaction analysis, and of
designing and constructing foundations

Pre-requisites

✓TR 232: Soil Mechanics

✓TR 231: Geology for Civil Engineers
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Chapter 0: Introduction
Mode of delivery
✓ 2hrs lecture/wk (Tuesday 08 –10hrs @ B2-2)
✓ 2hrs tutorial/ wk (Thursday 12-14hrs @ A21)
08:00-10:00 10:00-12:00 12:00-14:00 14:00-16:00 16:00-18:00

MON

TUE Lecture TR334

B 2-2

WED

THU Tutorial
TR334
A 21

FRI
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Chapter 0: Introduction
Course Contents
Chapter 1: Vertical and Horizontal stresses within a soil mass
• Effective stress and pore pressure
• Stress distribution of soil due to surface loading
• Lateral Earth pressure

Chapter 2: Shallow Foundations

• Ultimate Limit State (ULS) – Bearing capacity of the soil and rock
• Serviceability Limit State (SLS) - Deformation and Settlements

Chapter 3: Stability of slopes

Chapter 4: Ground Improvement

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Chapter 0: Introduction
Assessment

• 2 tests (32%) + 2 Quizes (8%) = Continuous Assessment (40%)

❑ Test 1: Week 8 (05th January 2025)

❑ Test 2: Week 12 (02th February 2025)

• 1 University Examination (60%)

Learning Outcomes
• Ability to design and construct foundations and other earth structures
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Chapter 0: Introduction
Reference Textbooks
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Chapter 0: Introduction
Why Foundation Engineering?

TR 231: Geology for Civil

Engineers

⚫ TR 232: Soil Mechanics

⚫ TR 334: Foundation Engineering I
⚫ TR 335: Foundation Engineering II
⚫ TR 431: Machine Foundations
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Chapter 0: Introduction
Why Foundation Engineering?

TR 231

TR 232

TR 334
TR 335
TR 431
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Chapter 0: Introduction
Overview of Foundation Engineering

• Foundation engineering is about design, construction and

operation of structures built in, on or with soil and rock to
support buildings, bridges, dams and other infrastructure.
• The final solution has to be fit for purpose, safe,
sustainable, resilient and economic.
• Foundations provide a stable platform that structures
require.
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Chapter 0: Introduction
Overview of Foundation Engineering
Function of foundation
• Distributes the weight of a structure over a large area in order to avoid
overloading the underlying soil
• Distributes the weight of a structure to limit total settlement/differential
settlement
• Anchors a structure against natural forces including earthquakes,
floods, frost heaves, tornadoes and wind
• Provides a level surface for construction
• Anchors a structure subject to a moment or a horizontal load to prevent
overturning and
• Prevents lateral movements of a structure subject to horizontal loads.
Note: A poorly designed foundation can render a structure unfit for purpose.
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Chapter 0: Introduction
Overview of Foundation Engineering

Design of foundation is an iterative process. There are four approaches to

produce a solution:
• Theoretical /Analytical methods (Hand calculation, excel, matlab, Python, etc)
• Empirical methods based on observations
• Semi empirical methods based on observations and theory
• Numerical Modelling
➢ Finite Element Analysis
✓ Plaxis
✓ Abaqus
✓ Midas GTS NX
✓ Geo5
✓ Ansys
➢ Finite Difference methods (Flac 3D, GeoStudio (SIGMA/W)
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Chapter 0: Introduction
Overview of Foundation Engineering

A ground investigation can never provide enough detail of the ground

so factors of safety are applied to cover the uncertainty and reduce the
risk. There are three ways to allow for uncertainty:
• Permissible loads
• Global factor of safety
• Partial factors applied to disturbing forces and restoring forces

Note: Despite the design process being the same for structural and
geotechnical engineers, there are significant differences as depicted in
the attachedTable.
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Chapter 0: Introduction
Geotechnical Structural
Particulate material (soil) Solid material (concrete, steel, timber)

Solid material (rock)

Anisotropic (σ’v ≠ σ’h) Strongly anisotropic (reinforced concrete, timber)
Anisotropic (steel)
Natural Manufactured (concrete, steel)
Selected (timber)
Fabric (fissures, faults) No fabric
Time dependent behaviour Time dependent behaviour (creep)
(consolidation, creep)
History dependent Specified manufactured/selection process
Unknown materials and properties Known materials and properties
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Chapter 0: Introduction
Overview of Foundation Engineering
The existing ground conditions are function of the history of the site. This is
a function of the geological history and stress history. The stress history is
expressed in terms of;
• Coefficient of earth pressure at rest (Ko) and
• The maximum past overburden pressure (σ’vomax)

The current state of the ground is expressed in terms of;

• State variables the void ratio (e), the insitu vertical effective stress (σ’v),

the insitu horizontal effective stress (σ’h) and the pore pressure (u);

• Mechanical properties, the cohesion (c’), angle of friction (ϕ’), the

stiffness of the ground (E), and the permeability of the ground (k).
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Chapter 0: Introduction
Standards and guidelines for Foundation Design

There are a number of standards (e.g. Eurocode, ASTM) and guidelines

(e.g. BS8004) which provide advice and recommendations.

Ultimately, experience is critical especially in more complex combinations of

actions and ground conditions.
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Chapter 0: Introduction
Conceptual Study From Figure 1,
The forces are;
• the self weight,
• wind and
• attachments offset
from the central axis
of the mast.
Possible failure
mechanisms
are
• bearing failure,
• sliding and
• overturning.

Limits to serviceability
are
Figure 1. The SLS and ULS conditions for a wind turbine
• the tilt and
• settlement
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Chapter 0: Introduction
Conceptual Study

The resultant of the actions is transferred to the ground by a foundation. Possible

foundation solutions are shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Possible solutions to limit the deformation and tilt and prevent
failure
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Chapter 0: Introduction
Conceptual Study

• Shallow foundations include:

✓ Mass concrete where the applied load is distributed through the
foundation to its base. The mass of the foundation prevents
overturning; the shear resistance between the foundation and the
ground prevents sliding; and the base to prevent bearing failure.
✓ Reinforced concrete where the applied load is distributed through the
foundation to its base. The mass of the foundation and the weight of
soil above the base prevents overtuning
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Chapter 0: Introduction
Conceptual Study

For deep foundation;

• Shaft where the mass of the foundation and the passive force on the side of the
foundation prevents overturning; the passive force on the side of the foundation
prevents sliding; and the shaft friction and the base resistance prevent bearing failure.
• Monopile where the passive force and the shaft friction on the side of the foundation
prevents overturning; the passive force on the side of the foundation prevents sliding;
and the shaft friction and the base resistance prevent bearing failure.
• Pile group where the passive force and the shaft friction on the side of the piles
prevents overturning; the passive force on the side of the piles prevents sliding; and
the shaft friction and the base resistance prevent bearing failure.
• Raker piles where the tensile shaft resistance on one set of piles and the
compression capacity on the other set of piles prevents overturning and sliding; and
the shaft friction and the base resistance prevent bearing failure.
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