L3: High-Rise Foundations Flashcards
What is the purpose of foundations?
To safely transfer building loads to the ground
What is the type of foundation based on?
Building size
Occupied weight
Need for stability
Soil/ground support capabilities
What are the foundation loads?
Dead, live, wind, horizontal pressures underground, structural member thrust, uplift, earthquake
What are foundations supported by?
Pressure bulbs (spheres of soil)
What can happen if buildings are in close proximity and how is it overcome?
Pressure bulbs overlap causing a failure as it cannot support both buildings
Caisson - produces its own pressure bulb
End bearing piles - individual pressure bulbs which combine into one similar to that of a caisson
What are the requirements of a foundation?
Safe against structural failure
Settlement not an impairing function
Technically and economically feasible
What is settlement and what is it dependent on?
Sinking of building as soil compresses; dependent on soil type (eg bedrock vs clay)
What are the two types of settlement?
Uniform and differential
What are signs of differential settlement?
Sloped floors, cracked walls/windows, door opening/closing improperly
What building is an example of uniform settlement and how much did it settle?
The Palace of Fine Arts; 3m
What are the two types of matter under buildings?
Rock (continuous)
Soil (particulate)
What is the difference between cohesive and non-cohesive soils?
Cohesive soils retain shear resistance in confining forces (stick together) and non-cohesive soils rely on friction between particles to support loads
How does level of cohesion affect angle of repose
Cohesive - steeper
Non-cohesive - shallower (cannot maintain vertical form)
How is soil tested?
Bearing capacity (driving hammer) Test pits (less than 2.5m) Test bores (deeper)
What does bearing capacity test?
How much force the soil pushes back (number of blows per metres driven)
What do test pits/bores show?
Strata (layers)
What is soil stability?
Soil’s ability to retain its engineering properties under varying conditions
What are examples of stable and unstable soils?
Stable - rock, gravel, sands, some silts
Unstable - clay
Why is clay considered an unstable soil?
Subject to changing water content - swells when wet and shrinks when dry; wet clay put under pressure will reduce in volume
How is the water table detected?
Shows in test pit/bore in course-grained soils but requires special devices in clay soils (impermeable)
What is compaction?
Process of increasing soil density in thin layers (lifts), to squeeze out air between particles and rearrange particles to improve soil stability
When is compaction useful?
For shallow foundations supported uniformly by large surface of soil
What are the two main types of excavation?
Benched and sheeted
When is benched excavation used?
When the site is sufficiently larger than the building area