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Introduction
Under normal conditions, square and rectangular footings are
economical for supporting columns and walls. However, under
certain circumstances, it may be desirable to construct a footing that
supports a line of two or more columns. These footings are referred
to as combined footings. When more than one line of columns is
supported by a concrete slab, it is called a mat foundation.
Combined footings can be classified generally under the following
categories:
a. Rectangular combined footing
b. Trapezoidal combined footing
c. Strap footing
Mat foundations are generally used with soil that has a low bearing
capacity.
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Rectangular combined footing

Trapezoidal combined footing

Strap footing
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Geometric Design of Combined Footings

1.1 Combined Footings

Types:
1. Rectangular Combined Footing (two columns).
2. Trapezoidal Combined Footing (two columns).
3. Strip Footing (more than two columns and may be rectangular or
trapezoidal).

Usage:
1. Used when the loads on the columns are heavy and the distance between
these columns is relatively small (i.e. when the distance between isolated
footings is less than 30 cm).
2. Used as an alternative to neighbor footing which is an eccentrically
loaded footing and it’s danger if used when the load on the column is
heavy.
1.2 Design of Rectangular Combined Footings:
There are three cases:
1. Extension is permitted from both side of the footing:
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 The resultant force R is more closed to the column which have

largest load.

 To keep the pressure under the foundation uniform, the resultant

force of all columns loads (R) must be at the center of the footing,
and since the footing is rectangular, R must be at the middle of the
footing (at distance L/2) from each edge to keep uniform pressure.

2. Extension is permitted from one

side and prevented from other side:

 The only difference between this case

and the previous case that the
extension exists from one side and
when we find Xr we can easily find L:
To keep the pressure uniform
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3. Extension is not permitted from both sides of the footing:

 In this case the resultant force R doesn’t in the center of rectangular
footing because Q1 and Q2 are not equals and no extensions from
both sides. So the pressure under the foundation is not uniform and
we design the footing in this case as following:
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1.3 Design of Trapezoidal Combined Footings:

Advantages:
1. More economical than rectangular combined footing if the extension is
not permitted from both sides especially if there is a large difference
between columns loads.
2. We can keep uniform contact pressure in case of “extension is not
permitted from both sides” if we use trapezoidal footing because the
resultant force “R” can be located at the centroid of trapezoidal footing.
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1.4 Geometric Design of Strap Footing (Cantilever Footing)

Usage:
1. Used when there is a property line which prevents the footing to be
extended beyond the face of the edge column. In addition to that the
edge column is relatively far from the interior column so that the
rectangular and trapezoidal combined footings will be too narrow and
long which increases the cost. And may be used to connect between two
interior foundations one of them have a large load require a large area
but this area not available, and the other foundation have a small load
and there is available area to enlarge this footing, so we use strap beam
to connect between these two foundations to transfer the load from
largest to the smallest foundation.
2. There is a “strap beam” which connects two separated footings. The
edge Footing is usually eccentrically loaded and the interior footing is
centrically loaded. The purpose of the beam is to prevent
overturning of the eccentrically loaded footing and to keep uniform
pressure under this foundation as shown in figure below.
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 Note that the strap beam doesn’t touch the ground (i.e. there is no
contact between the strap beam and soil, so no bearing pressure
applied on it).
 This footing also called “cantilever footing” because the overall
moment on the strap beam is negative moment.
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Rectangular Combined Footing

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Cantilever Footing
Their purpose is to redistribute Excesses stresses, and possible
differential settlements between adjacent spread footings.
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Example 1
Find the Dimensions of the combined footing for the columns A and B
that spaced 6.0 m center to center, column A is 40 cm x 40 cm carrying
dead loads of 50 tons and 30 tons live load and column B is 40 cm x 40
cm carrying 70 tons dead load and 50 tons live loads.
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Example 1
1- Find the required area:

2- Find the resultant force location (Xr):

3- To ensure uniform soil pressure, the resultant force (R) should be in

the center of rectangular footing:
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Example 2
Find the Dimensions of the trapezoidal combined footing for the
columns A and B that spaced 4.0 m center to center, column A is 40 cm
x 40 cm carrying dead loads of 80 tons and 40 tons live load and
column B is 30 cm x 30 cm carrying 50 tons dead load and 25 tons live
loads.
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Example 2
1- Find the required area:

2- Determine the resultant force

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Example 2
3- Put the resultant force location at the centroid of trapezoid to
achieve uniform soil pressure.

For uniform soil pressure:

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Example 3
Design a strap footing to support two columns, that spaced 4.0 m
center to center exterior column is 80cm x 80cm carrying 1500 KN
and interior column is 80cm x 80cm carrying 2500 KN
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Example 3
1- Find the resultant force location:

2- Assume the length of any foot, let we assume L1=2m.

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Example 3
3- Find the distance a:
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Example 3
4- Find the resultant of each soil pressure:

5- Find the required area for each foot:

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EXAMPLE 4
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EXAMPLE 5
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MAT FOUNDATIONS

Mat foundation is used in the following cases:

1. If the area of isolated and combined footing > 50% of the structure area,
because this means the loads are very large and the bearing capacity of the
soil is relatively small.
2. If the bearing capacity of the soil is small.
3. If the soil supporting the structure classified as (bad soils) such as:
 Expansive Soil: Expansive soils are characterized by clayey material that
shrinks and swells as it dries or becomes wet respectively. It is recognized
from high values of Plasticity Index, Plastic Limit and Shrinkage Limit.
 Compressible soil: It contains a high content of organic material and not
exposed to great pressure during its geological history, so it will be
exposed to a significant settlement, so mat foundation is used to avoid
differential settlement.
 Collapsible soil: Collapsible soils are those that appear to be strong and
stable in their natural (dry) state, but they rapidly consolidate under wetting,
generating large and often unexpected settlements. This can yield
disastrous consequences for structures built on such deposits.
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Bearing Capacity of Mat Foundations

The gross ultimate bearing capacity of a mat foundation can be determined
by the same equation used for shallow foundations

The net ultimate capacity of a mat foundation is

A suitable factor of safety should be used to calculate the net allowable

bearing capacity.

For mats on clay, the factor of safety should not be less than 3 under
dead load or maximum live load.

However, under the most extreme conditions, the factor of safety
should be at least 1.75 to 2.

For mats constructed over sand, a factor of safety of 3 should
normally be used. Under most working conditions, the factor of safety
against bearing capacity failure of mats on sand is very large.
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Bearing Capacity of Mat Foundations

For saturated clays with ɸ = 0 and a vertical loading condition, Eq.
(3.19) gives

From Table 3.4, for ɸ = 0

Substitution of the preceding shape and depth factors into Eq. (6.8) yields
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Bearing Capacity of Mat Foundations

Hence, the net ultimate bearing capacity is

For FS = 3, the net allowable soil bearing capacity becomes

The net allowable bearing capacity for mats constructed over granular soil
deposits can be adequately determined from the standard penetration
resistance numbers. From Eq. (5.64), for shallow foundations,
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Bearing Capacity of Mat Foundations

When the width B is large, the preceding equation can be approximated as

In English units, Eq. (6.12) may be expressed as

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Bearing Capacity of Mat Foundations

The net allowable pressure applied on a foundation (see Figure 6.7) may be
expressed as
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Examples 6.1 & 6.2

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Compensated Foundation
Figure 6.7 and Eq. (6.15) indicate that the net pressure increase in the soil
under a mat foundation can be reduced by increasing the depth Df of the
mat. This approach is generally referred to as the compensated foundation
design and is extremely useful when structures are to be built on very soft
clays. In this design, a deeper basement is made below the higher portion of
the superstructure, so that the net pressure increase in soil at any depth is
relatively uniform. (See Figure 6.8.)
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Compensated Foundation
From Eq. (6.15) and Figure 6.7, the net average applied pressure on soil is

For no increase in the net pressure on soil below a mat foundation, q should
be zero. Thus,

The factor of safety against bearing capacity failure for partially compensated
foundations may be given as
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Compensated Foundation
For saturated clays, the factor of safety against bearing capacity failure can
thus be obtained by substituting Eq. (6.10) into Eq. (6.20):
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Example 6.3
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Example 6.4
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Example 6.4
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Example 6.4
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Structural Design of Mat Foundations

The structural design of mat foundations can be carried

out by the following methods:

 The conventional rigid method

 The approximate flexible method.

 Finite-difference and finite-element methods

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The Conventional Rigid Method

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Geometric Design of Mat Foundation (Working Loads)

Procedures:
1. Determine the horizontal and vertical axes (usually at the center line of the
horizontal and vertical edge columns) as shown.

2. Calculate the centroid of the mat [ point C ( ]with respect to X and Y

axes:

If the mat is rectangular:

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3. Calculate the resultant force R:

4. Calculate the location of resultant force R ( with respect to X and

Y axes:
To find take summation moments about Y-axis:

To find take summation moments about X-axis:

5. Calculate the eccentricities:

6. Calculate moments in X and Y directions:

7. Calculate the stress under each corner of the mat:

How we can know the sign ( :

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8. Check the adequacy of the dimensions of mat foundation:

Calculate
Calculate

footing.
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EXAMPLE 7
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EXAMPLE 7
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EXAMPLE 7
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Design of Mat Foundations

In the conventional rigid method of design, the

mat is assumed to be infinitely rigid. Also, the
soil pressure is distributed in a straight line,
and the centroid of the soil pressure is
coincident with the line of action of the
resultant column loads.

In the approximate flexible method of design,

the soil is assumed to be equivalent to an
infinite number of elastic springs, as shown in
the figure. This assumption is sometimes
referred to as the Winkler foundation. The
elastic constant of these assumed springs is
referred to as the coefficient of subgrade
reaction, k.
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Design of Mat Foundations

This parameter is very important in determining whether a

mat foundation should be designed by the conventional
rigid method or the approximate flexible method.

According to the American Concrete Institute Committee

336 (1988), mats should be designed by the conventional
rigid method if the spacing of columns in a strip is less
than 1.75/b.

If the spacing of columns is larger than 1.75/b, the

approximate flexible method may be used.
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The coefficient of subgrade reaction

If a foundation of width B is subjected to a load per unit area of q, it will undergo

a settlement D. The coefficient of subgrade reaction can be defined as:

The unit of k is kN/m3

The value of the coefficient of subgrade reaction is not a constant for a given
soil, but rather depends on several factors, such as the length L and width B of
the foundation and also the depth of embedment of the foundation.

A comprehensive study by Terzaghi (1955) of the parameters affecting the

coefficient of subgrade reaction indicated that the value of the coefficient
decreases with the width of the foundation.

In the field, load tests can be carried out by means of square plates measuring
0.3 m 3 0.3 m, and values of k can be calculated. The value of k can be related
to large foundations measuring B x B .
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The coefficient of subgrade reaction

Foundations on Sandy Soils

Foundations on Clays
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The coefficient of subgrade reaction

For rectangular foundations having

dimensions of B x L :

The value of k for a very long foundation with a

width B is approximately 0.67k(B xB)

Es = modulus of elasticity of soil

B = foundation width
ms = Poisson’s ratio of soil
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The coefficient of subgrade reaction