Foundation and Anchor Design Guide for Metal Building Systems Alexander Newman, PE., F.ASCE\ Publication Data is on file with the Library of Congress Copyright © 2013 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. AU rights reserved. Printed in the ‘United States of America. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form ot by any means, or stored ina data base or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. 1234567890 DOC/DOC 18765432 ISBN 978-0-07-176635-7 MHID 0-07-176635-9 Sponsoring Editor Acquisitions Coordinator Proofreader Larry 8. Hager Bridget L. Thoreson Surencira Nath Shivam, Cenveo Publisher Services Editing Supervisor Piojedt Manager ‘Stephen M. Smith Robini Deb Art Director, Cover Cenveo Publisher Services Jeff Weeks Production Supervisor Richard C. Ruzycka Copy Editor Composition Rachel Hockett Cenveo Publisher Services Printed and bound by RR Donnelley. 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If such services fe required, the asatance of an appropriste profesional should be soughtAbout the Author Alexander Newman, RE., ASCE, is a forensic and structural consultant in Needham, Massachusetts. During more than 30 years of professional practice, he has been involved with the structural design, renovation, and failure investigation of numerous structures around the country. His areas of expertise indude design and failure analysis of pre-engineered metal buildings, metal roofs, and other structures. He is one of the country’s foremost experts on metal buildingsystems. Hehas served asan expert consultant for litigation involving metal building systems and other structures, ‘Mr. Newman's diverse engineeringand managerial experience includes positions as principal structural engineer with a large architectural and engineering firm, manager of a steel fabrication shop, and engineer with light-gage metal and precast-concrete manufac- turers. Most recently, he has been a managing engineer with Exponent Failure Analysis Associates, the country’s premier construction failure and accident investigation firm, Mr. Newman’s many publications include a number of award-winning articles that appeared in leading engineering magazines. His definitive reference book Structural Renovation of Buildings: Methods, Details, and Design Examples was published by McGraw-Hill in 2001. He is the author of another authoritative book from McGraw-Hill, Metal Building Systems: Design and Specifications, now in its Second Edition and translated into Chinese. ‘Mr. Newman has led numerous educational semi- nars around the country for design professionals, building officials, owners, and contractors. He has, conducted training programs for the employees of the US. State Department, NASA, the US. Air Force, the Iraq Reconstruction Team, and many educational and professional groups. He has taught a number of courses at Northeastern University.Contents Preface ....cccceeeessereeee Introduction to Metal Building Systems ........060eeee0 1.1 Two Main Classes of Metal Building Systems ..... : 1.2 Frame-and-Purlin Buildings: Primary and Secondary Framing 1.2.1 Primary Frames: Usage and Terminology 2. Single-Span Rigid Frames 1.23 Multiple Span Rigid Frames 1.24 Tapered Beam 1.2.5 Trusses 1.2.6 Other Primary Framing Systems 1.2.7 Endwall and Sidewall Framing .... 1.3 Frame-and-Purlin Buildings: Lateral-Force Resisting Systems 1.4 Quonset Hut-Type Buildings «=... References. eeeeeeeeeeeees oo Foundation Design Basics 21 Soil Types and Properties 21.1 Introduction 212 Some Relevant Soil Properties 21.3 Soil Classification ..... 214 Characteristics of Coarse-Grained Soils 2.1.5 Characteristics of Fine-Grained Soils 2.4.6 The Atterberg Limits ...... 2.1.7 Soil Mixtures att. 2.1.8 Structural Fill 21.9 Rock 22. Problem Soils : wale 2.2.1 Expansive Soils: The Main Issues ......+. 2.2.2. Measuring Expansive Potential of Soil .. 2.2.3 Organics .. : : 224 Collapsing Soils and Karst 23. Soil Investigation .. | 23.1. Types of Investigation 2.3.2 Preliminary Exploration... 2.3.3 Detailed Exploration: Soil Borings and Other Methods 2.34 Laboratory Testing 24 Settlement and Heave Issues 2.4.1 What Causes Settlement? 242. Settlement in Sands and GravelsContents 25 26 References 24.3. Settlement in Silts and Clays 24.4 Differential Settlement 24.5 Some Criteria for Tolerable Differential Settlement 7 Determination of Allowable Bearing Value 25.1 Why Not Simply Use the Code Tables? 252. Special Provisions for Seismic Areas... 25.3 What Constitutes a Foundation Failure? 7 254 Summary ....... Staliow ve. Deep Foundations Foundations for Metal Building Systems: The Main Issues ....... aa 32 33 34 35 References ........... ‘The Differences between Foundations for Conventional Buildings and Metal Building Systems 3.1 Light Weight Means Large Net Uplift 3.1.2. Large Lateral Reactions : 3.13 Factors of Safety and One-Third Stress Increase. seeveeees 3.14 In Some Circumstances, Uncertainty of | Reactions Estimating Column Reactions... 3.2.1 Methods of Estimating Reactions 3.2.2. How Accurate Are the Estimates? Effects of Column Fixity on Foundations 33.1 Is There aCost Advantage? : 33.2. Feasibility of Fixed-Base Columns in MBS 33.3 Communication Breakdown General Procedure for Foundation Design 3.4.1 Assign Responsibilities 342 Collect Design Information... 3.4.3 Research Relevant Code Provisions and Determine Reactions. 344 Determine Controlling Load Combinations 3.4.5 Choose Shallow or Deep Foundations 3.446 Establish Minimum Foundation Depth 34.7 Design the Foundation. Reliability, Versatility, and Cost 35.1 Definitions. 35.2. Some Examples Column Pedestals (Piers) eleseals 3.6.1 The Area Inviting Controversy. 3.6.2. Two Methods of Supporting Steel Columns in Shallow Foundations .. 3.63. Establishing Sizes of Column Pedestals (Piers) 364 Minimum Reinforcement of PiersContents 4. Design of Isolated Column Footings 59 4.1 The Basics of Footing Design and Construction cece 59 4.1.1 Basic Design Requirements ron - 9 4.1.2 Construction Requirements 60 413 SeismicTies ...... aad 60 414 Reinforced-Concrete Footings... ....s..-- 60. 4.15. Plain-Conerete and Other Footings ce 60 4.1.6 Nominal vs. Factored Loading Gt 42 The Design Process... a 62 4.21 General Design Procedure e 4.2.2 Using ASD Load Combinations 62 4.23. Using Load Combinations for Strength Design bee 8 4.24 What is Included in the Dead Load? 63 4.2.5 Designing for Moment 6 4.2.6 Designing for Shear 6 42.7 Minimum Footing Reinforcement 68 4.28 Distribution of Reinforcement in Rectangular Footings 68 4.2.9 Designing for Uplift 6 42.10 Reinforcement at Top of Footings References ...eescees botdeete estar 70 7 titttssteeseesereeee 79 hee 79 5 Foundation Walls and Wall Footings .. 5.1 The Basics of Design and Construction... 5.1.1 Foundation Options for Support of Exterior Walls... feledenledantaden| 5.1.2 Design and Construction Requirements for Foundation Walls eel ee 80 5.1.3 Construction of Wall Footings 83 5.1.4 Design of Wall Footings 84 References ae 87 6 Tie Rods, Hairpins, and Slab Ties 89 61 TieRods ...... 89 64.1 The Main Issues 0... 89 6.1.2 Some Basic Tie-Rod Systems 90 6.1.3. AReliable Tie-Rod Design 92 614 Development of Tie Rods by Standard Hooks 95 6.1.5 Design of Tie Rods Considering Elastic Elongation ........ 6.1.6 Post-Tensioned Tie Rods 617 TieRodGtid ....... = 6118 Which Tie-Rod Design Is Best? 62 Hairpins and Slab Ties 62.1 Haigpins: The Essence of the System 6.2.2 Hairpins in Slabs on Grade =x Contents 623 624 625 6.2.6 References 7 Moment-Resisting Foundations .. 71 The Basic Concept Jad 712 Hairpins: The Design Process Development of Straight Bars in Slabs Slab Ties (Dowels) Using Foundation Seats ‘A Close Relative: Cantilevered Retaining Wall Advantages and Disadvantages 7.2. Active, Passive, and At Rest Soil Pressures 721 72.2 723 73 Lateral Sliding Resistance 731 73.2 74. Factors of Safety against Overtuing and Sliding 74d 742 743 75 The Design Procedures... 754 752 753 75.4 755 References 8 Slab with Haunch, Trench Footings, a and Mats .....0..ss065 81 Slab with Haunch : 811 812 813 82 Trench Footings 83 Mats 831 83.2 833 834 References ‘The Nature of Active, Passive, and At-Rest Pressures... How to Compute Active, Passive, and AtRest Pressure ‘Typical Values of Active, Passive, and AtRest Coefficients ‘The Nature of Lateral Sliding Resistance Combining Lateral Sliding Resistance and Passive Pressure Resistance ‘No Explicit Factors of Safety in TBC Load Combinations ..... Explicit Factors of Safety for Retaining Walls How to Increase Lateral Siding Resistance Design Input ...... Design Using Combined Stresses Acting on Soil ...... : ‘The Pressure Wedge Method General Design Process Moment Resisting Foundations in Combination with Slab Dowels General Issues... The Role of Girt Inset an Resisting the Column Reactions Common Uses ..... ‘The Basics of Design ‘Typical Construction in Cold Climates Using Anchor Bolts in Mats 105 107 109 i im 13 113 3 us us us uy uy 19 9 120 1 124 11 12 122 122 123 126 127 iar ui 143 164 165 165 167 168 Ww 1729 Deep Foundations ....... 10 O41 92 References ....-2.2200e see Anchors in Metal Building Systems ..... 101 102 103 104 105 Introduction Deep Piers 9.2.1 ‘The Basics of Design and Construction 9.22 Resisting Uplift and Lateral Column Reactions with Deep Piers ......... : : Piles... be 934 The Basic Options 9.3.2. The Minimum Number of Piles : 9.33 Using Structural Slab in Combination with Deep Foundations : 9.34 Resisting Uplift with Piles 935. Resisting Lateral Column Reactions with Piles General Issues pee 10.1.1 Terminology and Purpose 10.12. The Minimum Number of Anchor Bolts Anchor Bolts: Construction and Installation ...... 10.2.1 ‘Typical Construction . : 10.2.2 Field Installation ....... 10.2.3 Placement Tolerances vs, Oversi Column Base Plates .. 10.2.4 Using Anchor Bolts for Column Leveling 10.2.5 Should Anchor Bolts Be Used to Transfer Horizontal Column Reactions? .........++5 Design of Anchor Bolts: General Provisions ............. 10321 Provisions ofthe Intemational Building Code 103.2 ACI318-08 AppendixD ......... Design of Anchor Bolts for ‘Tension per ACT 318-08 AppendixD ... : 104.1 Tensile Strength of Anchor Bolt vs. Tensile Strength of Concrete for a Single Anchor 10.4.2 Tensile Strength of an Anchor Group 10.4.3 Tensile Strength of Steel Anchors 10.44 Pullout Strength of Anchor in Tension. 10.4.5 Concrete Side-Face Blowout Strength of Headed Anchors in Tension ...... 104.6 Concrete Breakout Strength of Anchors in Tension 104.7. Using Anchor Reinforcement for Tension Design of Anchors for Shear per ACI 318-08 Appendix D set 10.5.1 Introduction 10.5.2 Steel Strength of. ‘Anchors in Shear 10.5.3 Concrete Breakout Strength in Shear: General 10.5.4 Basic Concrete Breakout Strength in Shear V,, 10.5.5 Concrete Breakout Strength in Shear for Anchors Close to Edge on Three or More Sides. Contents 173 173 173 173 74 17%6 176 wr 178 181 181 185 185 185 186 186 186 187 188 190 191 193, 193, 196 198 198xii n A tents 10.56 Concrete Breakout Strength in Shear: Modification Factors 7 22 1057 Using Anchor Reinforcement for Concrete Breakout Strength in Shear .....2..02000ee00eeeee 224 10.58 Using a Combination of Edge Reinforcement and Anchor Reinforcement for Concrete Breakout Strength in Sheer ..... peleele 27 1059 Concrete Pryout Strength in Shear 227 105.10 Combined Tension and Shear 105.1 Minis Bdge Distances an Spacing of Anchors ve 228 105.12 Concluding Remarks = ceecevee “BBB References ...eeeeeeeee : Concrete Embedments in Metal Building Systems 11.1 The Role of Concrete Embedments I111 Prior Practices vs. Today's Code Requirements... 235 11.1.2 ‘Two Options for Resisting High Horizontal Column Reactions ele deabetentedeatad 235 11.13 Transfer of Uplift Forces to Foundations: No Alternative to Anchor Bolts? ... seeee 236 112 Using Anchor Bolts to Transfer Horizontal Column Reactions to Foundations... Tedeokedawladanhad 237 11.21 Some Problems with Shear Resistance of Anchor Bolts besseeees 237 11.22. Possible Solutions to Enable Resistance of Anchor Bolts to Horizontal Forces ......-+ 238 11.23 Design of Anchor Bolts for Bending 240 113. Concrete Embedments for the Transfer of Horizontal ‘Column Reactions to Foundations: An Overview wee MAD M14 Shear Lugs and the Newman Lug. ...... 243 114.1 Construction of Shear Lugs cee 243 1142 Minimum Anchor Bolt Spacing and Column Sizes Used with Shear Lugs... : -. 285 1143. Design of Shear Lugs: General Procedure 2.2... 247 1144 Determination of Bearing Strength 249 TAS Determination of Concrete Shear Streng 249 M46 The Newman Lug 115 Recessed Column Base 115.1 Construction 1152 Design .... 11.6 Other Embedments a 116.1 CapPlate .......0. a 11.6.2 Embedded Plate with Welded-On Studs 2.00.02... 260 References 7 261 Frame Reaction Tables Index. 293,Preface the design of foundations for metal building systems, also knownas pre-engineered metal buildings, is a subject of much controversy and misunderstanding. The primary reason: Reliable foundations for these structures might be more difficult to design and more expensive to construct than the foundations for conventional Duildings. And yet the building owners and contractors, who tend to perceive metal building systems as inexpensive structures, are rarely aware of the foundation challenges. Their main efforts are usually directed to getting the best price on the steel superstructure; the foundations arean afterthought. Asa result, these owners and contractorsare sometimes alarmed by the cost of their metal building foundations and might even question the competency of the foundation designers. After a few such experiences, the engineers who design these foundations might start to question their own design methods and settle for the cheapest solutions ‘What makes the foundations for metal building systems difficult to design? The design complexities stem from two main issues. First, the most popular types of the primary frames used in metal building systems tend to exert significant horizontal column reactions on the foundations. While some conventional building foundations also resist Jateral forces generated by wind and seismic loading, those forces are generally smaller than the typical frame reactions in metal buildings. Second, metal building systems are extremely lightweight, which means that their supports are routinely subjected to a net uplift loading caused by wind. It follows that metal building foundations are usually designed to resist a combination of lateral and vertical (either downward or uplift) forces. When the primary frame columns are fixed at the bottom, rather than pinned, still more complications arise for the foundation design. These unique challenges and complexities might not be familiar to the engineers accustomed to designing foundations for conventional buildings. Unfortunately, little authoritative design guidance exists on the subject, which undoubtedly adds to the controversy. At present, only one chapter in the author’s book Metal Building Systems: Design and Specifications, 24 ed. (McGraw-Hill, 2004), provides some guidance about this area of design. in the past, some metal building manufacturers used to publish their own brochures dealing with the subject, but no longer do so, perhaps because the manufacturer's scope of work normally excludes the building foundations, ‘The lack of clear design procedures naturally results in uneven design solutions. Some foundation designs for metal buildings have been overly complicated. But morex Preface ‘commonly in the author's experience, they have been barely adequate for the imposed loads (or not adequate at all). This book is intended to fill the knowledge void by exploring the complexities of designing foundations for metal building systems and providing clear design procedures for various foundation types. The book covers the most common foundation systems used for metal buildings and illustrates their design through step-by-step examples. It describes a variety of possible solutions, ranging ftom the most reliable (and often the most expensive) to the less reliable (and typically less expensive) approaches. ‘The book is intended to serve as a desk reference soutce for structural engineers, bothinsideand outside the manufacturers’ offices, and for other design and construction professionals, such as architects, facility managers, building officials, and technically inclined contractors. It will help these professionals in the selection of the most appropriate and cost-effective system for their projects and in developing tealistic cost expectations. Alexander Newman, PE., EASCEFoundation and Anchor Design Guide for Metal Building SystemsCHAPTER 1 Introduction to Metal Building Systems 1.1. Two Main Classes of Metal Building Systems ‘The purpose of this chapter is to introduce the reader to metal building systems (MBS) and to explain how they work, These structures, also known as pre-engineered metal buildings and sometimes abbreviated as PEMBs, are both designed and manufactured by their suppliers. In this book the terms metal building systems, metal buildings, pre- engineered buildings, and pre-engineered metal buildings are used interchangeably. ‘Metal buildings are extremely popular in the United States. Many, if not most, low-rise nonresidential buildings there contain pre-engineered structures. Reasons for the popularity of these systems include their cost-effectiveness, speed of construction, single-source responsibility for the superstructure, ease of maintenance, and the ability. to span long distances without intermediate supports. ‘Metal building systems can be found in all types of buildings. Approximately one-third of them are used in conunercial applic:tions, such as office buildings, retail stores, and garages. Another one-third include manufacturing uses, such as factories, production plants, and material recycling facilities (see Fig. 1.1). The rest are used in community buildings (schools, churches, municipal), agricultural, and storage occu- pancies (Newman, 2004). ‘The two main classes of metal building systems are frame-and-purlin and Quonset hut-type buildings. Both are described in this chapter, but our main focus is on the former. From the foundation designers’ point of view, there is a fundamental difference between the two classes of metal buildings. 1.2 Frame-and-Purlin Buildings: Primary and Secondary Framing As the name suggests, this class of metal building systems includes separate primary frames and secondary members. The primary frames (also called main frames) can be of various types. The foundation design is greatly influenced by the type of primary frame selected for the building, For example, some frame types tend to exert significant lateral reactions on the supports and others donot.2° Chapter One Faure 1.4 Metal building system used in an industrial tacit. ‘The primary frames carry secondary roof members called purlins and secondary ‘wall members called girts. At the intersection of the roof and wall panels typically exists the third type of secondary member, known by the names of eave girt, eave purlin, or eave strut, The Various names reflect the versatile nature of this important element that can wear three hats: a gitt, a purlin, and an axially loaded structural member. Axial loading, comes into play when the strut resists lateral forces as part of the cross-bracing, assem- bly in the wall. ‘The secondary members support metal panels or other roof and wall cladding. In pre-engineered buildings, endwalls are at the ends of the building parallel to the pri- mary frames, while sidewalls are perpendicular to the frames. The typical components of the frame-and-purlin system are shown in Fig. 1.2. Root system ool putin Eave strut Endwall frame Rigi frame Poop column = Fraune 1.2 ypleal Components of the frame-and-pariin system.Introduction to Metal Building Systems ‘The Metal Building Manufacturers Association (MBMA) is the trade group that includes most major manufacturers of pre-engineered metal buildings. Metal Building System Marual (MBMA, 2006) provides a wealth of information related to the design, fabrication, and procurement of frame-and-purlin pre-engineered metal buildings. 1.2.1 Primary Frames: Usage and Terminology Primary frames are the backbone of the frame-and-purlin metal building system. The available primary frame systems vary significantly in their design assumptions, struc- tural behavior, column configuration, and, perhaps most important for the reader, in the magnitude of the horizontal column reactions exerted on the foundations. Some of the considerations involved in the selection of the primary frames inchude: ‘Width, length, and height of the building * Acceptability of tapered columns Slope of the roof + Clear-span requirements Wall and roof materials Each frame consists of a rafter and at least two columns. The joint between an exterior column and the rafter is called the knee. A clear span is the distance between the inside faces of the frame columns. Each of the primary frame types has an optimum range of clear spans. The clear span can be measured between the frame knees, as shown in Fig. 1.2, but it can also be measured between the inside faces of the col- tums at the base. A similar term, frame width, refers to the distance between the outside faces of the wall girts,a plane that is called the sidewall structural line. Looking at Fig. 1.2, please also note that for a single-story building the clear height is the distance between the floor and the lowest point of the frame at the roof level. Also, the eve height is the distance between the bottom of the column base plate and the top of the eave strut, ‘The rafter is usually spliced, with the dimensions of the individual segments fine- tuned for the applied bending moments and shears at those locations. The variability of the frame cross-section tends to complicate the analysis but saves metal by improv ing the framing efficiency. The splices are typically made at the peak, at the knees, and at the intermediate locations determined by the manufacturer's preferences. Certain types of frames, such as a single-span rigid frame, can resist lateral (wind and seismic) forces acting in the direction parallel to the frames. Others require separate vertical and horizontal lateral-force-resisting elements in addition to the frames, as discussed in Sec. 1.3. 1.2.2 Single-Span Rigid Frames ‘The single-span rigid frame system is perhaps the most familiar and versatile type of pri- mary framing used in pre-engineered buildings. These frames can be found in a wide variety of applications, from warehouses to churches. The frame profile is tapered to approximate the shape of the frame's moment diagram. A single-span rigid frame can be of either two- or threeshinge design. An example of two-hinge rigid frame can be found in Fig, 1.2;a three-hinge frame design is shown in Fig. 132. 34 Chapter One © @ Ficone 1.2 Common types of primaty frames used in metal bullding systems and the gravityload reactions they generate: (a) Single-span rigid frame; (6) multiple-span rigid frame; (c) tapered beam; ia) uss. ‘The knee is typically the deepest point of the tapered frame profile, making this system appropriate for the buildings where the clear height at the exterior walls is not critical. In this type of construction, the tallest equipment can be placed near the middle of the span or between the frames. ‘The single-span rigid frame provides a significant column-free area and the maxi- mum flexibility for the user. The most economical frame width for this system lies between 60 and 120 ft, although frames over 200 ft wide have been produced. The most common range of the eave heights is from 10 to 24 ft. ‘The degree of rafter slope depends on the type of the roof used in the building. ‘The low-slope frames, with a pitch from 4:12 to 1:12, are appropriate for waterproof (hydrostatic) metal and nonmetal roofs. The medium-slope frame profile has a pitch of about 2:12, which works well with “waterproof” metal roofs in the regions where heavy snow accumulation is common. And finally, the high-profile frames, with a pitch of 3:12 or 4:12, are used with steep-slope (hydrokinetic) roofing systems. The different types of ‘etal roofing are discussed in Newman (2004) and in Roofing Systems Design Manual (MBMA, 2000). ‘A single-span rigid frame typically exerts significant horizontal reactions on the foundations under gravity loading. The smaller the eave height, the larger these hori- zontal reactions tend to become. 1.2.3 Multiple-Span Rigid Frames When the frame width of the building exceeds the limitations of the single-span rigid. frame system, intermediate columns can be added. The resulting system is called theIntroduction to Metal Building Systems tmultiple-span rigid frame, also known as continuous-beam, post-and-beam, and modular frame (Fig. 1.36). Multiple-span rigid frames can be more economical than their single- span siblings, even within the theoretical range of the optimum efficiency of the latter, However, the added columns obviously diminish the building’s flexibility of use, a factor that might outweigh any potential cost savings. Accordingly, multiplespan rigid frames are best used in buildings with relatively static layout, such as factories with mature processes, large warehouses, and resource-recovery facilities. Even with the multiple-span rigid frame system, the overall building width is con- strained by the limitations imposed by thermal movement considerations. A very long frame without external restraints to movement will tend to expand and contract 80 much with the seasonal changes in temperature that the building’s dimensional stabil- ity might become compromised. Alternatively, if the combination of the secondary framing, metal cladding, and bracing restrains the temperature-induced movements of the frame, thermal stresses might build up significantly. As a practical matter, expan- sion joints are usually needed when the building width exceeds about 300 ft. Exterior columns in this system are usually tapered, and interior columns are straight, made of either pipe or W shapes. Interior columns are often assumed to have pinned connections to the rafters, and their horizontal reactions on the foundations are ‘typically negligible, By contrast, the horizontal reactions at the bases of the exterior columns under gravity loading could be significant. Unlike single-span rigid frames, multiple-span rigid frames can be adversely affected by the differential settlements of their supports, As we discuss in Chap. 2, some amount of foundation settlement is often unavoidable. When the interior frame col- umns settle at a rate different from that of the exterior columns, the continuous frame might become overstressed. Vulnerability to differential settlement is one of the few disadvantages of this otherwise very economical structural system. 1.2.4 Tapered Beam ‘The tapered beam, sometimes called a wedge beam, is similar to a conventional built-up plate girder, with two important differences. One, as the name suggests, is the tapered profile of the rafter. The second difference has to do with the manner in which the tapered beam is connected to the column, as discussed next. In the most common version, the top surface of the beam is tapered, and the bottom surface is horizontal. This design solution allows the top of the roof to slope for drain- age. A less common design has both flanges tapered, analogous to a scissors truss. A splice is typically made at the midspan of the beam. The columns in this system are usually of the straight profile. The tapered-beam system works best with a low-slope roof profile, as the rafter becomes too deep in steep-slope applications. The tapered-beam system can be economical for relatively small frame widths— between 30 and 60 ft. Beyond 60 ft, single-span rigid frames typically become more cost-effective. The eave height in this system usually does not exceed 20 ft. Tapered beams are well suited for small office buildings and other commercial applications, particularly where ceilings are desired. ‘The tapered beam is typically connected to the column by bolted end plates. Some manufacturers consider this a semirigid (partially restrained) connection—rigid enough to resist lateral loads but flexible enough to allow for a simple-span beam behavior under gravity loading. The idea of the “wind” connections of this kind has been popu- lar in the past, but today such simplistic assumptions are out of favor. Contemporary AISC Specification (2005) recognizes this type of attachment as “partially restrained (PR)Chapter One moment connection.” These are treated as moment connections, but with an under- standing that the rotation between the connected members is not negligible as in fully restrained moment connections. According to the Specification, the design of a PR con- nection must consider its force-deformation response characteristics, properly docu- mented by prior research, analysis, or testing. From a practical standpoint, the end-plate connection behavior depends on the design details. For example, the AISC Manual (2005) includes the design provisions for extended end-plate fully restrained moment connections and provides further refer~ ences to the AISC Design Guides. But the manual also recognizes, and provides the design tables for, shear (simple-span) end-plate connections, where the moment resis- tance is neglected. To qualify for this assumption, the end-plate length must be less than the depth of the beam to which itis attached. Itfollows that a rafter and two columns joined by the full-depth or extended end- plate connections should probably be treated as a PR rigid frame, similar to the single- span rigid frame examined previously. Under this assumption the columnsare designed for the fixity moments at the knees. What is the importance of this discussion for the foundation designer? The actual behavior of the tapered-beam system affects the magnitude of the column reactions. ‘The moment-frame behavior prodiuces horizontal reactions at the column bases from. gravity loading, while a simple-span beam behavior does not. ‘AS the question marks shown in Fig, 13c imply, depending on which details are used, the horizontal reactions may or may not be present in the tapered-beam system. Despite the common manufacturer's assumptions to the contrary, only a tapered beam ‘with true “shear” end-plate connections will not generate horizontal reactions. As just explained, that would be a tapered beam with the partial-depth end plates. A tapered ‘beam with the full-depth end-plate connections probably will generate horizontal reac- tions, The foundation engineers should be aware of these design nuances. 1.2.5 Trusses ‘All the primary framing systems previously described—single- and multiple-span rigid frames and tapered beams—have solid webs. Similar primary-frame systems can be produced with truslike webs. The open webs allow for a passage of pipes and con- duits that otherwise would have to run underneath the frames. As a result, the clear height and volume of the building could both decrease, which in turn could reduce its heating and cooling costs. Among the disadvantages of the open-web solution is the increased labor required to assemble the framing, To use their advantages, trusses are best specified in the occupancies that require a lot of piping and conduits, such as in ‘manufacturing and distribution facilities. In conventional (ron-pre-engineered) buildings, open-web steel joists are often used in combination with joist girders. In this approach the whole floor and roof struc- ture can be framed with trusslike elements, Some pre-engineered metal building manu- facturers offer proprietary primary and secondary truss framing as a complete system aswell. “The foundation reactions exerted by the truss-type frames are similar to those of the corresponding frames with solid webs, and the previous discussion applies here as well. For the trusses that function akin to the tapered-beam frames, the rafterto-column connections should be evaluated as described previously for the tapered-beam system. Depending on the connection design, horizontal reactions on the foundations underIntroduction to Metal Building Systems gravity loading may or may not exist, as shown by the question marks in Fig. 1.34. When the truss system is not designed for the moment-frame action (as in simply sup- ported joist girders), gravity Joading generates only the vertical reactions. To ensure stability under lateral loads, buildings with truss-type framing typically require sepa- rate vertical lateral-force-resisting elements, such as braced frames or shear walls. 1.2.6 Other Primary Framing Systems ‘The previous discussion describes the most common primary framing systems, but there are a few others: * Single-slope rigid frames. These primary frames are sometimes selected for shopping malls and similar applications that require roof drainage to be diverted to the back of the building. tn terms of structural function and foundation reactions, they behave similarly to single-and muitiple-span double-slope gable frames discussed previously. ‘+ Lean-to frames. These frames typically consist of one single-slope rafter and one column, with the other column being that of another building frame that supports the lean-to structure. Because lean-to frames require another primary frame system for stability, their foundations should be designed in concert with, ‘those of the “parent” building. Lean-to framing is occasionally used in the additions to existing pre-engineered buildings—often an unwise course of action, for several reasons. One of them is the fact that an extra load is being placed on the existing column and its foundation, both of which might become overstressed as a result, It is certainly possible to strengthen the foundations for the increased loading, but a much more economical and straightforward solution is generally to frame the addition structure as an independent system with its own foundations. ‘* Proprietary systems, There are a few truly unique primary framing systems, where the framing consists of proprietary members (see Newman, 2004). The foundations for these systems are best designed only after the system's behavior and the loads applied to the supports are thoroughly understood by the foundation designer, 1.2.7 Endwall and Sidewall Framing ‘The typical endwall and sidewall framing consists of vertical and horizontal secondary members. The horizontal members are girts, which laterally brace the metal siding or other wall materials. The vertical members are girt supports. In single-story buildings they span from the foundation to the roof. Girts are usually made of cold-formed C or Zsections. Insidewalls, girts generally span horizontally between the primary frame columns, and no vertical secondary members are required. There are exceptions, of course, such as when open-end stee! joists are used in the roof. In that case the so-called wind columns can reduce the horizontal girt span. Wind columns carry little vertical loading: Their chief role is to reduce the span of the girts they support. In endwalls, vertical secondary members ate generally needed, unless the building 4s so narrow (less than 25 to 30 ft) that the single-span girts can cover its whole width. ‘The vertical secondary members used for girt support are made of either cold-formed8 Chapter One -t i | aay in gw Fiuned.4 Expandable endwall framing. — a or hot-rolled channels or Isections. In addition to providing lateral support for the wall gitts, they might carry some vertical loads as well. The typical spacing of the endwall posts is about 20 ft, controlled by the flexural capacities of the girts. Endwalls can include wall bracing. ‘There are two types of the endwall framing: expandable and nonexpandable. Expandable endwall framing includes a regular interior frame supported by the foundations designed for the interior-frame loading, Horizontal and vertical secondary members are placed within or outside of the frame to support the wall siding or other wall materials that enclose the building (Fig. 1.4). These secondary members primarily resist their tributary lateral forces applied perpendicular to the wall. When needed, the secondary members can be removed and the building expanded by placing additional primary frames parallel to the existing. The former endwall primary frame then becomes an interior frame in the expanded building. Nonexpandable enduall framing contains no primaty frames and consists solely of hor- izontal and vertical secondary members supporting single-span roof beams spanning between them. The roof beams support purlins at the top of the wall. As with expandable endwalls, these horizontal and vertical secondary members primarily resist lateral loads applied perpendicular to the plane of the endwall. The vertical members also support the tributary gravity loads carried to them by the roof beams. The foundation reactions from the endwall posts thus depend on whether the endwall is expandable or not. For both endwalls and sidewalls, girts can be positioned relative to the columns or other vertical supports in three possible ways (insets): bypass, flush, and semiflush. As the name suggests, a bypass girt is placed wholly outside of the column's outer flange (Fig, 1.5). ‘A flush girt is framed so that its outside flange is approximately even with the column'sIntroduction to Metal Building Systems 9 @ ) Froure £5 Girt inset: (@) Bypass dirt (8) Hush gir. (Gometimes it protrudes outward by about 1 in,, to allow for field tolerances). A semi- flush girt falls between the two extremes. 4. 3 Frame- -and- Purlin Buildings: ateral-| Force-Resisting Systems As stated previously, many primary framing systems found in metal buildings can resist not only gravity, but also lateral forces applied in the plane of the frames. This advantage makes single-span and multiple-span rigid frames particularly appealing, Other primary framing systems rely on separate vertical lateral-force-resisting elements in the direction parallel to the frames. These elements are typically placed in the end- walls, and a roof diaphragm is needed to complement the vertical elements and pro- vide a complete lateral-force-resisting system. In any case, the separate vertical elements are usually needed in the direction perpendicular to the frames. ‘The vertical lateral-force-resisting elements that are separate from the primary frames can be of vatious types. The most common is the wall cross bracing (Fig. 1.2). A typical cross-bracing assembly (“bent”) consists of two columns, diagonal bracing, and the eave strut. This system can be classified as concentrically braced frame with ten- sion-only bracing. The diagonal bracing can be made of steel cables, rods, or angles (listed in the order of increasing reliability). Rods or cables are often attached directly to the column webs via the so-called hill- side washers (Fig. 1.6). Some of the pitfalls of this arrangement and the suggested improvements are discussed in Newman (2004). In a more reliable detail, the rod is attached to a tab welded to the column base plate via a bolted connection between the tab and a small plate welded to the end of the rod (see Fig. 1.7). The angle brace can be attached in a similar fashion. ‘Another attachment alternative is to connect the wail bracing directly to the con- crete floor structure by means of foundation clips. A typical clip looks like an inverted 1, with four or more anchor rods securing it into concrete (Fig. 1.8). For this solution to work, an ample area of the foundation concrete should be available for the clip to be10 Chapter One Fieune 1.6 Connection of the wail tod bracing to the columin web via a hilside washer Fraune 4.7 Connection of the wall rod bracing to the column base plate vie @ bolted tab.Introduction to Metal Building Systems Freune 1.8 Foundation clip is directiy attached to concrete embedded in. This means that the foundation pier, if one is present, should be enlarged to allow for the anchorage, as discussed in the chapters that follow. Some metal buildings, such as car dealerships, storerooms, and offices, have large windows that fill the space between the sidewall columns along the whole length of the building, Since the windows leave no place for the wall bracing, other solutions must be employed. One of them uses wind posts (not to be confused with the wind column described earlier). The wind post is a fixed-base column cantilevered from the founda- tion. ‘The base fixity of the wind post places significant demands on the foundation, ‘which must be designed for the shear force and the fixity moment at the base, As dis- cussed in Chap. 7, moment-resisting foundations are quite costly, and this solution should be used sparingly, with the full understanding of the cost consequences. Portal frames—rigid frames placed in between and perpendicular to the primary framing —represent another, more common alternative solution (Fig. 1.9). The attachments between the portal frame and the primary frames require some thought, so as not to introduce torsion into the portal frame and to provide a proper lateral bracing for it. ‘Some relevant details are included in Newman (2004). The connections at the base of the portal frames are quite important for the founda~ tion designers. Portal frames can extend all the way down to the foundation (Fig. 1.92), or be stopped short and be attached to the primary frame columns (Fig, 1.98). As with foundation clips, additional concrete area must be provided wherever full-height portal frames are specified. If the partial-height portal frames are used, the supporting pri- mary frame columns should be designed for a weak-axis bending imposed by the portal frame reactions. ry12 Chapter One | Pot rane Ficune 4.9 Portal frames: (@) Pullheight, bearing on foundation; (6) stopped short of the foundation, attached to the primary column.14 Introduction to Metal Building Systems Quonset Hut-Type Buildings ‘The original Quonset hut was a popular World War II structure that provided inexpen- sive shelter to U.S. soldiers all around the world. Hundreds of thousands of these unas- suming prefabricated buildings were produced during the war. They were made of corrugated steel sheets formed into arches. The arches could be easily assembled and disassembled using only ordinary hand tools, making them practical and portable shelters. ‘Today, Quonset hut-type buildings are still produced—and still need foundations. ‘The main foundation-related difference between these structures and the frame-and- purlin systems previously described is the nature of their reactions at the base. In the original Quonset hut and in many of today’s versions, the corrugated steel sheets serve as roofing, siding, and primary and secondary framing all in one. They are the structure. Since there are no columns, the corrugated arches exert distributed reac- tions on the supporting foundations. The bearing connections at the base in today’s versions vary. In the most basic approach, the ends of the corrugated arches are simply inserted into the slots formed within the foundations. Alternatively, the ends of the sheets are attached to continuous steel angles anchored to the concrete, In a more sophisticated detail, the corrugated sheets are connected to a special base section, a combination of flashing and bearing strips matching the profile of the sheets. Another version of the contemporary Quonset hut-type buildings relies on discrete steel arches that support corrugated or ribbed sheets running horizontally (Fig. 1.10). Ficone 4-10 \ version of Quonset hut-type bulding that uses Glsorete steal arches and horizontally spanning steel sheets,4 Chapter One ‘The structure consists of the arches bearing on the sidewall concrete walls and the verti- cal postsat the end walls, with the corrugated sheets acting as cladding, The foundation loading for this version is similar to that of the frame-and-purlin system, but the loads are generally smaller owing to the modest building sizes. While the foundation design for the various versions of the Quonset hut-type buildings is not included in this book, the basic design approach would be similar: The typical foundation system for these structures is either the slab with haunch (Chap. 8) or continuous wall footing (Chap. 5). A separate rectangular grade beam, while com- monly encountered, may not provide the required strength and stability ‘A word of caution: Some manufacturers of Quonset hut-type buildings rely on fixity moments at the base to reduce the steel weight, As explained in the chapters that follow, a fixity moment at the base greatly increases the demand on the foundation and consequently, its size and cost. The foundation designers for Quonset hut-type buildings should undertake a careful investigation of the reactions these structures impose. References ‘Metal Building System Manual, Metal Building Manufacturers Association (MBMA), Cleveland, OH, 2006. Newman, Alexander, Metal Building Systems: Design and Specifications, 2d ed., McGraw- Hill, New York, 2004. Roofing Systems Design Manual, Metal Building Manufacturers Association (MBMA), ‘Cleveland, OH, 2000. Specification for Structural Stee! Buildings, American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), Chicago, IL, 2005. Steel Construction Manual, 13th ed., American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), ‘Chicago, IL, 2005.CHAPTER 2 Foundation Design Basics 2.1 Soil Types and Properties 2.4.4 Introduction A building foundation is only as good as the soil that supports it. The origins of many foundation failures lie in a basic lack of understanding of the relevant soil properties by the designers and builders alike. Anyone wishing to design a foundation should first become familiar with the soils at the site and should possess at least a rudimentary comprehension of the geotechnical issues involved, Those who attempt to design four dations for a metal building system without such information are jeopardizing both the building and their professional reputations. The field of soils engineering is quite complicated, and some of it is art rather than science (Merritt, 1983). Throughout this chapter we strongly recommend that a quali- fied geotechnical engineer be engaged to help determine the soil properties including the allowable bearing values. Our goal is to help the foundation designer work with the soils professional and understand some of the most relevant topics presented in the geotechnical reports. We try to avoid getting overly technical or attempting to squeeze the content of many geotechnical books into a few pages. Instead, we explain how var- ious soils influence the strength and settlement of foundations and why these soils behave differently. 2.1.2 Some Relevant Soil Properties What is the soil made of? Its most basic components are the ground-down perticles of, rock, water, and air. The presence of voids, filled with air or water, explains why the soil weighs much less than a solid rock (typically 90-130 Ib/ft vs. about 165 lb/ft). When the soil is loaded by the foundation, the voids are compressed, and settlement takes place. The size and shape of the soil particles influence the soil properties. Some of the properties that are of utmost importance to the foundation designers are listed as fol- lows (vith common, not necessarily academically rigorous, definitions): * Allowable bearing capacity: The amount of unit pressure the soil can support, + Compressibility: How much the soil can be compressed under load. + Density: The weight of soil per unit of volume (can be measured as wet or dry density, ie, with or without the weight of water in the soil.16 Chapter Two + Expansiveness: How much the soil expands or shrinks with the changes of the moisture content + Moisture content: The weight of water in the soil sample divided by the weight of dry soil in it. * Porosity: The volume of airand water in the sample divided by the total volume of the sample. A high porosity usually suggests a low bearing capacity. ‘+ Shear strength: The soil shearing resistance at failure, established by laboratory testing * Void ratio: The volume of the voids in the soil sample divided by the volume of the solids. ‘Some of these properties are further explained, and a few other properties are intro- duced, in the sections that follow. 2.4.3 Soll Classification ‘There are several ways to classify soils, perhaps the most common being the Unified Soil Classification System. Under this system, soils are divided into three groups, based on the patticle size and other characteristics. The sizes of soil particles are determined by passing soil samples through a series of sieves with standardized opening sizes. The smallest sieve size, No. 200, has 200 openings per inch, each opening being 0.074-mm wide. A particle of this size cannot be seen by the naked eye (NAVFAC DM-7.1). The two main soil groups in. the Unified Soil Classification System are: A. Coarse-grained soils (defined as those where more than 50 percent of the sample by weight is retained on the No. 200 sieve). B, Fine-grained soils (whee more than 50 percent of the sample passes through the No, 200 sieve). A subset of this group includes highly organic soils, such as peat, discussed separately later. ‘Table 2.1 further classifies soil materials and their fractions (fine, medium, coarse) as a function of the sieve size. ‘Medium No. 40 to No. 10 Fine No. 200 to No. 40 Fines (silt and clay) Passing No. 200 Source: NAVFAC DMT. ‘Teaie 24 Definitions of Soll Components and Fractions by Grain SizeFoundation Design Basics 2.1.4 Characteristics of Coarse-Grained Soils Coarse-gtained soils include some the best soils on which to build—sands and gravels— as well as boulders and cobbles, The particles of these soils have a spherical shape, and there is no adhesion (“stickiness”) between them. Accordingly, these soils are often called cohesionless. The border separating sands and gravels is No. 4 sieve size. As Table 2.1 shows, the border between coarse and medium sand is No. 10 sieve size, and between fine and medium sand, No. 40. Cohesionless soils derive theit shear strength from friction between the particles. Their bearing strength depends on the angle of internal friction @ (phi), which for clean sand is approximately 30°. A pile of sand will typically stabilize at an angle of a similar magnitude. ‘The distribution of the various particle sizes within the sample is determined by a sieve analysis. The analysis shows how much soil is retained on each of the various sieves as a percentage of the total sample weight. A plot of the size distribution is then constructed and the soil gradation established. Well-graded sands and gravels will show ‘a wide distribution of grain sizes, while poorly graded soils might have one or two sizes that predominate, Gap-graded coarse-grained soils typically have lots of fine and coarse particles, with litle in between. ‘Well-graded sands and gravels are preferred for foundation supportand as backfill. Why? Poorly and gap-graded soils have many voids between the larger particles that remain unfilled because of absence or scarcity of fine and intermediate factions. Since the bearing strength of cohesionless soils depends on friction of closely packed parti- dles, any gaps and voids tend to reduce it Regardless of the gradation, sands and gravels are still considered better soils for foundation support than cohesive soils. Sands and gravels are highly permeable and thus drain well, are less susceptible to frost, and can be readily compacted. ‘The Unified Soil Classification System allows for a ready identification of soil gra- dation by assigning the appropriate letters corresponding to various gradation condi- tions (W for well-graded, P for poorly graded, and G for gap-graded soil). These letters follow the symbols for the type of soil (e.g., G for gravel, S for sand). For example, the soils within the group symbol GW represent well-graded gravels, while those with the symbol SP define poorly graded sand. A summary of the soil properties classified according to the Unified Soil Classification System is shown in Table 2.2. Coarse-grained soils can have different degrees of compactness, such as loose, medium, or dense. Naturally, dense sands and gravels tend to have the highest load-bearing capacities, and foundation failures in those soils have been infrequent. ‘Compactness of sands can be estimated from the number of blow counts (see Sec. 2.3). Many geotechnical texts, such as NAVFAC DM/7.1, contain charts that help establish the estimated degree of compactness in sands and gravels. 2.1.5 Characteristics of Fine-Grained Soils Fine-grained soils include silts and clays. Silts are composed of the langer-size particles than clays and tend to be more stable. According to the US. Bureau of Soils, a typical particle of clay is 0,005 mm in size, a particle of silt 0.05 mm, and a grain of medium sand 0.5 mm. Put differently, the clay particles are the finest, those of silt are 10 times larger, and those of sand are 10 times larger than silt. The fine-grained soil category also includes loess—wind-driven silt. aU18 Chapter Two | Well-graded gravels, gravel sand | moctures litle or no fines. | Poort graded gravels or gravel | sand mitures, litle or no fines. | Weitgraded sands, gravelly sands, little or no fines. Poorly graded sands or ga ‘sands, Ite or no fines. eM Silty gravels, graversandsitt | Good mixtures. Silty sand, dst mixtures. | Good Giajey gaves, ravelsondcley | Mediurh are ‘Glayey sands, sandelay mixture, | Medium — Inorganic sits and very fine Meaium sands, rook flour, silty or clayey fine sands or clayey sits with __| slat plasticity 7 cL Inorganic clays of low to medium | Medium Medium | Medium Plasticity, gravely cays, sandy ‘0 tow clays, silty lays, lean clays. Tt inorganic clays of high plasticity, | Poor Medium | Hign fat cays. i _ Inorganic sits, micaceous or | Poor High | High diatomaceous fine sandy or sity | sails, elastic silts, 3o ganic sits and organic siy” | Poor Weatan | Medium __[SSeottowoectale | ‘OH Organic clays of medium to high T Unsatisfactory | Medium | High Group w | plasty organ si, | 7 ; Pt Peat and other highly organic Unsatisfactory | Medium | High | eons. L | | Source: Massachusetts State Building Code, 7th ed, 2008, PorSk: lin. =25.4 mm, ‘The percolation rate for good drainages over 4in. per hour, medium drainage isn. to4 in, per hour, and poor is less than 2 in, per hour, ‘Solis with a low poteatial expansion typically have a plasticity indax (PI) of Oto 15, soils with a medium potential ‘expansion have a PT of 10 to 35 and soils with a high potential expansion have a PI greater than 20, ‘Tree 22 Summary of Soll Properties Glassiied according to the Unified Sol Classification SystemFoundation Design Basics In addition to the particle size, particle shape of fine-grained soils is also different from that of sand. Unlike the globules of sand, the particles of silt and clay are flat-shaped. The strength of silts and clays is derived from cohesion between these flat particles, not from friction between them. Accordingly, silts and clays are called cohesive soils. Silts and clays differ in the degree of their plasticity. Plasticity characteristics of cohesive soils are determined by the Atterberg limits tests. The Atterberg limits, which are also used to determine the degree of soil expansiveness, are described in the next section. Some clays are called “fat” or “lean,” although these terms are considered less than technical, as discussed in Sec. 22.2; they shrink and swell significantly with changes in soil moisture. Fine-grained soils also differ by the degree of consistency, which ranges from very soft (when squeezed, the soil can be extruded between fingers) to hard (it can be indented with difficulty by a thumbnail). The clay with medium consistency can be molded by a strong finger pressure. The higher the soil consistency, the higher the strength, as measured by the blow count. A medium-consistency clay typically has an estimated range of unconfined com- pressive strength of % to 1 tons/ft* and a blow count of 4 to 8. A table in NAVEAC DM-7.1 (based on Terzaghi and Peck, 1967) provides a guide for estimating consistency of fine-grained soils Certain clays lose much of their strength after being disturbed by vibration. Vibra- tion could be caused by common construction activities, such as pile driving or even heavy truck treffic. These sensitie clays typically recover mast of their loss of strength after some time has passed. In general, clay soils are nearly impermeable and some are expansive, which makes them poor candidates for foundation support. The higher their plasticity, the less desir- able they are. Clays are also generally avoided as backfill, because they develop high lateral pressures that can damage foundation walls. Excavations in clay soils drain very slowly and are difficult to dewater. 2.4.6 The Atterberg Limits ‘The Atterberg limits are specific moisture contents at which a cohesive soil changes its state. Soils typically exist ina solid state, of course, but they can also be liquid if enough moistureis added. They can also be in a plastic state, which is defined as the state where soil can be rolled in a thread with the diameter equal to 1/8 in. The minimur moisture content at which this becomes possible is called the plastic limit (PL). Adding more water to a sample in a plastic state will eventually liquefy it. The moisture content at which the soil starts to flow is called the liquid limit (LL). The soil containing more water than the liquid limit would be expected to be in a liquid state. A liquid limit of 50 is typical for cohesive soils, At that moisture content the soil is two- thirds solid particles and one-third water (Butler, undated). Conversely, starting with a soil sample in the semisolid state (where the soil can be easily molded) and removing moisture at first causes the soil to shrink. Eventually, the volume stops decteasing, signifying that the soil has transitioned into a solid state. ‘The moisture content at which this occurs is called shrinkage limit (SL). In summary, as shown in Fig. 2.1, shrinkage limit separates soil in solid state from semisolid state; plastic limit is a border between semisolid and plastic states; and liquid limit lies between plastic and liquid states.20 Chapter Two Laie LL Liquid iit z & z a Prastic PL—Plastic himit g ' a bad SL—Shrinkage limit Solid Riterberg limits (etter Brown), ‘The Atterberg limits can be used to arrive at two important indices: plasticity index and liquidity index. Plasticity index (P¥) is equal to the liquid limit (LL) minus the plas- tie Limit (PL): PL=LL-PL. Plasticity index defines the high and low boundaries of the plastic state of the soil. Alhigh PL is typical of expansive clays. Liquidity index (L1) is established from the following equation, using the abbrevia- tions defined previously and the soil’s natural water content W: Li=(W-PL)/PI 2.4.7 Soil Mixtures Many real-life soils contain mixtures of various materials. Quite often, coarse-grained soils contain fines. A mixture that is predominantly gravel but also includes silt, and a mixture that contains gravel, sand, and silt, are assigned group symbol GM, Silty sands and sand-silt mixtures are called SM. Similarly, clayey gravels and gravel-sand-clay compounds are designated as GC, and clayey sands and sand-clay mixtures are given the symbol SC, Naturally, the soil component that predominates governs the designation of the mixed soil. Depending on the percentage of the secondary soil components, the follow- ing descriptive adjectives are used: Trace 110 10% Little 10 to 20% Some 20 0.35% And 35 t0.50% For example, a sand mixture containing 15 percent silt is called “sand, little silt”Foundation Design Basics ‘Some common terms referring to stratified soils, as defined in NAVFAC DM-7.1, include warved clay (alternating seams or layers of sand, silt, and clay) and soil pocket (@ small erratic deposit, usually less than 1 ft deep). A soil stratum refers to material thicker than 12 in,a layer is 4 to 12 in. thick; and a seant is 1/16 to ¥4in. thick. 2.1.8 Structural Fill Structural fill can be used whenever in situ soil is unsuitable for foundation support. The fill might also be required when the building is located on a sloped site. The fill ‘material can be simply a soil brought from enother location, or it can be reconstructed on site by adding the appropriate amount of water. Whatever the origin, structural fill requires proper compaction to achieve its desired load-bearing capacity. Proper com- paction packs the soil particles closer together and helps them develop the desired degree of friction. Countless foundations have undergone significant settlements because the fill under them was not placed or compacted properly. Structural fill typi- cally consists of well-graded sand and gravel. A typicel project specification might call for structural fill to be placed in 6-, 8 or IQinsthick maximum layers and compacted until the specified dry-density value is met. A common criterion specifies the dry density of each layer over the entire area being at least equal to 95 percent of the dry density achieved by ASTM D1557 Method D (Modified Proctor Density) ‘The goal of compaction and adding water is to produce the fill with the maximum practically attainable unit weight (density), which generally signifies the strongest pos- sible material. For each fill composition there is an optimal water content that produces the maximum density. Too little water does not allow the soil particles to be properly “lubricated”; too much water results in a soupy fill material, which is also undesirable. In many cases the optimal water content is established by laboratory testing. ‘To what depth should the fill be carried? Obviously, it must stop at some point. The degree of in situ soil removal depends on the particulars of the site and is generally specified in the geotechnical reports. 2.4.9 Rock Foundation designers tend to welcome the discovery of solid ledge (top of rock) at the siteas great news. While rock has indeed the highest allowable bearing capacities, foun- dations bearing on ledge have their own challenges. Here are a few issues to consider. First, which rock is i? There are various types of rock, with different characteristics, hardness and bearing capacities. The latter can vary by two orders of magnitude. According to NAVFAC DM-7.1, a rock with “very soft” hardness (it can be peeled with a knife) has a range of uniaxial compressive strength ranging from 10 to 250 tons/ft. By contrast, “extremely hard” rock (it requires many blows of geological hammer to break an intact specimen) has a strength exceeding 2000 tons/f¥. Second, the rock on site might be weathered or partly decomposed. A decision needs to be made whether some of the rock should be removed to get a better allowable bearing capacity, or whether a reduced capacity can be used instead. A competent geo- technical investigation should help answer this question. Third, the rock surface is rarely perfectly level, and sometimes it slopes significantly. ‘common problem arises when some column footings are placed on rock and others con soil. A similar challenge is present when one part of a wall footing bears on rock and another on soil. In both cases differential settlement of the structure is probable, and the a2 Chapter Two solutions are not easy. Quite often, the highest ridges of the rock are removed, so that at least some soil cushion exists between the bottom of the footing and the ledge. The big- ger the cushion, the less likely that the foundation will settle unevenly, However, rock removal is costly and could damage the adjacent structures, and the pros and cons of, this approach should be considered very carefully. 2.2 Problem Soils 2.2.1 Expansive Soils: The Main Issues ‘The flat shape of clay particles helps attract and hold free moisture. Clay soils are known, to shrink and swell with moisture changes, but some clays move much more than oth- ers. Expansive clays present a particular challenge for the foundation designers. ‘When wet, these soils swell and exert upward pressures on slabs on ground and lateral pressures on basement walls, a phenomenon that has caused numerous founda- tion failures. When moisture disappears, the soils shrink and the foundations settle, losing support and causing more failures. Much of this movement—heaving and settlement—is caused by temporary or seasonal moisture changes. For example, short downpours in an otherwise arid climate can trigger it, as can leaking pipes, irrigation systems, vegetation near the building, and so on. Expansive soils can be found in many areas of the United States, but they are most common in the Midwest and the South, in states such as Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Colorado, Many areas in California are also affected. ‘What differentiates these highly unstable soils from the other clays is the inclusion of some swelling materials that have even smaller particle sizes than clay. In decreasing, order of expansiveness, these are montmorillonite, illite, attepulgite, chlorite, and kaolinite (Brown, 1997). The worst offender, montmorillonite, is reportedly able to expand up to 20 times the original volume! The more of these materials are in the clay, the more expansiveness can be expected. Some highly expansive soils can swell more than 30 percent and exert pressures measured in tens of kips/ft’. The expansive potential of soil is sometimes expressed as, potential vertical rise (PVR). In many cases PVR is relatively modest—a few inches at ‘most, but in some locales it is measured in feet. ‘The soils with high expansion potential are identified in Table 2.2. The topics of soil investigation, testing, and the design of foundations in expansive clays are covered in depth in UFC 3-220-07 (Formerly TM 5-818-7), Foundations in Expansive Soils, and other authoritative publications. 2.2.2 Measuring Expansive Potential of Soil Soil expansiveness can be measured by several parameters. The soil plasticity index is one of the Atterberg limits described earlier. Another useful soil property is expansion index (EI). Expansion index is determined by the standardized procedure in ASTM D 4829, Standard Test Method for Expansion Index of Soils. In this method, a sample of soil is placed into a standard metal ring, saturated to 50 percent and placed in a consolidometer. The degree of saturation is measured as the volume of water divided by the volume of voids, s0 at 50 percent saturation one-half of the voids is filled with water. A 1-psi (Ib/in?) pressure is applied, and then the sample isFoundation Design Basics fully saturated. The sample's deformations are recorded for24h, or until the rate of swell becomes less than 0.005 mm/h. The expansion index is computed as the percentage of swell multiplied by the percentage of the soil fraction passing No. 4 sieve. (The openings in sieve No, 4 are equal to 4.76 mm or 3/16 in.) The following correlation between the expansion index numbers and the degree of potential expansion is provided: 0-20 Very low 21-50 Low 51-90 Medium 91-130 High > 131 Very high The formal parameters that define expansive soils are established by building codes. Paragraph 1803.5;3 of the 2009 International Building Code® (IBC-09) defines expansive soils as those meeting all four of the following criteria 1, Plasticity index determined per ASTM D 4318 is 15 or greater. 2. More than 10 percent of particles pass No. 200 sieve (determined per ASTM D 422), 3. More than 10 percent of particles are less than 5 micrometers [0.005 mm] in size (determined per ASTM D 422), 4. Expansion index determined per ASTM D 4829 exceeds 20. Item 2 refers to the “fines” fraction of the soil (recall the definition in Table 2.1). Item 3 considers the amount of even smaller particles—those associated with expansive compo- nents. When the test for iter 4 is conducted, IBC allows the other three tests to be waived, ‘The clays with a liquid limit of greater than 50 are sometimes called “fat clays,” while “lean clays” are those with low plasticity indices. Many geotechnical engineers frown on the use of the terms “fat clay” and “Jean clay” and prefer calling those materi- als clays with high or low plasticity indices. 2.2.3 Organics Few words are less welcome on the construction site than organics. A more technical name is highly organic soils, a soil class that includes peat and organic sit. “Organic” means that ‘these materials contain vegetable matter and typically have low specific gravities. Peat is readily identified by organic color, odor, fibrous texture, and spongy feel. Ina submerged state, organics are stable and can even carry significant loading. Their blow counts could be high. But when the water level drops, organic soils xy out—and sometimes decompose—and lose their structural capacity, producing settlements sometimes measured in feet. Decomposition can also occur when peat is subjected to drying and wetting cycles Butler, undated). ‘Organic soils are generally considered unsuitable for building support, although minor amounts might be acceptable when justified by a careful analysis. When signifi- cant amounts of organics are found at the site, special steps must be taken (soil removal, preloading, improvement, using deep foundations, and so on). Figure 2.2 shows organ- ics and other unsuitable material excavated and awaiting removal. Dealing with deep organic deposits can increase the construction costs so dramatically that it might be ‘mote economical to find another site to build on, B4 23 Soil Investigation Chapter Two Ficuae2.2_ Organics and other unsuitable material 2.2.4 Collapsing Soils and Karst Some soils exhibit significant reduction in volume and in void ratio with increased moisture content, even under stable loading. Such decrease in volume leads to major settlement and loss of bearing. Collapsing soils include loess, some weakly cemented sands, and silts with soluble cementing agents (such as gypsum or halite), as well as some granite residual soils. In these soils loose bulky grains are held together primarily by capillary stresses (NAVFAC DM-7.1). Collapsible soils are found mostly in the arid regions. When encountered on site, these soils should be carefully investigated and appropriate steps taken to mitigate the situation. ‘Another problem soil is karst, made of soluble bedrock—limestone or dolomite Some areas of the United States (eg... parts of Kentucky) that contain karst are known for sinkholes, or depressions caused by the soil collapses. Some of the most popular ‘underground caves exist in those areas. 2.3.1 Types of Investigation Geotechnical investigation establishes the soil conditions at the site and ultimately, the allowable bearing capacity of the soil. The extent ofthe investigative efforts depends on the available information about the site, the size of the building, its use, location, seismic design category, and a host of other factors. A small structure planned in the area of known excellent soils with little variability often does not require the investigativeFoundation Design Basics efforts needed for a large pre-engineered building intended for industrial use in en area of questionable soils. Chapter 18, Soils and Foundations of IBC-09, specifies the conditions when a soil investigation is required. Italso establishes the basic parameters for investigation, sam- pling, and reporting, The code gives the local building official the power to make some ‘critical decisions related to soil investigation. For example, the important issue of ‘whether classification and investigation of the soil requires involvement of a registered design professional is left to the building official’s discretion (IBC-09 Section 1803). A geotechnical investigative program often consists of at least two phases: prelimi- naty and detailed. A preliminary investigation is (or should be) one of the first steps in determination of the site's suitability. Credible signs of unsuitable materials, such as highly organic soils or loose fills, detected at this stage might stop the proposed project in its tracks and prompt the prospective purchaser to look elsewhere. At the very least the proposed construction budget will need to be reexamined. A detailed investigation might include making soil borings or test pits, collecting soil samples, and performing laboratory and office analyses. Both these phases are further described later. 2.3.2 Preliminary Exploration In a preliminary exploration, the existing sources of information are reviewed. These might inchide soil borings from the adjacent sites, topographic maps, aerial photos, and other sources. In many urban areas, the results from previous investigations are readily available, and these could give a basic idea of what to expect. A Web site maintained by the US. Department of Agriculture can also be useful in identifying the probable soils present at the site site visit can supply plenty of information related to the site’s suitability. Anexpe- rienced engineer or contractor, who observes that the site is located on a hill or contains 4 virgin forest, will probably conclude that a layer of organics is unlikely to be encoun- tered underneath. The same conclusion could be reached when large stones and glacial till appear on the surface, as is common in many areas of New England. ‘The site visit could include interviews with the neighbors, who might know ebout the soil under their buildings, and an observation of their buildings. Any signs of seri- ous settlement, such as comer cracks in masonry buildings, deep ruts under vehicle tires, and puddles of standing water in dry weather, should be carefully noted. These signs could indicate the presence of loose fill or fine-grained soils. Again, the neighbors ‘could shed some light on this issue. cost-effective tactic might be to have a few test pits excavated at the site. A test pit (basically, a large hole in the ground) allows a direct observation of the soil. It can be dug manually or by a backhoe. A backhoe can reach about 10 to 12 ft down and can usually make five to eight pits per day. A test pit that contains full-depth unsuitable material strongly suggests continuing the exploration program with soil borings. The pits should be filled after their purpose is achieved, to avoid introducing unnecessary site hazards, Unlike a soil boring, which has been likened to a bullet-hole view, a test pit offers a broad perspective of the soil conditions near the surface. If the groundwater level is high, this becomes quite clear. Test pits can be invaluable in the situations where the competent soil at some depth is overlain by a highly variable or stratified material near the surface. The pits can also be useful for retrieving relatively undisturbed samples from their sides or bottom, which can be used for testing, Test pits also expose the soil6 Chapter Two that can be tested on site by some rudimentary techniques. A couple of such quick tests and observations are: ‘+ Try toroll a soil sample into a narrow tube (about 1/8-in. diameter), If the tube can be macle, the soil is cohesive. Try to shake off the remains from the hands. Ifthe soil sticks to the hands, itis probably silt + Place a sample of soil into a container with water and stit. How long does it take for the soil to settle? Sand and gravel settles very quickly, within 30 s. Silt usually settles in 15 to 60 min, while clay can stay suspended for hours. ‘The soil color observed at the walls of the pits can yield some useful information. Gray or bluish color indicates presence of at least some clay (this is the color of Boston blue lay, for example). Soils with black or dark brown color often contain organic materials. Red color typically indicates a presence of iron. Preliminary soil exploration often makes use of special equipment such as a pocket penetrometer. This portable device, somewhat similar to a tire pressure gauge, can be pushed by hand into the sides or butiom of a test pit, and the unconfined compression strength and the allowable bearing pressures read directly. Obviously, this basic device provides only a very rough idea about the soil’s capacity. It is particularly helpful in evaluating consistency of cohesive soils. More sophisticated equipment is generally used in the next phase of investigation. 2.3.3 Detailed Exploration: Soil Borings and Other Methods Detailed soil exploration builds on the results obtained from the preliminary investiga- tion. At this stage, soil borings are ordinarily used, sometimes supplemented by test pits to answer some field questions. For example, a test pit can clarify whether the “refusal” of the soil boring is the result of encountering a rock ledge or a boulder. A series of test pits alone might occasionally suffice when the confidence in the soil composition is very high, and it is only the soil conditions near the surface that are unclear, A typical soil-boring rig could progtess perhaps 40 ft per day in average soil. The soilboring process follows the procedure established by ASTM D 1586 for Standard Penetration Test (SPT). In this procedure, a 140-Ib hammer drops a distance of 30 in. in a free fall. The part that penetrates the soil can be fitted with a standard split-barrel sampler with an outside diameter of 2 in. ‘The operator measures the amount ofhammer blows called the blow cout (N) required to drive the split-spoon sampler 12 in. into the soil. The measurements start after an initial 6-in, penetration has been made, The blow count is recorded in a boring log as a number of blows for every 6 in. of penetration: (Since the log states the blow count per 6 in, of penetration, while the analysis considers the number of blows per 12 in, a potential for confusion exists among the uninitiated.) A refusal is defined as a condition where 100 blows produce less than 6 in. of movement. Figure 2.3 shows a typical soil-boring log. ‘The blow count can be used in the formulas that correlate it with the allowable bear- ing pressures. Such correlation is high for sands and gravels but low for silts and clays. For those cohesive soils, other methods of soil exploration are used, such as Shelby tube. Shelby tube is a thin-wall tube that is hydraulically pushed into a cohesive soil to obtain an undisturbed sample. The sample is sealed in the field to prevent moisture loss and is sent to a laboratory for an unconfined compression test, Inaddition to yielding the blow count, the Standard Penetration Test can be useful for retrieving soil samples—disturbed or undisturbed. To obtain an undisturbed sample,Foundation Design Basics BORING NO. ROU. NO. as] ane one | Toor foarom ‘crane | ee Pisa [-ss nx [Shey |oare evant ou i] [OaTE Fn Wr. THOU ORIER 7 So INSPECTOR. IDENTIFICATION REMARKS Soft dark brom organte Gar (OW, vee Soft brown Clayey SILT (HL), Medsun dense, gray coarse 0 Fine SAND, trace silty trace Fine gravel (SH) Well graded brove-aray GRAVELS, ‘sone sand (GW) Rl SANDSTONE, Broom fine grained Eghely weathered, hard, mediur Eractured, with brown st4ine Ree ROD Dorr OF BORING @ 14'0" symaous: sro oot ff eroennac seine FROCK CORED IZA XL waver Lever 12:50 = Seare aun 1310 = Pull Ran t Faure 2.3 Typical sollboring log (WAVAC DILT.D) aB Chapter Two brass liner is placed within the split-spoon sampler. Undisturbed samples can be sent to a lab for strength and compressibility tests or used for field tests, such as those involving pocket penetrometers. Disturbed samples are useful for soil classification. They are typically taken every 5 ft and at every change in soil strata. When rock is encountered, the split-spoon sam pler is replaced with a rock core. To make certain that the observed “refusal” is indeed solid rock and to compile some data about the material, one or two cores are often drilled about 5 ft deep into the rock, How deep should the soil borings be? The depth depends on the soil conditions, and it should be preferably established as part of the geotechnical report's recommen: dations. In general, i is useful to carry the borings to a depth where the vertical soil stresses caused by the proposed foundation loading become relatively low, such as less than 10 percent of the effective overburden stress. For low-rise buildings, which make up the majority of metal building systems, some engineers specify a depth of 30 ft below the bottom of the foundation, unless rock is found. To help safeguard against an unanticipated poor soil located ata greater depth, at least one boring could be drilled to a depth equal to the lesser of 100 ft, the least building dimension, or to refusal. Tnany event, a soil boring should never terminate in an unsuitable material. Ifthe ‘unsuitable soil is still present at the bottom of the specified boring depth, the depth must be extended. A decision like that—and many other practical challenges encoun- tered during the investigation—requires engineering expertise at the site. For this rea~ son, a technically competent person should be present on site when soil borings are taken. As IBC-09 states in Section 1803-4: ‘The registered design professional shall have a fully qualified representative on the site during all boring and soil sampling operations. How many soil borings should be used? The practices vary, and the number depends on the soil variability at the site, as determined by the preliminary exploration. At the very least, one boring should be placed at each comer of the building and one in the middle. For larger buildings, additional borings should be placed at regular intervals. ‘The practice of many engineers in this respect is to use a 50 ft by 50 ft grid, so that one boring is placed for each 2500 fof the building footprint. This spacing used to be man- dated by some older model codes. Other methods of soil exploration include the Cone Penetrometer Test (CPT), whereby a standard conelike device is forced into the ground and the rate of pressure is measured for each increment of penetration. The resistance to the cone’s penetration can come either from the soil pressure on the point or the frictional resistance on the sides. The ratio between the two shows which resistance mechanism predominates. ‘This friction ratio is equal to the frictional resistance divided by the point resistance, ‘The higher the friction ratio, the more cohesive the soil is. Accordingly, itis low in sands and gravels and high in clays. Among the advantages of CPT is speed and low cost, but the test obviously does not yield any samples, and its difficult to use in hard soils, 2.3.4 Laboratory Testing ‘The samples retrieved by the soil borings or other methods described earlier can be analyzed in the laboratory to scientifically establish the soil properties. These properties help establish load-bearing capacity of the soil and estimate the amount of foundation settlement in it.Foundation Design Basics ‘The available tests range from basic (unit weight, particle size, water content) to the tests that determine the Atterberg limits, to those that find the unconfined compression strength of the soil. For cohesivesoils, the latter involves taking.a soil specimen obtained by use of a Shelby tube and loading it until it shortens by 20 percent. The geotechnical engineer interprets the results to determine the allowable bearing pressure. As demon- strated in Butler, with certain assumptions about the foundation size and depth and the {actor of safety of 3.0, the allowable bearing pressure can be equal to the unconfined compression strength determined by testing, Other tests include direct shear test, which helps compute the @ (phi) angle for cohesionless soils, and other specific tests that might be needed, as called for by the project geotechnical engineer. 2.4 Settlement and Heave Issues 2.4.1. What Causes Settlement? All materials deform elastically under pressure, and soil is no exception. The founda- fon load or the weight of any added layers of fill auses stress in the soil, which under- gocs elastic strain. But soil compressibility greatly exceeds the amount of its elastic shortening alone, because soil contains voids filled with air and water. Soil consolidates under pressure, as the air and water are forced from the voids and the particles are packed closer together. The speed of consolidation depends on soil permeability: The faster the water can migrate away from the compressed area, the faster the soil consoli dates. Soil compressibility can be expressed as the amount of consolidation caused by a unit of pressure. Another settlement mechanism comes into play when the pore water exits the soil, even when the foundation pressure stays constant, The dropping water level could be ‘caused by natural climatic fluctuations or by the construction activities nearby. A classic problem occurs when dewatering ata nearby site temporarily lowers the water level in the vicinity and leads to settlement of nearby structures. A similar situation involves vibrations at a construction site (a pile-driving opera- tion, perhaps). Vibrations can cause settlement in the adjacent structures underlain by certain soils, such as loose sand. 2.4.2 Settlement in Sands and Gravels Insands and gravels—highly permeable materials—consolidation and settlement occur very quickly, almost instantaneously. The amount of settlement can be reliably pre- dicted by simple formulas and in general is relatively small. One such formula (from Brown, 1997) is: __ 4B AH eae where B= foundation width (f) = actual soil pressure (kips/f!) K,= modulus of vertical subgrade reaction (kips/f)30 Chapter Twe Very dense 385 {600-700 Source: Adapted from Brown, 1997, Notes: 1. Tkip= 1000 Ib and 1 kip/{t! = 187 KN /r?. 2. Use one-half of the listed values ifthe water table is at the base of footing. ‘amiz 2.3 Modulus of Vertical Subgrade Reaction K, for Sand ‘The equation assumes that the depth of the foundation below the ground level is less than its width, and that the width does not exceed 20 ft. The values of K, are established by geotechnical investigation. These values are correlated with the relative density and con pactness of sand or gravel: The higher those ate, the higher the value of K, is. Table 23, suggests the following values of K, for sandy soils, based on compactness and density of the material. Design Example 2.1 illustrates the process of computing settlements in sandy soil. Design Example 2.4: Settlement of Column Footing Problem Compute the settlement of a square column footing in dense sand with allow- able bearing pressure of 4 kips/ft® under a combined dead and live load of 100 kips, including the weight of the foundation, (1 kip = 1000 Ib.) Solution Find the required footing area for Aga 100/4 = 25 (F8) Use 5 x5 ft footing (B=5 ft). ‘The value of K, in Table 2.3 for dense sand ranges from 350 to 850 kips/f Use the average value of 450 kips/f. ‘The settlement is computed as: Be AxAxs? aha, a= ae = eae rye = 0.0247 =0.300n) kips/ft. 2.4.3 Settlement in Silts and Clays Soil deformation in silts and clays occurs differently than in sands and gravels. Unlike quick-settling cohesionless soils, cohesive soils tend to gradually compress, creep, and deform under sustained load. Loading silts and clays above the pressures in their natu- ral state leads to overconsolidation and settlement. When the load is removed—during, excavation, for example—the soil may rebound, leading to swelling and heaving. Why does it happen? Clay has little permeability, and itis difficult for its pore water to diffuse away from the loaded area. The process is lengthy, as the water must find a path through small soilFoundation Design Basics fissures and tiny spaces between the clay particles. Recall that those particles are only about 0.005 mun in size. Settlement in cohesive soils can take a very long time, often measured in many years. A classic example of gradual settlement in clay is the world-famous Tower of Pisa, which started to lean during construction and has continued to do so ever since. As was later discovered, a pocket of saturated clay existed about 30 ft below the surface, sand- wiched between two good soils—sand and granite. The pocket extended only under a part of the tower's footprint, which explained the unequal settlement. (This should serve as a cautionary tale to those who wish to skimp on the soil exploration efforts today.) In order to compute the amount of foundation settlement in clay caused by added pressure, one determines the thickness of the clay stratum, the exact soil properties, and the soil pressures in the original state and after the loading. Changes in moisture con- tent, another source of clay consolidation discussed earlier, should also be considered. Also, some clayey soils in the northern states are already preconsolidated by the pres- sures exerted by the glaciers over thousands of years during the Ice Age. Preconsoli- dated clays can be expected to settle only a fraction of regular clays. Almost all soils in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan are preconsolidated (Butler, undated). All of these issues mean that the settlements analysis in clay is quite complex and is best left to the qualified geotechnical engineers 2.4.4 Differential Settlement ‘As demonstrated in Design Example 2.1, some settlement can be expected even ina very competent soil material. A uniform settlement of the whole building might not present a major problem. Even if a pre-engineered building uniformly “sinks” 2 to 3in,, the steel structure would be affected very little. However, some damage to buried pipes, utilities, and driveways could be expected. Differential settlement is another matter, When one column of a multiple-span rigid frame settles differently from the others, it produces significant stresses in the frame— and also in the continuous purlins bearing on that frame. In many if not most practical situations involving metal building systems some dif- ferential settlement is likely. Why? Here are a few contributing factors: ‘+ The actual loads on the various foundations of the same size might differ. Foundation designers often try to minimize the number of the footing sizes, specifying identical foundations under the frame columns with slightly different tributary areas. Also, heavy suspended pipes and equipment might be present in one area of the building but not in another, snow accumulates (or roof live load occurs) nonuniformly throughout the roof, and so on. ‘+ The soil composition and the degree of compaction could vary slightly at different locations. ‘+ The loads other than the downward-acting dead and live loads could govern the foundation design. Sometimes, wind uplift in combination with 60 percent of the dead load controls the sizes of interior footings in a building, while some other load combinations control the sizes of the exterior foundations. Accordingly, under the downward loading alone, the soil stresses would differ at the interior and exterior foundations. 332 Chapter Two ‘+ For lightly loaded buildings, the minimum sizes of the exterior foundations might be prescribed by the governing code or be given in the geotechnical report, while the sizes of the interior foundations are derived from analysis. bn this common scenario the soil pressure under the interior footings often exceeds that of the exterior foundations. 2.4.5 Some Criteria for Tolerable Differential Settlement If differential settlement is nearly impossible to avoid, then what amount could be con- sidered harmless? The building codes and ASCE 7 (ASCE, 2006) are silent on the issue, and rightly 50, as the amount of differential settlement a structure can tolerate depends ‘on its composition, the presence of brittle finishes, the owner's attitude toward the appearance of the inevitable cracks, and so on. Some guidance is given in URC $-220-07 (formerly TM 5-818-7), Foundations in Expansive Soils, since angular deflection is one of the problems that need to be con- trolled in those soils. The document uses the term “the tolerable angular deflection (A/L),” where A is the deflection and L is the length between the building columns. We will use this ratio for an evaluation of differential settlements in any soil. Logically, brittle structures can tolerate smaller differential settlements than flexible ones. According to UFC 3-220-07, the following maximum 4/I ratios are suggested as a rough guide and as a function of superstructure rigidity (as interpreted and narrowed by the author of this book for metal buildings): ‘+ Rigid (unreinforced masonry, plaster, slabs on grade not isolated from walls): 1/600 to 1/1000. ‘+ Semirigid (reinforced masonry and concrete, slabs on grade isolated from walls): 1/360 to 1/600. ‘+ Flexible (steel framing; brick veneer with joints; metal panels, gypsum board on metal or wood studs, with all water pipes and drains having flexible joints, suspended floor or slabs on grade isolated from walls): 1/150 to 1/360. ‘These suggestions, while seemingly simple, contain plenty of caveats. While most metal building systems can be classified as flexible, they could contain brittle masonry walls and finishes and thus fall into the other categories. Also note that if the slab on grade is integral with the foundation, the building probably belongs in the “rigid” category. Plus, in the “flexible” category it is presumed that cracking in slabs on grade is probable and accounted for in the design—not a common approach, in the author's experience. In any event, URC 3-220-07 cautions that “a 4/1. value exceeding 1/250 is not recommended for normal practice, and a A/L value exceeding 1/150 often leads to structural damage.” The document also offers guidance for tolerable angular deflection of various foun- dation systems. For shallow foundations or continuous footings, a suggested A/L value is between 1/600 and 1/1000, not to exceed ¥ in. When these foundation systems are used, fractures can appear in walls thatare not designed for differential movement after A/L ratios exceed 1/600 or about ¥ in. For sites where larger angular deflection ratios are probable, stiffened mats or deep foundations could be useful ‘Alternatively, UFC 3-20-07 mentions a simple commonly used differential- settlement limit of 1/500. However, it also mentions that cracking in unreinforced ‘masonry can still be expected at 4/L ratios between 1/600 and 1/1000.Foundation Design Basics Other suggested limits on differential movements can be found elsewhere. For example, Merritt, quoting Bjerrum (1963), suggests an angular distortion of 1/500 as a Limit for wall cracking and 1/600 as a limit for diagonally braced frames. Gaylord (1997), quoting Sowers (1979) offers the following limits (as adapted by the author of this book for metal buildings): © Simple steel frame: 1/200 + Continuous steel frame: 1/500 ‘+ Gypsum plaster cracking: 1/1000 * High continuous brick walls: 1/1000 to 1/2000 Metal building systems should presumably fall into the “continuous steel frame” cate- gory, since the purlins, if not the frames, are typically designed as continuous structural members. Accordingly, a A/L limit of 1/500 appears appropriate for metal buildings without brittle finishes, such as drywall and brick veneer. Where these finishes are pres- ent, the 4/L limit of 1/1000 might be more suitable. Again, these numbers are offered only asa rough guide, and other sources might suggest different criteria, but we recom- mend these limits as a useful starting point. ‘Toillustrate the differential-settlement ratios, the 1/500 limit in a metal building with- out hard walls and gypsum-board partitions and with 25-ft bay spacing would require that the foundations under the adjacent frame columns do not exhibit differential settle ‘ment in excess of (25 x 12/500) =0.6 in, The 1/1000 limit would halve that, to 0.3 in. 2.5 Determination of Allowable ‘Bearing Value 2.5.1 Why Not Simply Use the Code Tables? ‘The main goal of a typical soil investigation program is to establish the allowable bear- ing pressure on the soil. In some construction projects with limited budgets, attempts are made to dispense with formal geotechnical explorations. Ifthe soll in the area is well known, the reasoning goes, why spend money investigating it again and again? And if we know from experience that the soil is, say, clean sand for miles around, why not simply use the allowable bearing values listed in the building code? ‘True, most model building codes such as IBC-09 contain tables of the allowable bear- ing pressures for various soils. For example, IBC-09 has Table 1806.2, Presumptive Load- Bearing Values (in IBC-06, Table 1804.2, Allowable Foundation and Lateral Pressure). However, the values listed in that table, and in other similar code tables, are very conser- vative, as they attempt to encompass many disparate conditions and to allow for some misidentification of the soil. The allowable pressures for non-rock soils listed in the table range from a low of 1500 Ib/# (15 ksf) for clay and silt materials to 3000 Ib/f? (Gksf) for sandy gravel and gravel. Even for sedé...-=tary and foliated rock the number is only 4000 Ib/ft,, with a higher capacity assigned to crystalline bedrock. In reality, all these soils might support higher pressures—perhaps much higher— but justifying the higher values requires a geotechnical involvement. Is this worth doing? For a small structure the allowable pressures might not matter much, but for a large pre-engineered building the difference between the low code values and the higher values established by a geotechnical exploration program may prove significant.4 Chapter Two According to one study (Ruddy, 1985), “An increase in an allowable bearing pres- sure from 3 to 6 ksf can result in a savings of $0.08/sf for a shallow spread footing foundation system ina one-story building,” (We shall add, that’s stated in 1985 dollars.) As demonstrated in the chapters that follow, this statement is even more relevant to ‘metal building systems, where the foundations often apply nonuniform pressures on the soil. ‘As further discussed in Sec. 3.1.3 ofthis book, TBC-09 allows a one-third stress increase {or alternative basic load combinations using allowable stress design (ASD) that include wind or seismic oads. The stress increase applies both to vertical foundation pressures and lateral bearing pressures listed in IBC-09 Table 1806.2, Presumptive Load-Bearing Values. ‘How about poor and organic soils? The IBC-09 Section 1806.2 states that no pre- sumptive load-bearing capacity shall be given to “{on}ud, organic silt, organic clays, peat or unprepared fil” except for lightweight and temporary structures and when approved by the building official. 2.5.2 Special Provisions for Seismic Areas ‘The International Building Code® requires performing a soil investigation in the areas of high and moderate seismicity; the exact provisions depend on the Seismic Design Category (SDC) of the building. The SDC is established by following the IBC Section 1613, as a function of the building's Occupancy Category and the spectral response acceleration parameters of the site. Seismic Design Categories range from A (the lowest seismic hazard) to F (the highest). The following indicates arough equivalency between ‘an SDC and the seismic risk: SDC A and B = low risk SDC C = moderate risk SDC D, E, F= high risk For structures in Seismic Design Categories C through E the geotechnical investigation is required by IBC-09. The scope of the investigation includes an evaluation of four potential geologic and seismic hazards: slope instability, liquefaction, differential settlement, and surface rupture. In SDCs D, Band F some additional requirements are prescribed. 2.5.3 What Constitutes a Foundation Failure? What does the allowable bearing capacity of the soil represent? Will the foundation Joaded 1 pound per square foot (pst) above the capacity fail? And what does “foundation failure” mean? ‘To answer these questions, we must keep in mind that soils are natural materials. Even the soils of the same classification are not identical, and their properties vary, at least slightly. Accordingly, the factors of safety for soils are higher than those for man- made materials with predictable and tightly controlled properties, such as structural steel. AISC Specification or Structural Stee! Buildings (AISC, 2005) lists the factors of safety for various conditions. For example, a compact structural steel beam loaded in flexure and designed by the allowable stress method is given the factor of safety ©, of 1.67. By contrast, the factor of safety in soil is typically much higher—at least 3.0. The rela- tively high value accounts for soil variability, imprecise knowledge of the subsurface con- ditions, and high cost of foundation remedial work (Butler, undated). The building-codeFoundation Design Basics tables, which are used all around the continental United States and beyond, probably incorporate even higher safety factors, but they ate not explicitly stated. The absence of precise factors of safety for soil pressures makes it difficult to state with certainty whether the foundation will actually fail when the actual sol stresses exceed the given value or not. ‘The failure of a foundation typically manifests itself as excessive settlement, accom- panied by a shear failure of the bearing strata and heaving of the adjoining soil at the surface, The configuration of the possible shear plane depencls on the foundation size, For example, the wider a spread column footing is, the larger the shear failure plane becomes. But the shear failure plane would get even larger were the footing to be placed deeper. In general, the bearing capacity of the foundation depends on shear strength of ‘he soil, footing width and depth, soil density, and the water table (Butler, undated). 2.5.4 Summary To summarize the foregoing discussion, the appropriate method of arriving at the allowable bearing value of soils depends on many variables. These variables include the degree of soil uniformity in the area, the availability of qualified geotechnical per- sonnel and soil-boring contractors, and the practices followed by the local building officials. The size of the proposed building matters as well. Fora large pre-engineered building planned in the area of variable or difficult soil ‘conditions, a formal soil exploration program is usually warranted. The program might include soil borings, laboratory testing, and geotechnical analysis. For a small structure proposed in the area of well-known nonexpansive competent soils of uniform composition, an investigation program relying on penetrometers, test pits, or even previous experience, might suffice, provided the governing building code allows it. In that case, and in other possible scenarios, guidance from the local building official should be sought. For areas of high and moderate seismicity, regardless of the building size, special code provisions may apply, resulting in a more extensive soil exploration program. 2.6 Shallow vs. Deep Foundations Depending on the foundation loads and the soil composition, either a shallow or deep foundation system might be appropriate. Shallow foundations include column footings, continuous wall footings, grade beams, and mats, Column footings in pre-engineered buildings are typically single “spread” foundations, but in some situations other solu- tions could be desirable. For example, a solution for the tight site where the lot line is at the exterior face of the building could be a series of combined or cantilevered footings, both of which incorporate two ot more columns bearing on the same foundation. In some situations foundation mats might be appropriate. Mats can be of the com- mon design similar to a thick slab on grade reinforced in both directions, or they could be ribbed “rafts.” Deep foundations include piers (caissons) and piles. Piers are typically placed one ata time, while piles are commonly placed in groups. Piers can be classified as either deep or shallow foundations. One way to differentiate between the two (perhaps some- what artificially) is to define shallow foundations as those with depth-to-width ratios not more than five. Deep foundations would be those with depth-to-width ratios exceeding five, The following chapters address the design of all these systems.36 © Chapter Two References 2009 International Building Code®, International Code Council, Country Club Hills, IL, 2009. AISC 360-05, Specification for Structural Steel Buildings, American Institute of Steel Construction, Chicago, IL, 2005. ASCE/SEI 7-05, Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures, American Society of Civil Engineers, 2006. Bjerrum, L., European Conference on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, vol. 2, Wiesbaden, Germany, 1963. Brown, Robert W,, Foundation Behavior and Repair, 3d ed., McGraw-Hill, New York, 1997. Butler Manufacturing Company and Computerized Structural Design, Ine, Foundation Design and Construction Manual, 24 ed., Kansas City, MO, and Milwaukee, WL undated, Gaylord, Edwin H,, Jr et al. (eds.), Structural Engineering Havidbook, 4th ed, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1997. Merritt, Frederick S. (ed.), Standard Handbook for Civil Engineers, 3d ed., McGraw-Hill, New York, 1983. NAVEAC DM-7.1, Soil Mechanics, Department of the Navy, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Alexandria, VA, 1982. Ruddy, John L., “Evaluation of Structural Concepts for Buildings: Low-Rise Buildings,” BSCE/ASCE Structural Group Lecture Series at MIT, Cambridge, MA, 1985. Sowers, G. B., Introductory Soil Mechanics and Foundations, 4th ed., Macmillan, New York, 1979. ‘erzaghi, Karl and Peck, Ralph B., Soil Mechanics in Engineering Practice, Wiley, New York, 1967. Unified Facilities Criteria URC 3-220-07 (Formerly TM 5-818-7), Foundations in Expansive Soils, US. Department of Defense, 2004.CHAPTER 3 Foundations for Metal Building Systems: The Main Issues 3.1 The Differences between Foundations for Conventional Buildings and Metal Building Systems Some issues in the design of conventional building foundations are addressed in Chap. 2 and will be revisited in the following chapters. The discussion here focuses on the unique aspects of the foundation design for metal building systems (MBS). The engineers who have not designed the foundations for metal buildings might not be fully aware of these unique challenges. 3.1.1 Light Weight Means Large Net Uplift One of the advantages of metal building systems is their cost efficiency. As discussed in Chap. 1, the systems typically include cold-formed secondary members and light- ‘weight metal roofing and siding, The total weight (dead load) of the building shell—the primary and secondary framing, roofing, and siding—often adds up to only 3105 Ib /# {pounds per square foot (psf)]. Obviously, the weight of the framing increases with larger the frame spans. ‘Strong winds tend to generate upward loading (uplift) on gable roofs, in the same phenomenon that allows an airplane to fly. Typical distribution of wind pressures on a single-story building with a gable roof is shown in Fig. 3.1. The dead load of the system is generally insufficient to counteract the effects of wind-generated uplift, which could easily exceed the weight of the structure many times over. In essence, a large pre- engineered building acts as a huge sail tied to its foundations. The foundations must be heavy enough, or be anchored into the soil, to resist the uplift load. ‘To make matters more complicated, only a portion of the dead load likely to be in place at the time when the wind is acting may be used to resist the uplift. The 2009 International Building Code® (1BC-09) includes the following “basic” load combination for the allowable stress design (ASD) method: 06D +W+H38 Chapter Three Ficuse 3.1 ‘Typical distibution of wind pressures on a gable-roof buildin A related IBC “altemative basic” load combination (as simplified by the author for metal building foundations where roof live load or snow load is not present and wind loads are not computed in accordance with ASCE 7 Chapter 6*) is: 2/3D+W+H In these formulas D is dead, Wis wind, Lis live, and H is lateral earth pressure loading, In both these load combinations the dead and wind loads counteract one another, despite the “plus” sign. (Chapter 4 of this book examines the relevant IBC load combi- nations in more detail.) ‘The weight of the building comprises the dead load likely to be in place during the wind event; it should not include the so-called collateral load. The latter is an allowance for pipes, conduits, lights, suspended ceilings, and similar superimposed dead loading, that may ormay not be in place during the design hurricane. Itis prudent to neglect any beneficial contribution of such items toward the total weight of the dead-load “ballast.” Seismicloads, while not addressed in detail in this book, could govern the design of some pre-engineered buildings located in the areas of high seismicity. A very light dead. load of metal building systems, which makes wind-generated uplift loading on these buildings so dangerous, also results in a rather small seismic loading. When seismic loads are of concern, the reader is encouraged to consult Seismic Design Guide for Metal Building Systeris (Bachman, 2008), ‘To be sure, foundations for conventional buildings can be subjected to net wind- generated uplift, too, However, its magnitude is typically smaller, because the structure usually weighs more and the spans are smaller than in metal building systems. STBC.09 Paragraph 160532 requires the wind load in alternate load combinations to be multiplied by 13, if the wind loads are computed in accordance with ASCE 7 Chapter 6. If they are computed by other ‘methods (such as TBC-09 Section 1609), the coefficient is equal fo 1.0.Foundations for Wetal Buil 1g Systems: The Main Issues In buildings taller than a single story, the weight of the supported floors is often suffi- cient to overcome the wind uplift loading, although even there a net uplift could be resent in the foundations under the lateral-force resisting elements. ‘A dassic telltale sign of the foundation designer's familiarity (or lack thereof) with these issues is the size of isolated spread footings under the interior columns in multispan rigid-frame systems. Whenever the foundation drawings show tiny interior footings in the areas of high winds, itis likely that a load combination involving wind uplift has not been properly considered, The footings might be adequate for the downward acting load- ing butnot for the wind uplift, problem that plagues the designs of some inexperienced foundation engineers. This problem is demonstrated in Design Example 4.1. Figure 3.2 illustrates the components of the foundation dead load “ballast” that helps resist the wind uplift force. They include the weights of the footing, the column pier and the soil on top of the footing ledges. Some engineers also include the effects of the shearing resistance of the soil, shown as the soil wedges on the perimeter of the foot- ing. The angle of the wedges may be taken as 30° for cohesive soils and 20° for cohesion- less soils (NAVFAC DM-7.2). It is conservative to ignore the shearing resistance, as most engineers do (Building Systems Institute, 1990). We recommend neglecting the weight of the soil wedges as well, because it might be difficult to properly compact the soil around the foundations and to fully develop the shearing resistance. In the areas subjected to flooding, the weights of soil and concrete should be taken as “submerged” (that is, reduced by the buoyancy forces). Since soi is normally less expen- sive than concrete, even including the excavation and backfilling costs, the most cost- effective way of increasing the uplift resistance of the footing might be to make it deeper. ‘Making the footing wider is often more expensive, The other methods of resisting uplift forces, such as using deep foundations and soil anchors, are generally even more costly. Contribution ef soll wedges may be neglected We Froune 8.2 Uplift resistance at an isolated column footing. 3940 Chapter Three 3.1.2 Large Lateral Reactions ‘As noted in Chap. 1, gable rigid frames tend to generate significant lateral reactions on the foundations. These horizontal frame reactions will exist under both gravity and lateral (wind and seismic) loading, although the magnitude and the direction of the reactions will differ (Fig. 3.3). In some circumstances, the horizontal frame reactions exceed the vertical ones. Under gravity loads, the horizontal reactions tend to decrease with increasing eave height. In other words, the higher the building the less the gravity- generated horizontal reactions, all other variables being the same, ‘But don’t horizontal column reactions exist in conventional buildings as well? The answer is yes, but not necessarily of the same magnitude and direction. Consider the Wind a : Mw Ya re \_ es ooo see © Ficune 3.3 Golumn reactions in a single-spen gable rigid frame: (a) From gravity loadin (b) from lateral loading,Foundations for Metal Building Systems: The Main Issues 4f @) 6) Froune 3.4 Reactions from rigi-rame columns: (a) At pimbase columns; (6) at fxed-base columns. differences in the value and direction of the horizontal column reactions in two identi- cally looking buildings with gable roofs, with the same overall dimensions and roof slope. One building is framed with conventional single-span trusses supplemented by wall bracing, and another is framed with a metal building system using single-span rigid frames. The horizontal reactions at the truss supports will be caused only by lat- eral but not gravity loads, and these reactions will likely be acting in the same direction. By contrast, the horizontal reactions on the rigid frame supports will exist under both lateral and gravity loads. In a single-span rigid frame, the lateral frame reactions from gravity loads act in the opposing directions. Where exactly are the horizontal frame reactions applied? Typically, atthe bottom of the column base plates, which are located well above the botioms of the foundations (Fig. 3.4). For this reason, the horizontal frame reactions tend to overturn the founda- tions and push them sideways. Thus the metal building foundations are designed to resist not only downward pressures, but also overturning and sliding, as explained later 3.1.3 Factors of Safety and One-Third Stress Increase ‘The load combinations of the 2008 International Building Code® for the ASD method that include wind and dead loads acting together have certain implied safety factors. These are 1.67 for the “basic” load combination oF 0.6D + W, and 1.5 for the “alternative basic” load combination of 2/3D + W. Therefore, the foundation design using the “alternative basic” load combination that includes wind uplift has a slightly lower factor of safety, and it hasan inherent cost advantage over the corresponding design that uses the “basic” load combination. Should the foundations for metal building systems be designed for any additional {actors of safety on top of those suggested by the IBC load combinations? Most engi- neers consider the implied factors of safety to be sufficient for the design of foundations against overtuming, sliding, and uplift. ‘There are some special cases. At least one popular MBS foundation—the moment- resisting foundation described in Chap. 7—behaves similarly to a cantilever retaining wall. An argument could be made that it should be designed in accordance with the code provisions for retaining walls, since no other code section seems to explicitly apply to such a foundation. (This is yet another complication awaiting the designers of the42 Chapter Three metal building foundations.) According to some authorities, such as CRSI Design Hand book (CRSI, 2002), a minimum factor of safety at service loads against overturning of retaining walls is 2.0 and against sliding, 15. However, Paragraph 1807.2.3 of IBC-09 requites a factor of safety of 1.5 for both overturning and sliding of retaining walls, without using the load combinations of IBC Section 1605. Instead, 100 percent of the nominal loads should be used (except 70 percent of seismic load). The question of whether the allowable soil pressures can be increased by one-third in load combinations that include wind or seismic loading causes some confusion. In the past, building codes allowed a one-third stress increase for these load combinations, using the ASD method, but then the situation has become less clear. The IBC-06 and IBC-09 Paragraph 1605.3.1.1 does not allow such a stress increase for “basic” load com- binations, except for wood structures. Por “alternative basic” load combinations, IBC-06 and IBC-09 Paragraph 1605.3.2 allows a stress increase only where permitted by the material chapter of the IBC or by the referenced standard applicable to the material in question. se inTBC-06, Chapter 18, which deals with soils and foundations is sient on the mat- ter. Since there is no referenced standard for soil design, a reasonable conclusion could be made that IBC-06 does not allow a one-third stress increase for soil stresses under foundations. However, IBC-09 has revisited the issue, IBC-09 Section 1806.1 specifically permits a one-third stress increase for the alternative basic load combinations using the ASD. method that include wind or seismic loads, The stress increase applies to both vertical foundation pressures and lateral bearing pressures listed in IBC-09 Table 1806.2, Pre- sumptive Load-Bearing Values, It is not clear whether a one-third stress increase may be used for the allowable soil pressures determined by means of geotechnical investiga- tion. As always, the final determination of the questions related to the code provisions belongs to the local building official 3.1.4 In Some Circumstances, Uncertainty of Reactions ‘The Metal Building System Manual published by the Metal Building Manufacturers Association (MBMA, 2006) is an authoritative design guide for the manufacturers of pre-engineered buildings. According to Section 32.2 of its Common Industry Practices, the typical scope of work of the metal building manufacturer excludes any foundation design. The manufacturers responsible for providing the frame reactions to the Builder (the entity that signs the contract with the owner). The foundation designer uses these column reactions to design the metal building foundations. Ideally, the manufacturer first designs the metal building system, determines the column reactions, and then provides them to the foundation designer. However, in some circumstances the order is reversed: The foundations must be designed first, before the building manufacturer is even selected. ‘This is typical in public construction, where the law mandates competitive bidding. In this situation, the contract documents must be completed to give all the bidders access to the same design information. Both the prospective foundation contractors and the metal building manufacturers receive the design information at the same time. It ‘means that the foundation design must be performed well before the column reactions are available. A similar situation exists even in some private fast-track construction projects. A developer who wants to save construction time will often insist that the building.Foundations for Metal Building Systems: The Main Issues designers produce a so-called “early foundation design package” set of construction documents before the rest of the building is fully designed. For the developer it makes sense, because the foundations are the first items being built. But the foundation designer in this case faces the same problem as a designer of metal building founda- tions in public construction: a lack of information about the column reactions for which to design the foundations. ‘What to do in both these unfortunate but common situations? When the foundations have to be designed before the column reactions become available, the reactions must be estimated, as discussed in the next section. The need to estimate frame reactions is one of the biggest challenges of designing foundations for metal building systems. 3.2 Estimating Column Reactions 3.2.1 Methods of Estimating Reactions As just discussed, there are circumstances where foundations for metal building sys- tems have to be designed before the column reactions are available from the manufac- turer. There are several methods of estimating reactions: © Using the manufacturers’ tables. Some metal building manufacturers publish design manuals that include tables of column reactions. These tables typically cover single- and multiple-span rigid frames and sometimes other frame types. The tables are limited to the most common spans, eave heights, roof slopes and loading conditions. Naturally, the tables are developed using the building codes adopted at the time of their compilation. Between the time the tables are developed and published to the time when the designer uses them, the code editions on which the tables are based often become obsolete. This time lag primarily limits the usability of the tables for wind-load reactions, because the code provisions for wind loads change often. Fortunately, the tables are still valuable for estimating horizontal and vertical reactions from gravity loads. The appendix includes a set of column reaction tables from one large manufacturer. ‘+ Using general analysis software. Some foundation designers prefer computing the column reactions using general frame-analysis software. This approach is best suited for multiple-span rigid frames with unequal spans, a condition not generally covered in the manufacturers’ tables. Since only the overall frame dimensions are known at this stage, rather than the actual sizes of the tapered frame members, the designers typically use rectangular cross-sections for modeling, This simplifying assumption leads to some inaccuracy in the analysis, results. Another obvious disadvantage of this approachis theneed to determine the design loading on the frame. While the manufacturers’ design software can perform this task in seconds, it might take much longer in the foundation designers office, given today’s code complexity. * Using specialized design computer software for metal building systems, The engineers ‘who specialize in metal building foundation design might find it advantageous to invest in the software similar to that used by the manufacturers. The software will provide a lot of information unnecessary for the task of designing4 Chapter Three foundations, because only the frame reactions are needed. The software is also quite expensive, Still, if available and properly set up, such computer software is a useful tool for estimating column reactions. (But see Sec. 3.2.2 on the accuracy of estimating the reactions) ‘+ Using standard frame formulas, A common single-span rigid frame can be readily analyzed by the basic frame formulas to determine horizontal reactions under a variety of loads. (The vertical reactions can be found without any software at all; they are the same as for a simply supported beam!) A classic source of frame formulas is Kleinlogel (1964). Using standard formulas allows analyzing the frames that ate not covered by the manufacturers’ tables. However, the foundation designer needs to determine the loading on the frames, which takes time. + Asking a manufacturer for help. A simple alternative is to simply ask a metal building manufacturer to determine the reactions using its design software. The manufacturer could do it very quickly, sometimes within minutes. Obviously, a working relationship first needs to be established between the foundation designer's and the manufacturer's offices for this to happen, and the manufacturer's goodwill should not be abused by continually asking for such favors. 3.2.2 How Accurate Are the Estimates? Some of the methods of estimating column reactions discussed previously are more accurate than others, but in all probability none will yield the exact values that the selected metal building manufacturer eventually supplies. Each of the methods assumes a certain frame cross-section that will be probably different from the actual frame, the loading assumptions might slightly differ, and so on. For instance, a single-span rigid frame with straight columns, or columns with a small amount of taper, will typically produce smaller horizontal reactions than a similar-size frame with a more pronounced. column taper. Despite the best efforts of the foundation designers, their reaction estimates are just that—the estimates, They are virtually guaranteed to differ from the final numbers, This is true even if another manufacturer provides them (see the last option of Sec. 3.2.1). ‘There are two basic methods of dealing with this challenge. Some engineers preface their foundation designs in the contract drawings by a note that the foundation sizes are given for bid purposes only and that the actual sizes are to be determined by the foundation contractor for the final column reactions. As an example, a note in an Appendix to USACE TI 809-30 (1998) states: ‘The metal building foundations shown on this sheet are estimates for the building and are to be used as a guide for the building supplied. The con- tractor will redesign the metal building foundations for the actual building loads provided by the Metal Building Manufacturer. Foundations for items other than the metal building will be constructed as shown. Obviously, the assumption in this note is that the foundation contractor will engage another engineer to redesign the foundations for the actual loading conditions. But this ‘common approach is fraught with potential problems.Foundations for Metal Building Systems: The Main Issues Since the foundation design practices vary among the engineers, the possibility of a disagreement between the original foundation designer and the one retained by the contractor is quite real. Who is responsible for the foundation design in that case? And ‘what happens if the contractor’s designer comes up with a much more costly system. than the one shown in the contract drawings? A claim for extra compensation might follow. A real possibility of getting involved in these thorny issues argues for using extra care with this approach. ‘Another way to meet the challenge of working with the estimated numbers relies on good old-fashioned design conservatisin: The foundation designer simply uses the values of the column reactions that exceed the estimates by some comfortable margin. ‘This approach might notbe the most economical. But it is prudent when any change to the foundation design is likely to be met with a request for cost “extras” in a change order from the concrete contractor. In the worst-case scenario, the foundations are already built under the “early foundation design package” mentioned previously, and they need to be physically removed or enlarged. The cost impact of the contractor's change order for this work can only be imagined. 3.3 Effects of Column Fixity on Foundations 3.3.1 Is There a Cost Advantage? ‘The metal building industry isa highly competitive business. The building manufactur ers pride themselves on optimizing the design of steel superstructure and providing the most economical solution to their customers. But in an effort to gain a cost advantage over the competition, some might choose a system that generally should be avoided. In this system the cohimn bases are asstimed to be fixed into the foundation. ‘The difference between a pin-base and fixed-base column is this: A pin-base column ‘an resist only horizontal and vertical reactions, while a fixed-base column can also resist the bending moments resulting from the base fixity (Fig. 34). A rigid frame fixed at the base will typically result in some (probably rather modest) cost savings for the steel superstructure, but will substantially increase the foundation costs. Typically, the foundations would become much larger. In the author's opinion, the overall project cost will generally increase when the base fixity is assumed. 3.3.2 Feas of Fixed-Base Columns in MBS In addition to the cost issues, an argument against using fixed-base columns can be made from a technical standpoint as well. A true base fixity requires that the angle between the top of the foundation and the column centerline at the base stay exactly at 90°. Even a minor rotation—only a few degrees—transforms the connection from a fully to pattially restrained, as defined in AISC 360. Yet 2 minor rotation of this magnitude can easily take place because of the flexibility of the base plate, absence of grout under the column base plate (which might allow for some column “play”), and unequal soil deformation under the foundation. These issues are further debated and illustrated in Newman (2004). ‘To be sure, there are circumstances when the assumption of column fixity might be appropriate for some columns. One example is a building with heavy overhead cranes, ‘where the columns supporting the cranes could be designed with fixed bases to reduce46 Chapter Three the lateral drift and building movements under the crane loading. However, even in this situation the assumption of the column base fixity should be made at the outset and the foundations designed with this assumption in mind. 3.3.3 Communication Breakdown ‘The biggest problem, in the author’s experience, is not with using column fixity per se, but witha lack of communication on this topic between the metal building manufacturer and the foundation designer. A truly unfortunate situation exists when the building foundations are already designed—or worse, built—using the assumption that the col- “umns had pinned bases, but the manufacturer designs the frames with column fixity. ‘This can easily occur ifa structural engineer of record, who would generally specify the design criteria for the metal building design, simply does not exist on a project. In an all too common scenario, the owner simply procures the pre-engineered building from the contractor and hires a local engineer to design the foundations afterward. The foundation designer typically assumes the pin-base conditions, to keep the foundation sizes reasonable, but the manufacturer migitt choose a fixed-base design, also to save some money on its structure. In the absence of any contractual requirements to the con- trary, the manufacturer is certainly free to do so. This sort of miscommunication tends to result in a construction claim and even litigation. Alll this heartache can easily be avoided by hiring a design team at the outset, including a structural engineer of record, as further discussed in Newman (2004). The team would establish the design requirements for the project and spell out which assumptions are made about the column bases. 3.4 General Procedure for Foundation Design ‘The actual process of designing foundations for metal building systems depends on a number of factors, including the local building code provisions, the frost depth, the building’s location relative to the other structures, whether the foundation is designed before or after the building reactions become available, and so on. What follows is an. outline of the general design process. 3.4.1 Assign Responsibilities Whether the building owner realizes it or not, the frst step in designing metal building, foundations involves an allocation of the basic design responsibilities among the vari- ous parties involved. The “outside” (outside the manufacturer's office, that is) struc- tural engineer can be engaged in one of two ways: 1. Only to design the foundations—an unfortunate situation, as discussed previously 2. To serve as a structural engineer of record—the preferred way of retaining the services of an outside design team When the owner contracts directly with a builder and retains a local engineer only to design the foundations, the first approach is chosen. In the second approach the outside structural engineer's responsibilities include specifying the design criteria for the metalFoundations for Metal Building Systems: The Main Issues building superstructure. The second approach allows establishing the important building design criteria, such as whether fixed-base columns ate allowed, in advance, and any controversy on these issues is thus avoided. 3.4.2. Collect Design Information ‘The next step is to collect the design data about the building and the proposed site. This information includes the size and use of the building, its proximity of the prop- erty line, and of course the information about the soil. At this stage any available soil- related studies and reports are examined and a program of geotechnical investigation is established. As discussed in Chap. 2, the extent of this program depends on such factors as the type of soils at the proposed construction site, variability of soil conditions, the building code requirements related to soil investigations, and the designer's experience with the soils in the area, In any event, some program of soil investigation is needed to determine and classify the soil at the site. If anything, it permits using the building-code tables of the allowable soil capacities, should this conservative method of arriving at the design bearing value of the soil be chosen 3.4.3 Research Relevant Code Provisions and Determine Reactions In the next step the foundation designer determines which code and which edition applies to the project. In most cases this task is very straightforward, but occasionally the project takes place during a transition period between the two code editions. In this situation some research into the relevant differences between the two codes is in order, as is coordination with the other team members. It might be quite embarrassing for the foundation designer to use the just-adopted edition of the code, while the rest of the design team and the metal building manufacturer elect to use the outgoing edition, A similar situation arises in some rural areas, where no building code is adopted at all, and the coordination within the team becomes even more critical. As already discussed, the natural progression of the events is to have the founda- tions designed after the building reactions become available from the metal building manufacturer. In this cese the foundation engineer simply uses the manufacturer's reactions (perhaps after a quick check for reasonableness). The main challenge is to ‘combine the reactions in accordance with the code-mandated load combinations, as discussed next. If the foundation designer must develop the loading on the frames (perhaps because the frame configuration precludes using the column reaction tables), the effort becomes much more involved. 3.4.4 Determine Controlling Load Combinations Asstudy of the local building code provisions includes the structural loads and the load combinations that must be considered. If the reactions are already available from the metal building manufacturer, they are commonly listed load by load, rather than arranged in specific load combinations. The foundation designer is then expected to combine the loads per the governing building code requirements. ‘When using the International Building Code, the designer must choose between the “basic” and “alternative basic” load combinations. Some of the differences between the twoare described previously in Sec. 3.13, Recall our conclusion that an “alternative basic” "48 Chapter Three oad combination involving wind uplifthas aslightly lower factor of safety and thus might be more economical than a corresponding “basic” load combination. ‘The foundation designer should consider all the code-mandated load combina- tions, but two of them typically control the foundation design in single-story metal building systems with single-span rigid frames: 1. Dead + collateral + snow (or roof live load) 2, Dead + wind + lateral earth pressure ‘The first load combination typically produces the maximum downward vertical reac- tion on the foundation combined with the maximum outward-acting horizontal reac- tion (Fig. 3.52). The second load combination becomes either an IBC “basic” load combination of 0.6D + W + Hor an “alternative basic” load combination (as simplified by the author in Sec. 3.1.1) of 2/3D+ W+ H. (Here D is dead, Wis wind, and H is lateral earth pressure loading.) © Faure 3.5 Two load combinations that ypicaly control the foundation design in single-story MBS: with single-span rigid frames: (a) Dead + collateral + snow (or roof lve load); (6) dead + wind + lateral earth pressure.Foundations for Metal Building Systems: The Main Issues The second load combination typically produces the maximam upward vertical reaction (uplift) combined with the maximum inward-acting horizontal reaction on the foundation (Fig. 3.5b). As discussed in Sec. 3.11, the dead load in this load combination should not include any collateral loading. 3.4.5 Choose Shallow or Deep Foundations ‘The next step involves selection of the basic foundation type. Depending on the soil at the site and the loads the foundations must resist, either a shallow or a deep foundation is chosen. The differences between shallow and deep foundations are explained in ‘Chap. 2. Briefly, shallow foundations include column and wall footings, grade beams, and mats; their design is examined in Chaps. 4 through 8. Deep foundations include piers (caissons) and piles; these are discussed in Chap. 9. Naturally, the designer attempts to select the most economical foundation system among the many available types of shallow and deep foundations. The foundation cost has to be balanced against reliability and other factors, as discussed in Sec. 3.5, 3.4.6 Establish Minimum Foundation Depth The criteria for determination of the minimum depth of shallow and deep foundations are somewhat different. For deep foundations the depth is largely dictated by the loca- tion of the appropriate bearing stratum. There are exceptions, of course. For example, the depth of friction piles depends on the overall length of their embedment in the soil. For shallow foundations the factors are more diverse. In general, the bottom of shal- low foundations should be below: * The minimum frost depth, as established by a local building code or other authoritative document + Atleast 12 in, below the undisturbed ground surface (IBC-09 Section 1809.4) ‘+ The depth of any unsuitable soil materials, such as organies, expansive clays, uncontrolled fills, and collapse-prone soils ‘The elevations of the adjacent building foundations and utilities also play a role in establishing the minimum depth of shallow foundations. Ideally, the new founda- tions should neither undermine the existing footings by being below them, nor impose an additional loading on them from above. For granular soils, IBC-09 Sec- tion 1809.6 requires the slope of the line drawn between the lower edges of the adjoining footings not to exceed 30° with the horizontal, unless lateral bracing or support is provided for the higher footing, The shallow foundations of a new build- ing located next to the existing may have to be sloped or stepped to meet these requirements. Jn practice, the depth of isolated column footings is often controlled by the mini- mum amount of “ballast” needed to counteract wind uplift. Thus even in the areas without deep frost lines the foundations may have to be placed several feet deep, as demonstrated in Design Example 4.1 3.4.7 Design the Foundation At this point enough information is gathered to select the foundation system and to design the foundations. comprehensive design considers not only the stresses in the 4950 Chapter Three soil and the strength of the foundation itself, but also such issues as foundation settle- ‘ment under [oad (see a discussion in Chap. 2) and the transfer of the frame reactions from the building columns to the foundations (see Chap. 10). The actual design proce- dures and the design examples are included in the chapters that follow. 3.5 Reliability, Versatility, and Cost 3.5.1 Definitions There are many foundation systems, both shallow and deep, that can support pte- engineered buildings, The cost end reliability of these systems varies. Not surprisingly, the foundation systems that are less expensive also tend to be less reliable. ‘What do we mean by reliability in a foundation system? For our purposes, structural reliability of a foundation can be defined as the probability that the foundation will perform as intended for a specified period of time under various field conditions. The most reliable systems are able to tolerate predictable irregularities in construction, load- ing, and maintenance. The overall reliability of metal building foundations can be dis- tilled into three interrelated factors pertaining to the system’s ability to function as specified in adverse circumstances: 1. Simplicity of installation. Foundations that are difficult to install, or those that require perfection in construction, tend to be less reliable. Some placement errors are quite common. 2. Redundancy. The foundation's ability to transfer the applied forces to the soil via more than one load path. If one load path becomes invalid, another mechanism of load transfer takes over. 3. Survicability. The foundation's ability to maintain its load-carrying capacity after some of its elements have become corroded or damaged. Survivability also means that the foundation system will function even when some part of the building beyond the actual foundation becomes damaged. ‘These three factors are further described in the following section. In addition to reliability, the second foundation property of interest to us is ver- satility, A versatile foundation system can be used with various building floor and soil conditions. The third relevant foundation property is construction cost, self- explanatory. 3.5.2 Some Examples ‘Typically, transfer of downward gravity loads presents less of a problem with reliability than transfer of lateral column reactions. There are exceptions, of course, such as the single-pile system without grade beams. Here, a pile is placed directly under each col- ‘umn and a small pile cap. In theory, itis a very economical system for lightly loaded buildings, where even a single pile might have enough capacity to support the vertical column reactions. In practice, pile installation is subjected to tolerances of several inches.Foundations for Metal Building Systems: The Main Issues It means that there will be inevitable eccentricities between the column and the pile, leading to a potential pile overstress and even failure. This system is an example of the foundation that requires essentially a perfect installation. ‘Amuch more reliable system hes at least three piles under each column, even if a single pile would have sufficient capacity. With this pile tripod the placement toler- ances in two directions can be readily accommodated, but of course three times as many piles are now required. Another possible solution has a rectangular pile cap with two piles under each column and with rigid grade beams placed perpendicular to the long direction of the pile caps. This system can also accommodate the column eccentricities in two directions. The two- and three-pile systems cost much more than a single-pile foundation but offer greater reliability. (See further discussion on this topic in Chap. 9.) Anexample of a redundant system is the moment-resisting foundation with perim- eter grade beams described in Chap. 7. This foundation system can transfer lateral load- ing to the soil by both the friction between the foundation and the soil and by the passive pressure of the grade beam against the soil. By contrast, an isolated exterior footing without grade beams has less recundancy. ‘An example of lack of survivability? How about a hairpin system (Chap. 6)? Here, the slab on grade is relied on to transfer the horizontal column reactions from one side of the building to another. Were the slab to be cut at any time (for pipe maintenance, and 50 0n), the system would cease to function, without any alternate load path. ‘Toillustrate the concept of versatility, consider a tie-rod system (Chap. 6). Its versa- tility is limited, because tie rods cannot be used in buildings with trenches, deep floor depressions, and pits. Another Iess-versatile system is the mat foundation (Chap. 8), which might be difficult to use in the areas with deep frost lines. Table 3.1 provides a snapshot of the comparative reliabilities, degree of versatility, and cost for several foundation systems commonly used to support pre-engineered buildings. LF neve Low to medium Tiered Halepins and sl ties Low [ Nementresistng foundation “| High Ti Slab with haunch Medium Low to high | Low to medium 7 High High High tow Deep foundations High High [tien | Source: Author [Note:"The ratings reflect the specific designs discussed in Chaps. 6 t09. Tao 81 Comparative Gost, Relablity and Degree of Versatiliy of Common Foundation Systems for Metal Bullding Systems 4152 3.6 Column Pedestals (Piers) Chapter Three 3.6.1 The Area Inviting Controversy The area immediately below the cohimn base plate is where the design responsibility of the metal building manufacturer typically ends (MBMA, 2006). The foundation designer is generally responsible for everything that lies below, the concrete on which the col- ‘umn bears and the anchorage securing the column to the concrete. ‘There may or may not be a grout pad under the column base plate; in most cases, there is no grout. Why not? Grouting is excluded from the scope of work of the metal building manufacturer per MBMA Common Industry Practices (MBMA, 2006). The typical base plate details of many metal building manufacturers reflect this approach and do not show any grout underneath, The owners and general contractors usually do not see a need to add something that is not required by those details. ‘The result? Without a grout pad, the column simply rests on top of the foundation concrete, which in all likelihood is not perfectly level. In many cases the concrete sur- face is uneven, and the base plate bears on it only partially. This can lead to some rota- tion (“play”) of the column base under load (see a related discussion in Sec. 33.2). In ‘extreme cases the gaps under some parts of the base plate are quite large, as further discussed and illustrated in Newman (2004). ‘To be sure, grouted column bases under metal building frame columns are used in some circumstances, such as at the columns supporting overhead cranes. However, we believe that grouted bases should be used much more often and recommend specifying them for most applications. Anchor bolts typically attach the metal building column to the foundation. The design of anchors is complex (see Chap. 10). Column piers are yet another area inviting controversy and misunderstanding, as discussed next. 3.6.2. Two Methods of Supporting Steel Columns in Shallow Foundations ‘There are two basic methods of supporting a metal building column on a shallow foun- dation. One is to place the column directly on top of the foundation (Fig. 3.6) and another, on a concrete pedestal (Fig. 3.7). As just discussed, in both cases there may or may not be a grout pad under the base plates. Ficune 3.6 Column placed directly on top of the footing.Foundations for Metal Building Systems: The Main Issues ‘Base plate Vertical bars icone 8:7 Column placed on @ pedestal on top of the footing. ‘These pedestals are short concrete column-like structures extending from the top of the footing or other shallow foundation to the bottom of the column base plate. These piers, as they are frequently called, should not be confused with the deep foundation piers (caissons) described in Chap. 9. Both methods of column support have their advantages and disadvantages. One advantage of placing the column directly on top of the footing is that it minimizes the distance between the point of application of the horizontal column reaction and the bot- tom of the footing, This reduces the overturning moment on the foundation. One disad- vantage: Some degree of column fixity could result if the slab on grade envelops the column base, as in Fig. 3.6. This fixity might oversiress the footing not designed with this assumption in mind, as discussed in Sec. 33. ‘Also, unless an isolation joint is provided around the column, any column move- ment under wind load or temperature fluctuations could cause cracking in the floor slab that envelops the column, Yet another disadvantage of this design is the fact that the column, base plate and anchors are all located below the ground level and thus exposed to corrosion. Corrosion could be caused by groundwater or floor-washing water seeping through the cracks in the slab, between the slab and the footing, or around the column, lacing the column atop a concrete pedestal reduces corrosion concerns, In indus- ‘rial buildings the pedestals often protrude above the slab, so that any water on the floor does not enter the area around the base. Another advantage: The column can be placed on the pedestal after all concrete work is done, while in the direct-on-footing installation some of the slab must be placed after the steel is installed. Concrete work requiring mul- tiple workers’ trips to the site tends to be more expensive. Also, an elevated column pedestal provides some protection against column damage by moving equipment. ‘The obvious disadvantage of using the piers is the increased distance between the point of application of the horizontal column reaction and the bottom of the footing. ‘This increases the overturning moment on the foundation, The situation is simpler in deep foundations. Here, the columns are generally placed on top of pile or deep-pier caps. 534 Chapter Three 3.6.3 Establishing Sizes of Column Pedestals (Piers) ‘The first step in designing a column pedestal is to establish its dimensions. This effort involves some challenges. It is relatively easy to establish the height, once the designer decides where the bot- tom of the column is. In many metal building systems the bottom of the cohuran base plate is at the top of the floor (again, with or without a grout pad in between). Alterna- tively, as just discussed, the top of the pier could be elevated above the slab ifthe floor might become wet in service. Establishing the cross-section of the pier is more complicated. It involves two sepa- rate issues: 1. The pedestal must be Jarge enough for a comfortable placement of the steel column on it. Thisis easily done when the column size is known in advance. But what about a scenario when the foundation designer must estimate the column. reaction and design the foundations before the metal building manufacturer is selected (see Secs. 3.1 and 3.2)? In that case not only the frame reactions but also the column sizes are unknown at the time the pedestal is designed. As with the column reactions, the sizes of the column base plates need to be estimated. While most major manufacturers keep the base plate depth (measured in the direction parallel to the frame) modest, such as 9 to 12 in., others might use much larger sizes. 2. The pedestal must be long and wide enough to allow the development of the anchor bolts or other embedments that transfer the column reactions to the foundation. The edge distances of anchor bolts are particularly important in this respect. Therefore, the pier’s footprint could be controlled by the design of the embedments, as discussed in Chap. 10. Many foundation designers feel that if they specify a pedestal with a large cross- sectional area, they would be wasting concrete. (Remember the old joke about an engi- neer's take on whether the glass was half-full ot half-empty? The engineer said the glass was twice as big as it needed to be.) However, nobody is happy when the building columns end up being wider than their supports (Fig. 3.8). ‘This has happened even to the author of this guide! From then on the author started adding a certain note on his foundation drawings, whenever the metal build- ing manufacturer was not yet selected at the time of the foundation design. The note required the building column base plates not to exceed the specified dimensions and to fit on the piers. As a practical matter, a 2 ft by 2 ft pier should suffice for many applications, but the design of anchor bolts or other embedments might still require a larger size. um Reinforcement of Piers Once the cross-section of the pedestal is established, its reinforcement can be designed. In most cases vertical pier reinforcement is not required for resisting downward loading, but it might be needed for resisting uplift, as explained later. Providing some minimal vertical pier reinforcement and ties makes sense in most circumstances. The Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete and CommentaryFoundations for Metal Building Systems: The Main Issues Foure 3.8 This unfortunate situation could have baon avolded ifthe concrete support were larger. (ACI 318-08), Paragraph 10.9.1, prescribes the limits for reinforcement of compres- sion members as follows: + ‘The minimum area of longitudinal reinforcement = 0.014, © The maximum area = 0.084, where A, = the gross area of the member The minimum reinforcement ratio of 0.014, has been in every edition of ACI 318 since 1936, but it might be excessive for lightly loaded column piers. In this case the code (Paragraph 10.84) allows the minimum reinforcement percentage to be based on a reduced cross-section of the compression member. The reduced section should not be less than one-half of the gross area. Therefore, the minimum reinforcement ratio of lightly loaded column piers is 0.0054,. This provision is echoed by ACI 318-08 Para- graph 15.2.1 that requires the area of reinforcement in a pedestal across the interface with the footing (ie,, dowels or vertical bars extending from the footing into the pedes- tal) fo be at least 0.0054,, ACI 318 Paragraph 10.8.4 contains provisions for designing compression mem- bers built monolithically with the wall, as might occur when the pedestal forms a part of an exterior foundation wall. According to these provisions, the outer limits of such members shall not exceed the distance of 1.5 in. outside the lateral pier reinforcement dimensions. What about the size and spacing of this lateral pier reinforcement? According to ACI318 Paragraph 7.10.5, ties in the compression members shall be at least No. 3 bars 5556 Chapter Three 408 16 a7 2x72 naa : ie 7 20x20 2.00 err [ae 2 Source: Author. Notes *Min. area of vertical bars to satisfy 0.0054, ‘No.4 ties can also be used, same spacing. tin al eases, 16 longitudinal bar diameters con ‘Tass 3.2 Minimum Reinforcement of Some Common Golumn Pedestal Sizes Used In Foundations for Metal Building Systems for longitudinal bars No. 10 and smaller, and No. 4 for larger bars. The vertical spacing of the ties shall not exceed: + 16 longitudinal bar diameters + 48 tie bar diameters + Least dimension of the pier ‘The first tie above the footing must be placed not more than one-half of this maximum vertical spacing. At the top of the pedestal, additional ties are needed, if anchor bolts are placed there. The additional ties shall consist of at least two No. 4 bars or three No. 3 bars, distributed within 5 in. of the top of the pedestal. Table 3.2 provides minimum reinforcement of some common column pedestal sizes used in foundations for metal building systems. Concrete cover, measured to the ties, s typically specified as 3 in,, although a 2-in, and even a 1.5-in. cover might be acceptable for the piers placed in forms, rather than against the soil (see ACI 318, Paragraph 7.7.1). The minimum number of vertical bars is four for compression members with rectangular ties, as is typical in column pedestals Abasic cross-section of the column pedestal with four vertical bars is shown in Fig. 39, Cover [Tes Vertical bars Fiauae 3.9” Typical cross-section of @ column pedestal with four vertical bar,Foundations for Metal Building Systems: The Main Issues References 2009 International Building Code® (IBC), International Code Council, Country Club Hills, TL, 2008. ACI318-08, Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete and Commentary, American Concrete Institute, Farmington Fills, MI. AISC 360-05, Specification for Structural Steet Buildings, American Institute of Steel Construction, Chicago, IL, 2005. Bachman, Robert E., et al, Seismic Design Guide for Metal Building Systems, International Code Council, Country Club Hills, IL, 2008. CRSI Design Handbook, Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute, Schaumburg, IL, 2002. Keinlogel, Adolf, Rigid Frame Formulas, Frederick Ungar Publishing Co,, New York, 1964. ‘Metal Building System Manual, Metal Building Manufacturers Association (MBMA), Cleveland, OH, 2006, ‘Metal Building Systems, 2d ed., Building Systems Institute, Inc., Cleveland, OH, 1990. NAVFAC DM-7.2, Foundations and Earth Structures, Department of the Navy, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Alexandria, VA, 1982. Newman, Alexander, Metal Building Systems: Design and Specifications, 2d ed., McGraw- Hill, New York, 2008. ‘TI 809-30, Metal Building Systems, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 1998.CHAPTER 4 Design of Isolated Column Footings 4, 1 The Basics of Footing Design and Construction 4.1.1 Basic Design Requirements ‘The isolated column footing is a staple of conventionally framed buildings. These foun- dations are also used in metal building systems (MBS), most commonly at the interior columns of multiple-span primary rigid frames. Their design is rather straightforward, which makes for a good starting point in our exploration of various foundation systems used in pre-engineered buildings. The design basics described here will be helpful in our later discussions dealing with more complicated foundations. Isolated column footings, also known as spread or individuel footings, are typically square in plan, but could also be rectangular ifneeded. These foundations are generally made of reinforced concrete, but plain-concrete footings may be used in minor struc- tures when allowed by the building codes. The general and specialized concrete codes contain the basic provisions for footing design and construction. The authoritative con- crete code is ACI 318, Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete and Commentary (ACI 318-08) published by the American Concrete Institute. Chapter 3 discusses some of the design requirements for isolated footings, such as those related to their minimum depth. A few additional provisions are contained in Section 1809 of the 2009 International Building Code® (1BC-09), as follows: * The top surface of a footing must be level, but the bottom may slope; the maximum slope is 10 percent. Where a larger slope is required, the footing should be stepped. * The footings adjacent to slopes greater than 33.3 percent require special consideration regarding their setbacks, elevations, and clearances (see IBC-09 Section 1808.7). ‘+ The minimum width of footings is 12 in. + Concrete used in foundations of structures assigned to Seismic Design Categories (SDCs) A, Bor Cmusthavea minimum specified 28-day compressive strength (f}) of 2500 psi. For nonresidential structures assigned to SDCs D, E, or F the minimum fis 3000 psi. © Certain spread footings in zones of high seismicity must be interconnected by ties (see discussion in Sec. 4.1.3). 59Chapter Four 4.1.2 Construction Requirements In addition to the construction-related publications of the American Concrete Institute, much information on the topic of foundation construction can be found in IBC-08. We will mention just three of the relevant IBC provisions: + Placing of concrete through water is prohibited, unless special approved construction methods such asa tremie are used, and steps are taken to minimize concrete segregation and turbulence of water. Water should not be allowed to flow through fresh concrete. + Concrete footings require protection from freezing during placement and for at least five days afterward. + When approved by the building official, concrete footings can be placed directly against the soil, without formwork. When required, concrete forming should conform to Chapter 6 of ACI318. 4.1.3. Seismic Ties Spread footings in buildings assigned Seismic Design Categories D,E, or F and founded. on soils with Site Classes E or F must be interconnected by ties. The ties must be capable of resisting a tension or compression force equal to the lesser of: 1. Vertical load carried by the larger of the footings multiplied by the seismic coefficient S,,and divided by 10. 5,),is the design spectral response acceleration at short periods and 5-percent damping, as described in IBC.) 2. Twenty-five percent of the design gravity load of the smaller footing: Altematively, it must be shown that an equivalent restraint is provided by reinforced concrete slabs on grade or by reinforced concrete beams located within reinforced slabs on grade. 4.1.4 Reinforced-Conerete Footings Chapter 15, Footings, of ACI 318-08 contains specific design requirements for isolated column footings. Many popular reference books, such as CRSI Design Handbook, contain tables of reinforced square footings far various allowable soil-bearing capacities. The general design procedures are described in Sec. 4.2. ‘According to the long-running provisions of ACI 318, the minimum thickness of a reinforced footing on soil is 6 in. above the bottom reinforcement. Since Section 7,7 of, ACI318 specifies a minimum concrete cover of 3 in. for bottom reinforcing bars in con crete cast against and permanently exposed to earth, the minimum footing thickness becomes 9 in. plus the diameter of the bottom reinforcement, or about 10 in. total. 4.1.5 Plain-Concrete and Other Footings Chapter 22, Structural Plain Concrete, of ACI 316-08 describes three specific conditions {in which plain concrete may be used. They are: 1. Members continuously supported by soil or other structural members, 2, Members in compression resulting from arching action under all loading conditions 3, Walls and pedestals (but not columns)Design of Isolated Column Footings Accordingly, footings and pedestals used in metal building systems and meeting these requirements may be made of plain concrete. The minimum thickness of plain-concrete footings is 10 in, ACI 316 requires that the design thickness of these footings be taken 2 in, less than the actual thickness when they are cast against the soil (the typical case, of course). This sometimes overlooked provision means that 12-in.-thick footing made of plain concrete must be analyzed as if it were only 10 in. thick. For plain-concrete pedestals the maximum height-to-thickness ratio is three (ACT318-08 Paragraph 22.8.2). Foundations made of plain concrete are not permitted in Seismic Design Categories D, E, and F, with an exception granted to the residential foundations meeting certain conditions and to wall footings. Section 1809 of IBC-09 describes design and construction requirements for some other types of column footings. These include footings of masonry units, steel grillages, and wood. A present time, none of these column footings is commonly used in the United States for the support of metal building systems. 4.1.6 Nominal vs. Factored Loading ‘The building codes differentiate between nominal and factored structural loads, ‘Nominal (sometimes called “service”) loads are those specified in the codes (such as IBC Chapter 16 or ASCE 7). These are the maximum loads likely to be experienced by the structure within a certain degree of probability. Nominal loads are used in pro- portioning foundations—establishing their sizes, checking stability, and calculating settlements. ‘Nominal loads can be used directly in allowable stress design (ASD) method. When various nominal loads are combined as prescribed by the governing code, the com- puted stresses should be less than the maximum allowable stresses stipulated in the code. The load combinations using allowable stress design can be found in Section 1605.3 of IBC. Two sets of load combinations are included: basic and alternative basic, each with slightly different methods of combining loads. Factored loads are those where nominal loads are multiplied by load factors. Load factors account for uncertainties of the actual load levels, a simplified nature of analy- sis, and a possibility that more than one extreme load occurs at the same time (IBC-09), ‘The load factors associated with the loads of which we are relatively certain are lower than those assigned to the more variable loads. For example, the dead load is multiplied by a load factor of 1.2, while snow has a load factor of 1.6. Factored loads are used in strength design methods, such as contemporary concrete design codes. ‘The basic strength design equation stipulates that the “ultimate” (factored) loading effect U should be less than the design strength of the structural member. The design strength is computed as the nominal strength of the member multiplied by the strength eduction factor 4 (phi) assigned to the limit state being checked: ‘(Nominal strength) > U At present time, the model codes and specialized codes share the same load factors for the same loads. This was not always the case. For example, the 1999 and earlier editions of ACI3I8 had the load factors of 1.4 for dead and 1.7 for live load. in 2002 edition of ACI318, these factors were changed to 1.2 and 1.6, respectively, to comply with the load combinations of ASCE 7-02. The corresponding strength reduction factors were changed as well. The previously used load factors have been moved to ACI318 Appendix C, 6162 Chapter Four ‘The subsequent editions of ACI 318 introduced some minor revisions to the Appendix C load factors and the corresponding strength reduction factors. The design- ‘ers may still use Appendix C, but there is rarely a need to do so. 4.2 The Design Process 4.2.1 General Design Procedure ‘The basic procedure for the design of isolated column footings is as follows: 1. Compute the design load on the footing, in terms of both nominal (unfactored) and factored loading, 2. Determine the required footing area by dividing the unfactored load by the allowable bearing pressure of the soil. 3. Decide on presence and size of the column pedestal (pier), following the iscussion in Chap. 3. 4, Determine the critical sections for moment and shear (see the discussion in Secs. 4.2.5 and 4.2.6) and the design length of the cantilevered footing ledges. 5. Establish a preliminary thickness of the footing from previous experience, design tables found in the engineering reference sources, or trial and error. 6. Check the trial section for punching shear and beam-type shear, refine the footing thickness if needed, then design the footing for flexure, 4.2.2 Using ASD Load Combinations The required footing area for downward loading is found by dividing the maximum. unfactored load by the allowable bearing pressure of the soil. The maximum load is the largest effect of all applicable combinations using the allowable stress design method. ‘The load combinations of IBC Section 1605.3 are listed as follows, separately for basic and alternative basic combinations. These are used for stability calculations and. for finding the soil pressure. The basic ASD load combinations are: D+F D+H+F+L+T D+H+F+(L,or Sor R) D4+H+F+0.75(L+ 1) +0.75(L, or $ or R) D+H+F+(Word7E) D+H+F +0.75(W or 076) + 0.751 + 0.75(L, of S oF R) 06D +W+H 06D +0.7E+Hsign of Isolated Columa Footings 63 ‘The alternative basic ASD load combinations are: D+L+(L,or$ or R) D+L+oW DsL+oW+S/2 D+L+$+aW/2 D4L+S+E/l4 O9D+E/14 where D=dead load F = load caused by fluids with well-defined pressures and heights H1= load from horizontal soil pressure, or pressure from ground water or bulk materials, L=live load (except roof live load), including any allowed reductions L, = roof live load, including any allowed reductions $= snow load R=rainload T= self-straining force from expansion or contraction due to temperature or moisture changes, shrinkage, creep, differential settlement, ora combination, of these W= wind load E= earthquake load effects (horizontal and vertical) = wind load coefficient taken a5 1.3 or 1.0, depending on the procedure used to compute the load 4.2.3. Using Load Combinations for Strength Design Strength design load combinations are contained in Section 1605.2 of IBC-09, as listed here. These are used for concrete design. The notations are the same as those in Sec. 4.2.2. 14(D +F) 1.2(D +F +1) +1.6(L +H) +0.5(L, or $ or R) 12D + 16 (L, or S or R) + (flr 08) 12D + LOW +f,L-+0.5(L, oF $ of R) LAD + LOE +f L+fS 09D +L6W+ 16H 09D + LOE + L.6H ‘The coefficients, and f, are explained in the code. Note that ACT 318-08 has similar load combinations, but they are written in a slightly different format 4.2.4 What Is Included in the Dead Load? As just stated, the total nominal (unfactored) load on the footing consists of various service loads (dead, live, and so on), combined in various code-prescribed load combi- nations. When appropriate, live-load reductions may be taken.64 Chapter Four But what about the weight of the footing itself: Should it be included in the dead. load? What of the soil on top of the footing ledges? Surprisingly, the answers are some- what subjective. Since the footing displaces the same volume of soil, some engineers feel that the ‘weight of concrete need not be included. Or perhaps only the difference between the unit weights of concrete and the soil should be counted toward the increased pressure on the bottom of the footing. However, this logic applies only to the situations where a footing is placed in virgin soil When structural fill is used, the soil at the bottom of the footing has not experienced, any precompression from the weight of the soil above, and the weight of the footing, should now be included. At the time the foundation is designed, it may not be clear whether or not fill will be used at the site, Thus it might be wise to conservatively assume it will be used and to include the weight of the footing and the soil above in the dead load. Perhaps reflecting the uncertainty, the related provisions of the International Build- ing Code have undergone slight changes in recent years. Paragraph 1805.4.1.1 of 1BC-03, directs the designer to include the weight of foundations, footings, and the overlying fill in the design loading, Paragraph 1805.4.1.1 of IBC-06 and Section 1808.3 of IBC-09 both simply permit the inclusion of these weights as part of the dead load. Some designers expand the argument and ask whether the live load acting on the slab on grade should also be included in the foundation loading. The code is silent on the matter Since the live load on the slab does not cause flexure in the footing, this load (2s well as the weight of the footing and of the overlying fill) certainly need not be included in the column load used in concrete design. Instead, if considered at all, these loads will be directly subtracted from the allowable soil pressure under the footing, reducing the allowable pressure accordingly. 4.2.5 Designing for Moment Isolated footings are assumed to be rigid for the purpose of their analysis, and for concentrically loaded isolated footings the soil pressure is uniform (PCA Notes) According to ACI 318-08 Section 15.4, the maximum bending moment at the column footing is found by passing a vertical plane through the footing at the critical section for moment. The location of the critical section for moment depends on whether a concrete pedestal is used under the column or the column is bearing directly on the footing (Fig. 4.1) 1. If the steel column bears on top of a concrete pedestal, the critical section for moment is located at the face of the pedestal (Fig. 4.12) 2. If the steel column with a base plate bears directly on top of the footing, the critical section for moment is located halfway between the face of the column and the edge of the base plate (Fig, 4.18). ‘These provisions assume that the steel column and base plate are square or rectangular in plan. According to ACI 318-08 Section 15.3, for the purpose of locating critical sec- tions for moment and shear, circular or polygon-shaped concrete pedestals can be treated as square members of the same area. No explicit guidance is given about the treatment of round steel columns with square base plates bearing directly on footings, but presumably a similar approach should work.Design of Isolated Column Footings Ctcal section for moment @ Faure 4-4 Oritical sections for flexure in Isolated footings: (a) Steal column bearing on @ ‘concrete pedestal supported by a footing; (b) steel colurnn bearing directly on the footing, Once the critical section for moment is located, the length L of the footing cantilever subjected to bending can be determined (Fig. 4.2). The maximum bending moment M, per foot of footing width is then computed as: M,=qr/2 Here, gis the factored soil pressure under the footing, found from the strength design load ‘combinations. In the basic equation, the nominal flexural strength of concrete M, multi- plied by the strength reduction factor must be equal or exceed the factored moment: OM, 2M, ‘The strength reduction factor 6 is 0.9 for flexure in reinforced conerete and 0.6 for flex- ure in plain concrete. The design of concrete for flexure can become quite involved. In the absence of appropriate computer software the reader is referred to ACI Design Hand- book, PCA Notes, and CRS! Design Handbook for helpful charts and tables that can sig- nificantly reduce the design time. 4.2.6 Designing for Shear Design provisions for shear in footings are addressed in ACI 318-08 Section 11.11. Two types of shear strength are considered in the design of isolated footings: wide-beam action and two-way action. Wide-beam action shear strength is computed assuming the footing behaves as a wide beam with cantilevered ledges. It is similar to shear in a reinforced-concrete cantilevered beam, except that the shear stress in the footing is 65Chapter Four Citcal section formoment—\_ | Soll pressure ‘considered for foxure Faure 42 The lena L of the footing cantilever subjected to bending. typically resisted by concrete alone. In two-way action shear, the column or pedestal attempts to “punch” through the footing, hence another name for this limit state, punching shear. ‘The critical section for beam-action shear is located the dlstance d (the distance from the extreme compression fiber to the centroid of the tension reinforcement) from the critical section for moment. It can be found by drawing a line that extends at 45° from the top of the footing at the critical section for moment until it intersects the bottom reinforcement (Fig. 4.32). The critical section for wide-beam action shear extends through the whole width of the footing. The equation for beam-type shear strength is: ov,2¥,Design of Isolated Column Footings cateacen pen mee ee Critical section XY Santon! a } 4 | fee 1 |S —.} LRA UG omramn for two-way shear \S “Tebutary area ‘Tributary area. ) ©) Fioure 4.3 Citical sections for shear: (a) Widebeam action shear; (b) woway action (punching) shear, When the footing is subjected to flexure and shear only, the factored shear loading is carried solely by concrete (V, = ¥,). Assuming that concrete is of normal weight, the ‘beam-type shear strength V, (which is equal to V,) can be computed as: V, = 2h fib 26-day compressive strength of concrete the width of the footing 4 = the distance from the extreme compression fiber to the centroid of the tension reinforcement =a coefficient accounting for reduced strength of lightweight concrete 1.48 equal to 0.85 for sand-lightweight concrete and 0.75 for all-lightweight concrete. For normal weight concrete typically used in footings A= 1, where fi é, a68 Chapter Four In some circumstances, a more complex formula given by ACI 918-08 Eq, 11-5 can be useful ‘The maximum two-way action shear stresses occur in the vicinity of the column or pedestal. The critical section for two-way action shear is located at a distance d/?2 from the critical section for moment on all four sides (Fig. 4.38). The concrete area that resists two-way action shear is the product of the perimeter of the critical section b, and the depth d. According to ACI318-08, the two-way action concrete shear strength for foot. ings V, is the smallest of the following three values: v=" f + A fea vy -(94 +2) V.= ah ffebd where f\= the ratio of long side to short side of the column or rectangular pedestal 6, = 40 for interior columns, 30 for edge columns and 20 for corner columns Other symbols are explained earlier. It can be seen that using rectangular columns might decrease punching shear capacity of concrete. The strength reduction factor $ is 0.78 for shear in reinforced concrete and 0.6 for shear in plain concrete, 4.2.7 Minimum Footing Reinforcement According to ACI 318-08 Section 15.104, reinforcement in each principal direction needs to be sufficient to meet the same minimum reinforcement ratio as required for slabs on grade (0.0018 of gross concrete area). This reinforcement may be placed near the top or bottom of the footing, or at both locations (see Commentary to ACI 318-08 Section 15.10.4). The maximum bar spacing is 18 in. For square footings, itis typical to provide the same reinforcement in both direc- tions at the bottom. A question commonly asked is: Where exactly is the effective depth to reinforcement d measured to? Is it from the top of the footing to the center- line of the bars in the lowest layer? Upper layer? Midway between the two? ‘The practices vary, but measuring midway between the two layers seems like a reasonable compromise. This “average effective depth” approach is used in CRST Design Handbook. Under this method the effective depth is equal to the footing thick- ness minus one bar diameter. Measuring to the centerline of the bars in the upper layer is of course always conservative. 4.2.8 Distribution of Reinforcement in Rectangular Footings Inreinforced-concrete footings, the distribution of reinforcement is prescribed by ACI318-08 Section 154. For square footings reinforcement is distributed uniformly in both directions, For rectangular footings reinforcement is distributed uniformly in the long direction across the width of the footing, but nonuniformly in the short direction. In short direc- tion, a certain fraction of the total reinforcement A, is placed in the band located at theDesign of Isolated Column Footings center of the footing. The fraction that must be placed in the center band is equal to YA, where 2 Y= Ge Here, Bis the ratio of the lengths of the long to short side of the rectangular footing. ‘The remaining reinforcement placed in the short direction is distributed uniformly over the two areas on each side of the center band. In an attempt to simplify reinforcement placement in the field, some engineers determine the size and spacing of reinforcement in the central band as required by code, and then continue that spacing throughout the footing. This uses more reinfore- ing steel but simplifies rebar placement and helps avoid any associated field problems. 4.2.9 Designing for Uplift Some load combinations involving lateral forces may result in the net uplift loading on. the footing. Performing a stability check for uplift is discussed in Chap. 3, and Fig, 3.2 shows the components of the “ballast” provided by the weights of the footing, the col- ‘umn pedestal (if any is present), and the soil on the footing ledges, We recommend neglecting all other contributing factors such as the soil “wedges” shown on Fig. 32 and any flexural restraint that might be provided by the slab on grade. Indeed, we sug- gest reducing the dead load by the amount of the probable buoyancy force in the areas with high water levels or subject to flooding, Design of column footings for this condition is not well covered in the building codes. Conceptually, the design approach is the same as for downward loading. Figure 4.4 illustrates an isolated footing with pedestal under uplift loading. The critical " Citical section for moment isolated footing resieting uplift loading.10 Chapter Four section for moment is at the face of the pedestal, and it is conservative to take critical section for wide-beam action shear at that location as well. The ctitical section for two- way action (punching) shear can be taken at the same location as for downward load- ing, A punching-shear failure caused by uplift loading might occur in some thin and large footings, where the upward design load exceeds the downward one. ‘What about the columns bearing directly on spread footings? When the design wind uplift force is acting, the isolated footing is literally hanging from the column by the anchor bolts. For this situation it is prudent to take the critical sections for moment and shear at the center of the footing. ‘At the bottom of the pedestal, the load path for uplift continues through the vertical pier seinforcement, which should be extended into the footing and developed there with properly embedded hooks. The uplift loading is generally low enough to allow the min- ‘imum pier reinforcement to accomplish this task, but this check should still be made. Concrete is not commonly designed for tension, but the building codes cover some conditions where tension is considered, such as in brackets and corbels. According to ACT 318-08 Section 18, the design strength of tension reinforcement must exceed the applied factored tensile force N,: WALZ Nee where $= 0.75 A,= area of steel reinforcement ‘The factored tensile force N, is computed from the appropriate load combination, such as 0.9D +1.6W. 4.2.10 Reinforcement at Top of Footings Can an isolated footing reinforced only at the bottom resist the bending moment caused by wind uplift? For moderate uplift loads itis often possible to make the plain-concrete section thick enough to resist the bending. But is the plain-concrete behavior acceptable in this situation? In other words, must the top surface of the footing be reinforced even if plain-concrete flexural capacity is adequate? ‘The isolated footing is among the structures where ACI 318-08 Section 22.2 specifi- cally allows using structural plain concrete for members “continuously supported by soil.” The main function of the isolated footing is to transmit the downward-acting, Joads to the soil during almost the entire useful life of the building. An argument can be made that a rare occasion when a net uplift loading exists could be considered an inci- dental use of the foundation that ordinarily is continuously supported by soil. Accord- ing to this argument, assuming that the plain-concrete section is strong enough to resist the bending caused by uplift forces, no top reinforcement is needed. Of course, the opposite argument can also be made that during the uplift the footing isnot continuously supported by soil. Therefore, the footing must be reinforced at the top. In the absence of clear code provisions both arguments have merit, and it is cer- tainly conservative to reinforce the top of any isolated column footing subjected to net uplift. Some designers specify top reinforcement as standard practice. We should note that placing reinforcing bars at the top of the footing requires spe~ cial high chairs or similar bar support elements that are not needed for bottom rein- forcement, where inexpensive short chairs of even concrete bricks can be used. Large and relatively thin column footings subjected to high net uplift forces would benefit the most from reinforcing their top surfaces.Design of Isolated Columa Footings Design Example 4.1: Column Footing Problem Design the isolated column footing to support an interior column of the single-story multiple-span rigid frame. The spacing of the interior columns within the frame is 60 ft, and the spacing between the frames is 25 ft. The following loads act on the roof: 3 pounds per square foot (psf) dead load, 30 psf design roof snow load, and 14 psf wind uplift. The depth of the footing must be at a minimum 3 ft below the floor ‘The column is supported by a 20 in. by 20 in. concrete pedestal, the top of which is flush with the floor slab. Use f”= 3000 psi and allowable soil bearing capacity of 4000 psf. Assume the average weight of the soil, slab on grade and foundation as 130 Ib/fe. ‘The building is not located in the flood zone. Use IBC basic load combinations. Solution Find the design loads on the column for a tributary area of (60% 25) = 1500 £2 The design dead load D = 3 x 1500 = 4500 Ib or 4.5 kips (1 kip = 1000 Ib) ‘The design snow load $ = 30 x 1500 = 45,000 Ib or 45 kips ‘The design wind uplift load W=~14 x 1500 =~21,000 Ib or ~21 kips. (The negative sign denotes an upward-acting force.) ‘Total downward load D + $=4.5 + 45=495 kips. ‘Total uplift load on foundation (0.6D + W)=0.6 x 45 ~21=-183 kips. Weight ofthe soi, slab on grade and foundation is 130 lb/ft 3 ft = 390 Ib/fe or psf ‘Thenet available soil pressure is 4000-390 = 3610 psf or3.61 ksf (1 ksf=1000 lb/ft) Required area of the footing for downward load is 49.5/3.61 = 13.71 ft «+. For downward load only, could use a 3.7 by 3,7 ft footing, ‘Check stability against wind uplift. Minimum required weight of the foundation, soil on its ledges and tributary slab on grade can be is found from: O.6D yan una t W=O Dg. tune = 18:3/0.6 = 305 Kips or 30,500 Ib ‘This corresponds to 30,500/130 = 234.62 fof the average weight of “ballast.” With the depth of footing 3 ft below the floor, this requires the minimum square footing size of (234.62/3)! = 8.84 ft, ‘To reduce the footing size, try lowering the bottom of the footing by 1 ft. Then the minimum required square footing is (234.62/4)!” =7.66 ft. ‘To arrive at a round number, 8.0 by 8.0 ft footing, its depth must be: 234.62/(8)* =3.66 ft. Use the footing depth of 3 ft8 in., or 3.67 ft Recompute the weight of the soil, slab on grade and foundation as: 130 tb/ft x 3.67 ft = 477.1 psfRQ Chapter Four ‘The net available soil pressure is 4000 - 477.1 = 3522.9 psf =3.52 ksf + Proceed to concrete design with 8.0 x 8.0 ft footing 3 ft 8 in. deep. Note that if the designer were to consider only the downward load, the footing dimen- sions would have been less than half as large! Load Combination 1: 1.20 + 1.6S (Downward-Acting Factored Loads) 24.5) + 1.6(45) =77.4 kips B,_T7A Aon 7Gq 121 kek <362kst OK ‘The footing thickness is typically controlled by shear, so start concrete design with a shear check for a preliminary thickness established by trial and error or a reference look-up method. Try a footing with depth d = i4 in, which corresponds to approxi- mately 18 in. overall footing thickness. 1. Two-Way Action Shear The critical section is located the distance 4/2, or 7 in. from the faces of the 20 x 20 in. pedestal, so each side of the critical section is (20-47 +7) = 34 in. ‘The critical perimeter b, = 4(34) = 136 in. at Tributary area =8x8~ 777 1 x tributary area = 1.21 x 55.97 = 67.72 kips. 897 ft. y, Find the smallest ofthiee concrete punching-shear capacities: wveloof na Fora squate column = 1 and this equation does not control over third equation © v= ( + ap Fenat Using 6, = 40 for interior column ¥, [Ase +2] 115000136) (14) = 67,987 = 69789 kips (©) Vi= 4h fod = 4(1)¥3000(136)(14) = 417,146 b= 417.15 kips Controls 9V,= 0.75 x 417.15 =312.86 kips > V;= 67.72 kips OKDesign of Isolated Column Footings 2. Wide-Beam Action Shear ‘Tributary area = 8(4 ~ 10/12— 14/12) = 16.0 F 1.21 x 16.0 = 19.36 kips V,=4, x tributary are V, = 2h Flbyd 4V,=0.75 x 2(1)¥5000(96)(14) = 110,421 tb = 110.42 kips $V,= 110.42 kips > V,=19.36 kips OK 3. Flewure For critical section at face of pier, L= 448 ft) ~ (10 in.)/12=3.17 ft 21x8%3.172/2= 48.64 kip-ft ‘This moment is very small, so try minimum reinforcement first. Ag, = 0.0018 x8 ft x12 in. x 18 in, =3.11 in? ‘Ty eight No. 6 bars each way (4, =8 x0.44 = 3.52 in, Center-to-center spacing of eight No. 6 bars with 3 in, clearance at the footing sides is: [8x12-2x3-6/8]/7=1275 in.<18in. OK Using Table 4.1, adapted from the information in ACI Design Handbook (the author finds the older versions of the Handbook to be most user-friendly for fast calculations), com- pute coefficient a, as.a fanction of p: vocp= ASZiN commas o,=436 OM,=A,xdxa,=352% 14x 4.36 = 214.86 kip-ft > M, = 48.64 kip-ft_ OK ‘Check development length of reinforcement. ‘The development length of reinforcement can be found by the ACI 318-08 formula: =| 2 Wie |g «V40;, Fe (age : a 1.0 (< 12 in. of concrete below bars) (0 (uncoated bars) 0.8 (bars less than No. 7} 1 (normal weight concrete) 346/16 = 3.375 in. [distance from bottom of concrete to center of bar, con- trols over 4 bar spacing of (12.75) = 6375 in.] K,=0 (no transverse reinforcement) B4 Chapter Four "0.0065 0.0070 13 | 0.0075 4.40 0.0080 0.0107 4.08 0.0085 0.0113 4.05 Source: Adapted from ACI Design Handbook, Amerian ‘Concrete Institute, Farmington Fills, Ml 48931, 1971 Notes: 6) 4M, 24 xdxa, (2) Interpolation between listed values is acceptable ‘Taoe 44 Coefficients for Flowural Design of Sections without Compression Reinforcement for , = 60,000 psi otk, 3.37540 Check SF 075 45>2.5 -use2.5in Db 75 = 1 GOT Js008 25 (0-75= 19-7 in. > 12.0 in 9.7 In, < av li 60,000 wp ible embedment length of (48 -10~3)=35 in. OK The transfer of downward force from pier to footing is OK by observation, owing to trivial force level. Load Combination 2: Dead Load and Wind Uplift Since stability has already been checked, the design for this load combination focuses on checking the footing for moment and wide-beam shear in negative bending. While the load combination 0.9D + L6W might seem appropriate (H = Ohere), the check will consider the condition when the foot- ing is suspended in the air and must resist its own weight plus the weight of the soilDesign of Isolated Column Footings on its ledges. To maximize the load effects, the following load combination should be considered instead’ 12D +1.6W+fL.+0.5(L, or $ or R) where the second, third, and fourth components are not acting. This approach follows the statement in ACI315-08 Paragraph 9.2.1 that the effect of some loads in a load com- bination not acting simultaneously must be investigated. The factored dead load is then: 1.2477. psf =57252 pst =0.572 kst 1. Two-Way Action Shear ‘The punching-shear load, using the same critical section as the preceding, is V,=0.572 ksf x tributary area = 0.572 x 55.97 = 32.01 kips Noting that 32.01 < 67.72 kips from Load Combination 1, which has been checked already, we conclude that two-way action shear is OK. .2.Wide-Beam Action Shear As discussed previously in Sec. 4.2.9, in case of upliftitis con- servative to take the critical section for wide-beam action shear at the face of the pedestal. Tributary area = 8(4 ~ 10/12) = 25.38 £2 V,=4, x tributary area = 0.572 x 25.33 = 14.49 kips Noting that 14.49 < 19.36 kips from Load Combination 1, which has been checked already, we conclude that wide-beam action shear is also OK. 3.Flequre For critical section at the face of pier, 1 = (6 ft)— (10 in) /12 = 3.17 ft. M,=0.572x8x3.17"/2=22.99 kip-ft ‘This moment is very small, so try plain-concrete behavior first ‘As discussed previously, the design depth of the 18-in. thick footing placed directly oon oil is reduced by 2 to 16 in. Section properties for §-f-wide 16-in-deep footing are: S,= bP /6 = 8012)(16)/ A= 8(12)(16) = 1536 in? oM,2M, OM, =06x5 AV/F.S,, = 0.6 x5 x 1.0 ¥3000 (4,096) = 673,041 Ib-in = 56.09 kip-ft (9M, =56.09 > M, = 22.99 kip-ft_ OK 1096 in6 Chapter Four Plain-concrete behavior would be sulficient, but to make the section act as reinforced concrete, we could provide top reinforcement, Since minimum reinforcement (eight No. 6 bars each way) was provided at the bottom for downward loading, the same bars could also be placed at the top. The moment capacity of this reinforcement (M, = 214.86 kip-ft) is more than sutficient to resist M, = 22.99 kip-ft from Load Combination 2. ‘A2-in, minimum cover required for concrete permanently exposed to earth, but not cast against it ‘Those seeking to reduce reinforcement requirements might recall that the minimum footing reinforcement (0.0018 times gross area of footing) may be divided between the top and bottom of the footing. Therefore, it might be possible to provide reinforcement ‘of smaller size than No. 6 at top and bottom. ‘Try eight No. 4 bars each way top and bottom of the footing: A,=8X0.2= 1.6 in’ top and bottom, for a total of 6x 2=3.2 int A> Ag St1 in? OK Since bottom reinforcement controls, recheck eight No. 4 bars for that condition only, conservatively using the same d. 1.6in? For P= 3q3)(TH) * 0012 a,=4.44 6x 144.44 =99.46 ki Can use eight No. 4 bars each way top and bottom of the footing. The development length of smaller No, 4 bars is OK, since it was already checked for larger No. 6 bats. ‘The last design item is the pedestal (pier), Since the size is given, no horizontal load is present, and the gravity load is small, for Load Combination 1 the pedestal is OK by observation. For Load Combination 2 the pedestal must resist uplift, which is transferred through its vertical reinforcement. From Table 3.2, select one of the options for the minimum reinforcement of a 20 x 20 pedestal, which is four No. 7 bars with No. 3 ties at 14 in. o.. (on center). Check these bars for adequacy to resist a factored tension load of 0.9D + 1.6W: N,.= 09 x45 ~ 16x21 =-29.55 kips Af, = 0.75 x 4 x 0.6 x 60 = 108 kips > 29.55 kips OK As a final note, the footing size and depth are controlled by overall stability against uplift, and the section is relatively lightly loaded. It is possible to reduce the depth of the footing somewhat, but 18-in. thickness is quite reasonable for an 8-ft wide footing, and any possible material savings would be trivial. Figure 4.5 illustrates the final foot- ingdesign, aReferences Design of Isolated Column Footings a 20" 20 pier | Lronenanee t 4 F F IE @i7ee | HEA va sa fates 5 top andbitom | Iw dear ] | 3" clear * Frcune 4.8 Isolated footing for Design exemple 4.1. 2009 International Building Code® (IBC-09), International Code Council, Country Club Hills, TL, 2009. ACI318-08, Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete and Commentary, American Concrete Institute, Farmington Hills, MI. ACI Design Handéook SP-17, American Concrete Institute, Farmington Hills, MI, 1971-1997. ASCE/SEL 7-05, Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures, American Society of Civil Engineers, 2006. RSI Design Handbook, Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute, Schaumburg, IL, 2002. NAVFAC DM-7.2, Foundations and Earth Structures, Department of the Navy, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Alexandria, VA, 1982, Newman, Alexander, Metal Building Systems: Design and Specifications, 2d ed, McGraw-Hill, New York, 2004 PCA Notes on ACI 318-08 Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete with Design Applications, Kamara, Mahmoud E. etal, eds, Portland Cement Association, Skokie, TL, 2008. riCHAPTER 5 Foundation Walls and Wall Footings 5.1 The Basics of Design and Construction. 5.1.1 Foundation Options for Support of Exterior Walls ‘The exterior walls in metal building systems (MBS) generally consist either of metal panels of various types or the so-called hard walls of masonry or concrete, Hard-wall systems include partial or full-height castin-place conereie, single-layer concrete ‘masonry units (CMU), or masonry-veneer walls, as well as precast concrete panels, The ‘weight of all of these needs to be supported at the foundation level. Metal panels weigh little, and the foundation demands they impose are minimal. Hard walls can be quite heavy and thick and require substantial foundations. The basic options for supporting the exterior building walls are: 1 Grade beams 2, Slab haunches built integrally with slabs on grade 3. Continuous foundation walls with footings A basic grade beam without footing might suffice in a metal building system sheathed entirely with metal panels and located in the area with minimal frost-penetration requirements. The grade beam is a rectangular concrete element that either bears on the soil directly (Fig. 5.14) or spans between the column foundations as a flexural member (Fig. 5.16). The latter requires flexural and shear reinforcement to carry its own weight and the weight of the exterior building wall. In the areas with deep frost lines some engineers prefer not to carry the flexural- type grade beams below the frost line and provide a frost cut (a sharply angled bottom surface) instead (Fig. 5.16). The effectiveness of the frost cut can be supplemented by removing some of the soil from under the bottom of the grade beam. Both these steps attempt to minimize the upward pressure on the grade beam that might develop as a result of the soil frost heave. Flexural-type grade beams are particularly useful in com- bination with deep foundation piers discussed in Chap. 9. slab haunch is similar in function to a grade beam but is built integrally with the slab on grade (Fig. 5.10). This design is commonly used in some areas of the United States where the frost penetration lines are located at shallow depths. A slab with hhaunch can be a foundation system by itself, and Chap. 8 covers it. 980 TERT) oe TET) TET | Thickened slab Chapter Five Compressible filer 7 Slab on grade L f Slab on grade |. cra boa -— Gade bean cos ig bso @ oi Compressible titer ‘Slab on grade Foundation wall Footing cS) @ Faure 8A Options for exterior wall Suppor: (a) Soltbearing grade bear; (6) grade beam with an ‘optional frost cut spanning between column foundations; (c) slab with haunch; (d) foundation wall with footing. (Reinforcement is not shown for ciarity) ‘The main subject of this chapter is the third option, continuous foundation walls with footings (Fig. 5.14). These foundations are most cost-effective when they extend. several feet below grade and carry significant gravity loads from the exterior walls above. They can also be indispensable in helping counteract the wind-uplift forces on exterior column foundations, such as moment-resisting footings discussed in Chap. 7. 5.1.2 Design and Construction Requirements for Foundation Walls Specific provisions for design and construction of foundation walls are found in the model building codes, such as 2008 International Building Code® (IBC-09), and in special- ized concrete codes, such as ACI 318, Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete and Commentary, published by the American Concrete Institute. In many cases plain- concrete or even masonry foundation walls are acceptable, Among other factors, designFoundation Walls and Wall Footings of foundation walls depends greatly on whether or not the walls are braced at the top. ‘The bracing can be provided by the floor framing at crawi spaces and basements, or by slabs on grade connected to the foundation walls by dowels, as discussed later. Other important design considerations are the presence of unbalanced fill on both sides of the wall and the seismic design category of the building. The thickness of the foundation wall depend on the type and thickness of the exte- rior superstructure wall it supports, as the foundation wall should be al least equal to that thickness (see IBC-09 Paragraph 1807.1.6). Some exceptions are granted to the foundation walls supporting brick veneer, which can overhang the foundation wall. (We recommend that the overhang does not exceed 1 in,, fora variety of reasons) The minimum thickness allowed for the plain-concrete foundation walls is 75 in. ‘The common thicknesses of the foundation walls used in metal building systems with metal siding range from 8 to 12 in. The walls supporting masonry-veneer cavity ‘wall system with a backup of 8-in, CMU are usually 15 or 16 in. thick. Occasionally, lat- eral soil pressures (at basements, for example) control the design of the foundation walls and help determine their thickness Jn typical metal-building construction soil is placed at approximately the same ele- vation on each side of the foundation walls, although quite often the soil at the interior side is slightly higher than at the exterior. A 6-in. difference is usually sufficient to pre- vent the outside surface water from entering the building and to provide some modest barrier against the intrusion of the creeping wildlife (Fig. 5.2). Note that in the illustra- tion the slab on grade is separated from the wall by compressible filler, compressible tite 0" Ao one ef [ne =F c ‘Compacted structural it > were’ eff.“ e (2) #5 continuous —| 4° | oe f ro I 20 Fiaune §.2_ Reinforced concrete foundation wall with a mi fn two sides. The slab on grade is separated from the wall slevations82 Chapter Five Z Field bend dowels into slab x sete yet Sih on ge (‘a me \ compact ssa 2 clear eras Ld weir Frost depth _fe o (2) #5 continuous Fieune 8.3 Reinforced concrete foundation wall with significant difference of backfil elevations ‘on two sides. The slab on grade is ted to the wall. ‘When the difference in the soil elevations on both sides of the foundation wall is significant, a retaining wall-like behavior is at hand, and the wall needs to be designed. accordingly. A common example is the foundation wall at a loading dock, where the difference in the backfill elevations is typically substantial (a 4-ft drop is common). Depending on the configuration, loading, and soil conditions, such a wall can be designed as a reinforced wall with regular wall footing, similar to Fig. 5.3, ot as a canti- levered concrete retaining wall. In both cases the wall is laterally supported at the top by the dowels extending into the floor slab. ‘The tables in IBC-09 Chapter 18 address the various combinations of the foundation ‘wall materials (masonry or concrete), wall heights, maximum unbalanced backfill height, and the soil class or the associated design lateral scil loading, The tables indicate whether vertical steel reinforcement is needed, and, if it is, specify its minimum sizes. ‘The tables assume that the walls are braced at the top and bottom; otherwise, custom design is required. (We should add that the walls unbraced at the top and supporting unbalanced fill need to be designed as pure cantilevered retaining wells.) ‘The IBC-09 Chapter 18 tables allow the use of 8-in.-thick solidly grouted foundation walls of unreinforced CMU for all the tabulated soil classes where the maximum wall height is ftand the maximum unbalanced backfill height is 4 ft. The tables assume that CMU is placed in a running bond and its mortar is Type M or S. Similarly, the tablesFoundation Walls and Wall Footings allow 7.5-in-thick plain-concrete foundation walls to be used for all the tabulated design lateral soil loading where the maximum wall height is 7 ft and the maximum unbalanced backfill height is 5 ft. These conditions generally apply to a typical exterior foundation wall in the metal building system without a basement. We reiterate that IBC-09 Chapter 18 tables are based on the assumption that the walls are braced at the top. In case of metal building systems, a slab on grade can pro- vide such bracing. ACI318-08 Commentary on Section 22.6 explains that lateral support of plain-concrete walls must “prohibit relative lateral displacement at top and bottom of individual wall elements.” Walls without such lateral support must be designed as reinforced concrete members. Even in cases where a plain-concrete foundation wall would be acceptable, some Gesigners specify at least two No, 4 or No. 5 bars at the top and the bottom of the wall. ‘This allows the wall to span over the soil areas with poor compaction and to reduce cracking owing to minor differential settlement. Others specify reinforced exterior wall in almost all cases. Where required by analysis, code provisions, or designer’s judgment, foundation walls are reinforced. To qualify as reinforced walls, the minimum reinforcement per- centage of concrete wails, including foundation walls, is prescribed in ACI 318-08 as follows: * Vertical: 0.0012 for No. 5 deformed bars and smaller, with f, < 60,000 psi; 0.0015 for other deformed bars ‘+ Horizontal: 0.002 for No. 5 deformed bars and smaller, with f, < 60,000 psi; (0.0025 for other deformed bars ‘The maximum bar spacing in either direction is 18 in. Walls thicker than 10 in., except basement walls, need two layers of reinforcement. The exterior layer, with a clear cover of at least 2 in, must contain from one-half to two-thirds of the total required reinforce- ment area of in each direction. The interior layer, with a clear cover at least %in,, but not more than one-third the thickness of the wall, contains the remainder. In cases where foundation walls help resist lateral loads on the column foundations, the walls should be designed as reinforced-conerete flexural members spanning hori- zontally (and vertically if needed) between the column piers. These designs are described in Chap. 7. 5.4.3 Construction of Wall Footings ‘The width of a wall footing depends on the thickness of the foundation wall it supports. ‘When the foundation walls are made of cast-in-place concrete placed inside formwork, the minimum width of the footing ledge (the length of the projection beyond the face of the wall) should be ample to support the thickness of the formwork—typically 4 to 6 in. ‘Therefore, the minimum width of the wall footing might be larger than required by the loading conditions alone. As discussed in Chap. 2, these circumstances might result in a differential settlement between the lightly loaded exterior foundation wall footings and the heavier loaded isolated interior column footings. ‘The sides of wall footings ate typically formed with dimensional lumber (see Fig. 2.2). Accordingly, some engineers prefer to specify the footing thicknesses equal to that of dimensional lumber (e.g., 11% in. for a2 x 12 lumber, or 9% in. for a 2 x 10), Others prefer round numbers, such as 12 or 10 in. Still others specify the footing84 Chapter Five thickness to be equal to that of the foundation wall being supported. In any event, the minimum thickness of stractural plain concrete footings is 8 in. Because of their modest widths, continuous wall footings are usually made of plain concrete (PCA Notes). The applicability of plain-concrete footings depends on the Seis- mic Design Category (SDC) of the building, with slight variations among the various codes and their various editions. For example, ACI 318-08 Paragraph 22.10.1 stipulates that plain-concrete footings are allowed to carry plain-concrete foundation walls in SDCs A through C. In SDCs D, E, and F, plain-conerete foundation walls are also allowed, but with such caveats as: ‘+ The walls must be of reinforced concrete or masonry. + Thewall footings must contain at least two continuous No.4 or larger reinforcing bars, with the minimum area of the reinforcement of 0.002 times the gross cross- sectional area of the footing. The bars must be made continuous at comers and intersections. However, IBC-09 Paragraph 1908.1.8 modifies the provisions of ACI 318-08 Section 22.10 and includes SDC Cin the same group as SDCs D, E, and F It also adds exceptions to those provisions. For instance, IBC-09 allows plain-concrete wall footings and plain- concrete “stemwalls,” with only a single bar required at the top of the stemwall and the bottom of the footing, Many engineers follow these ACI 318 provisions for all SDCs, making the details similar to Fig.5.3 their standard practice. Note that the 12-by-24-in, footing is reinforced with two No. 5 bars, because the required area of the reinforcement is: 0.002 x12 x 24= 0.576 in? ‘Two No. 5 bars provide 0.62 in? OK 5.1.4 Design of Wall Footings Structural design of wall footings is straightforward and a bit simpler than the design of isolated column footings. The width of the footing is determined by the consider- ations outlined previously in Sec. 5.1.3, or, in the case of heavily loaded walls, on the basis of unfactored loads and allowable soil bearing pressures. The calculations for moment and shear follow the ultimate-design procedures. In most cases wall footings are designed as plain-concrete elements. As discussed in Chap. 4, the maximum bending moment in a footing is found by passing a vertical plane through the footing at the critical section for flexure. For wall footings, the location of the critical section for moment depends on the wall material: 1, For concrete walls, the critical section for flexure is located at the face of the wall. 2. For masonry walls, the critical section for flexure is located halfway between the edge and the middle of the wall. Design for shearis similar to the provisions used for isolated footings discussed in Chap. 4. ‘The critical section for beam-action shear is located the distance f (footing thickness)Foundation Walls and Wall Footings from the critical section for moment. The cantilever projection distance, measured from the critical section for beam-action shear to the outer edge of the footing, is generally quite short. In a common scenario, the width of the footing ledge is less than the footing depth, and the critical section for beam-action shear occurs outside the footing. In this case beam-action shear need not even be checked. Punching shear is not considered for walls. Design for uplift is similar to that for isolated footings, except that plain-concrete behavior is not questioned as much for this condition—it is the normal practice. As with unreinforced column footings, overall thickness of plain-concrete wall footings cast against the soil must be reduced by 2 in. for design. Design Example 5.1: Wall Footing Problem Check the wall footing design shown on Fig, 5.4. The footing is 10 in. thick and 20 in. wide. It supports in. concrete foundation wall, which carries a fully grouted loadbearing masonry wall that is 16 ft tall 8 in. thick. The masonry wall serves as an endwall in the metal building system, with the tributary width of 12.5 ft. The following loads act on the roof: 3 pounds per square foot (psf) dead load and 30 psf design roof snow load. The unit weight of CMU is 80 psf. The frost depth of the footing is 3 ft 6 in Use f” = 3000 psi and the allowable soil bearing capacity of 3000 psf. Assume the weight of soil 120 1b/ft° and the weight of concrete 150 Ib/ft. The footing is placed on fill. 16.0" o| Grade #4 @ 18" vertical, hooked atthe bottom 5] 940 12 horizontal - 48 face -Ntemate ook locations el = ee Fane A Wall footing for Design ExampleChapter Five Solution Find the design loads on the footing. The design loads transmitted through the foundation wall (roof load +CMU + foundation wall) is: Dead load D (not including the footing weight) = 3 psf x 12.5 ft + 80 psf x 16 ft + 1100 psf x 3.17 ft= 1635 lb or 1.63 kips (I kip = 1000 Ib). Snow load $ =30 x 12.5=375 lb or 0.375 kip, ‘Total load D+-$=2010 tb = 2.01 Kips Since the footing is placed on fill, subtract own weight of the footing as well as weight of soil and slab on its ledges from the allowable soil bearing capacity: Weight of footing plus soil and slab on ledge = 125 + 120 x 2.67 + 150 x 05 = 520 psf = 0.52 ksf. Total available soil pressure = 3-052 = 2.48 ksf. Minimum required width of footing =2.01/(2.48 x 1). = 081 ft < 1.67 ft provided OK. Factored load under load combination 12D + 1.68: .2(1.63) + 1.6(0.375) = 2.556 kips Factored soil pressure P__ 2.556 42 B= Tam ES Ke oM, 2M, M, = 1.53 x (0.5)/2=0.191 kip-ft perlin, ftof footing (tg /6 = 12(8")/6 = 128 in? 6X5 haf FS = 0.65 x 1.0 3000128) = 21,033 Ib-in. = 1.75 kip-ft $M, =175>M,=0.191 kip-ft OK Shear need not be considered since the critical section fot shear occurs outside the foot- ing (¢=10 in. > 1= 6 in). «+ The footing is adequate. As an added task, check whether the wall reinforcement complies with minimum requirements for reinforced walls. Minimum area of vertical bars spaced 18 in. 0.c. {on center): 0.0012 x 18 x 8= 0.17 in?< 0.2 in2 provided (No. 4 bat)Foundation Walls and Wall Footings Minimum area of horizontal bars spaced 12 in. o.¢: 0.002 x 12 x8 = 0.192 in?<.2 in provided (No. 4 bar) ‘Wall reinforcement shown complies with the minimum required for reinforced walls. Provide two No. 5 continuous longitudinal bars in the footing, as discussed earlier. dh References 2009 International Building Code (IBC-09), International Code Council, Country Club Hills, IL, 2008. ACI318-08, Building Core Requirements for Structural Concrete and Commentary, American Concrete Institute, Farmington Hills, MI, 2008, Notes on ACT 318-08 Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete with Design Applications, Kamara, Mahmoud E.,et l., eds, Portland Cement Association (PCA), Skokie, IL, 2008.CHAPTER 6 Tie Rods, Hairpins, and Slab Ties 6.1 Tie Rods 6.1.1 The Main Issues Atypical rigid frame exerts both horizontal and vertical column reactions on its foun- dations, as discussed in Chap. 3. Under gravity loading a single-span gable rigid frame produces two equal horizontal forces acting outward in the opposite directions ‘The idea behind the tie-rod system is to interconnect the foundations under the frame columns and thus “extinguish” both horizontal reactions. Tie rods are placed at or below the floor and are attached to the column foundations by hooks or mechanical devices. In one design they connect directly to the column base plates. Because the most reliable versions of the tierod system are relatively expensive to construct, they are commonly used for resisting Jarge horizontal reactions, measured in tens of kips (1 kip = 1000 Ib). Being primarily tension members, the classic tie rods are not intended to resist the column reactions acting in the same direction, as from a wind load. If resistance to both tension and compression is required, as is often the case in metal building systems, tie rods are placed within substantial concrete grade beams designed as compression elements. ‘The typical tie-rod material is mild steel reinforcement, but high-strength post- tensioned steel can also be used in one system described later. Since the steel bars are placed in the vicinity of the soil, they are susceptible to corrosion. The cost of tie rod replacement is high, and it is prudent to protect them by multiple means. The first level of protection is encasement by concrete or grout; the second is hot-dip galvaniz- ing or other corrosion-resisting coating. Some tie rods are placed within plastic sheaths that provide yet another protective barrier. Should tie rods be classified as tension-tie members? The answer has practical implica- tions, ACI 318-08 Section 12.15.6 requires splices in tension-tie members to be “fall mechanical” or welded (lap splices alone are not sufficient). To help the users determine whether a tension-resisting element must comply with these provisions, the ACT 318-08 ‘Commentary on Section 12.15.6 offers the following characteristics of tension-te members: + ‘Theyare loaded with an axial tensile force that creates tension over the cross section, ‘+ The level of stress requires each bar to be fully effective. ‘+ Limited concrete cover exists on all sides.90 Chapter Six Among the examples of tension-tie members given in the ACI Commentary are “arch ties.” Accordingly, the tie rods consisting of one or two bars within a narrow encasement should indeed be classified as tension-tie members. For these elements, whether placed within a small thickened section of the slab on grade or in a separate narrow encasement, we recommend that full mechanical or welded splices be provided. If the tie-rod assembly consists of more than one bar, splices in the adjacent bars must be staggered by at least 30 in, another requirement of ACI 318-08 Section 12.15.6, Other tie rod systems, such as those with grade beams designed to resist both tension and compression, usually do not fall in the tension-tie category. ‘As discussed in Chap. 3, versatility of the tie-rod system is limited, because tie rods cannot be used in buildings with trenches, deep floor depressions, and pits. See Table 3.1 for a summary of the comparative reliabilities, degree of versatility, and costs for common foundation systems used in metal building systems. 6.1.2 Some Basic Tie-Rod Systems ‘The most basic tie-rod design consists of two deformed bars placed in a thickened slab (Fig. 6.12). As just recommended, the reinforcement should be galvanized, and the splices made by mechanical means. The bars are usually anchored into the foundation by standard hooks. Alternatively, some engineers prefer to attach the bars directly to the ‘column base plates by clevis-and-pin connections (Fig. 6.16). ‘The only advantage of this design is the lowest possible construction cost, but there are at least two major disadvantages. The first is a total lack of survivability in case the slab is cut in the future. Slabs on geade are frequently cut during installation. ‘or maintenance of underground pipes, conduits, cables, and so on, When this happens, the tie-rod system would effectively cease to function, without any alternate load path being available. ‘The second disadvantage of this lowest-cost design relates to a common problem in slabs on grade: cracking resulting from drying shrinkage of concrete or from other causes. When a crack intersects tie-rod bars, it exposes them to localized corrosion and shortens their life span. A similar problem exists at the slab control and construction joints, ifthe tie-rod reinforcement continues through them. ‘A tie rod recessed below the slab represents a more reliable approach. One popular design has galvanized (sometimes epoxy-coated) bars placed in plastic pipes filled with grout (or grease in previous practice), as shown in Fig. 6.1¢. This system certainly meets the conditions for tension-tie members, which means that mechanical splices are required here. In addition to the two levels of corrosion pro- tection provided by bar coating and grout encasement, the plastic sheath provides the third, A major advantage of this design over simply placing the bars into a thickened con- crete slab is better survivability. While a thickened slab with a couple of bars is unlikely to alarm a worker determined to cut it, workers are trained not to cut cables. Naturally, fitting the bars with mechanical splices into pipes and then filling the pipes with grout increases the cost of this system. ‘less reliable variation on this theme is shown in Fig, 6.2, where a simple concrete ‘encasement replaces the grouted plastic sheath. The encasement is likely to crack in service from concrete shrinkage, bar elongation under load, and sagging under its own weight. Once the cracks appear, corrosion-protection effectiveness of the encasement is greatly reduced.Tie Rods, Wairpins, and Slab Ties ‘Two galvanized tie rods with mechanical spices @ ‘Thickened stab on grade co Laat : (0) i 4° da schedule 80 PVC pipe ‘with 4000 psi grout Galvanized bar tie rod with ‘mecharical splices @ Faure 6.4 Basie tiered designs: (@) ‘column base plate; (c) ie rod encased in Tod in thickened slab; (0) te rod directly attached to tic sheath flled with gout ot92 Chapter Six \taturner ae '8q encasement hooked behind anchor bolts AA Tiered a onerete encasement 6.1.3 A Reliable Tie-Rod Design Amuch more reliable tie-rod design than those just described is a deep grade beam that extends from one end of the frame to another (Fig. 6.3). The horizontal reinforcement terminates in standard hooks embedded into the column piers or other column founda- tions. There are several significant advantages to this design: * Inllieu of a single tie rod, at least four reinforcing bars fulfill its function here, providing a measure of redundancy. The cross-section of the grade beam could be quite substantial, which might avoid classifying it as a “tension-tie member” and therefore allowing for less-expensive lap splices in the reinforcement instead of mechanical or welded splices. * Inaddition to resisting tension, the grade beam can also resist compression. It could also act as a horizontal seismic tie between the pile caps or column footings subjected to seismic loading (see ACI 318-08 Section 21.123). * Owing to the smaller bar diameters of the horizontal reinforcement, the hook development lengths become more reasonable (see Sec. 6.1.4), * Because gradebeams are typically placed in formwork, horizontalreinforcement ‘can be readily supported at close intervals, removing a problem of bar sagging, discussed in Sec. 6.1.6. * For large horizontal reactions, many reinforcing bars might be needed, as demonstrated in Design Example 6.1, The grade-beam system makes placement of multiple bars practical. There are advantages to locating the grade beams some distance below the bottom of the slab on grade. This allows the slab to settle without loading the grade beams and limits the damage from any future slab cutting. Alternatively, some engineers prefer to place the grade beams in grillagelike configuration, where they run in both directions integral with the floor, essentially making a stiffened mat system.Tie Rods, Hairpins, and Slab Ties 93 Grade beam ‘ Frame colran (anchorage et shown a ‘Column pier eS ‘Grade beam: ‘Shallow pocket | Faue 6.3 Gradebeam tie 10d. What are the minimum reinforcing requirements for a grade-beam tie rod? The codes are silent on the minimum reinforcement of concrete tension members, but since the grade beams can also be used as compression elements, itis wise to reinforce them accordingly. The longitudinal reinforcement consists of the tie-rod bars, and their area should be no less than 1 percent of the gross concrete area and no more than 8 percent (Gee ACI 318-08 Section 10.9.1). Lateral ties (stirrups) in these grade beams are typically made of No. 4bars, although No. 3 bars are allowed for longitudinal bars No. 10 and smaller (see ACI 318-08, Paragraph 7.10.5). The tie spacing should not exceed: * 16 longitudinal bar diameters (d,) © 48 tie-bar diameters * Least dimension of the grade beam4 Chapter If there are more than four longitudinal bars, additional ties may be needed to ensure that none of the bars is farther than 6 in. from a bar supported by a tie (measured asa clear distance between the bars). The minimusn bar spacing in compression members is 1.5d,, but not less than 1.5 in., a requirement that also applies to the distances between the lap splices and the adjacent splices or bars (ACI 318-08, Section 7.6) When the tie rod of the grade beam design also acts as a seismic tie in Seismic Design Categories D, E, and Fit must meet certain design requirements, such as those of ACI 318-08 Section 21.12.3. Each of its cross-sectional dimensions should be at least equal to 1/20th of the clear spacing between the connected concrete piers, but need not exceed 18 in. Closed ties are required; their spacing must not exceed the lesser of one~ half of the smallest cross-sectional dimension and 12 in. (For pre-engineered buildings ‘with clear spans between the column piers of at least 30 ft, the 18 in. minimum dimen- sion controls, with a corresponding maximum tie spacing of 9 in) Also, standard hooks are not considered effective in developing bars in compression, and straight-bar embed- ‘ment or other means of load transfer may be needed. If the tie rod of this design is narrower than the colurnn pedestal, it can be embedded into a shallow pocket in the pier (say, 2-in. deep). This provides some lateral bracing for the end of the grade beam and protects the joint between the two elements. The joint between the column pedestal and grade-beam is shown in Fig. 64. Column pedestal ‘Shallow pocket Column footing Frune 6.4 Assembly of column pier, footing, and grade beam te rod. (Slab on grade not shown for clarity)s, and Stab Ties Tie Rods, Hairp 6.1.4 Development of Tie Rods by Standard Hooks As already stated, in many tie-rod systems the rods are anchored into the column foun- dations by standard hooks. ACI 318-08 Section 7.1 defines a standard hook either one of the following: ‘+ 90° bend plus 124, (the bar diameter) extension at free end of bar + 180° bend plus 4d, extension, but $2.5 in. at free end of bar According to ACI 316-08 Section 12.5.2, the development length of standard hooks in tension J, is a function of several variables: ( (222¥he |, Wh Here, f. is 28-day strength of concrete; of is yield strength of reinforcement; &= 1.0 for normal-weight concrete (0.75 for lightweight concrete); y, = 1.0 for uncoated bars (1.2 for epoxy-coated); and d, is bar diameter. Figure 65 illustrates the development length of a hook with a 90° bend. The development length computed by this formula may be multiplied by the following modification factors: * 0.7 for 90° hooks of bars < No. 11 with side cover 2 25 in. and cover on bar ‘extension beyond the hook >? in, ‘+ 08 for 90° and 180° hooks of bars < No. 11 enclosed within ties or stirrups of specified designs. + Excess area of reinforcement (A,) is accounted for by the ratio of (A, required) to (4, provided), assuming that anchorage for full yield strength is not needed. In any event, ly, should not be less than the larger of 8d, oF 6 in. ‘The modification factors are of great help when reinforcing bars of large diameters are used as tie rods. Even so, the typical sizes of column pedestals (piers) might be insufficient to develop the standard hooks of very large bars, and through-the-pier anchorage might be needed. In some situations proprietary inserts cast into the column foundation can be used, with tie-rod reinforcement mechanically attached to the inserts, ACI standard 90° hook + covronter PEEEE EEE oie Fraune 65 Hook development engin. 5 Hook development iendth 1, 9596 Chapter i “The abl ie based on the following assumptions (0) Equation from ACI 318-08 Section 125.2 @ ¥,= 10 for uncoated bars Grade 40 bars @) 2=10 for normal-weight concrete (6) Moditcation factor of D7 used for 80° hooks of bars < No. 13 with side covers 25 n. and cover on bar extension beyond the hook 2in (©) Tor bars not listed, the following equations may be used: 15.34, for f= 3000 psi and 13.284 orf,» 4000 ps. (6) The listed values may be reduced by the ratio (A, required)/ (6, provided), bt should not be fess than the larger 84 orn, Tras @.4 Development Length L,, of Standard Hooks, inches f= 60,000 ps), ‘Table 6.1 lists the development lengths of standard hooks for common sizes of rein- forcing bars used in tie rods. The table uses 28-day compressive strengths of concrete commonly used in foundation construction. Note that, without taking advantage of the excess-area reduction (4, required) /(A, provided), bars larger than No. 11 cannot be developed in the 24-by-24-in. and smaller piers. The solution for very high horizontal forces is to use a large amount of smaller bars in the grade beam, or at least to use more large bars than required by strength considerations alone. As discussed in Sec. 6.1.5, this might be necessary for other reasons as well. ‘Another code provision dealing with the development of hooked bars (ACI 318-08 Section 12.5.4) applies to cases where bars are developed by hooks “at discontinuous ‘ends of members with both side cover and top or bottom cover over hook less than 2% in.” In this situation, stirrups or ties of the prescribed design must enclose the hooked ends. To avoid unnecessarily triggering these provisions, itis wise to provide a minimum cover of at least 24 in. at the sides, top, and bottom of the hooked bars. 6.1.5 Design of Tie Rods Considering Elastic Elongation As further discussed in Chap. 4, concrete design for tension is relatively rare, and the codes, address tension resistance of concrete only for some specific situations. For example, ACI 318-08 Section 11.8 provides an equation for the design strength of tension reinforcement in brackets and corbels, which must exceed the applied factored tensile force N,; Af, 2 N, where 175 and A, is the area of bars in tension ‘The maximum factored tension stress is then 0.75 x 60 = 45 kips /in* (ksi).Tie Rods, Hairpins, and Slab ‘However, the tie rods proportioned on the basis of this rather high stress value will tend to undergo significant elastic elongation, as demonstrated in Design Example 6.1. ‘The elongation can be computed by the standard formula: PL A= a Here, P is the unfactored force in the tie rod; L, its length; A, the area; and E is modulus of elasticity A tie rod that stretches a lot under load will allow the frame columns to move apart and will result in additional stresses in the frames, These stresses are typically not con- sidered in the design of metal building frames. Frame movements might also result in damage to cladding and finishes, as well as in floor cracking. The magnitude of these deleterious effects will depend on the building design. For example, a building clad in metal siding and having a large eave height might be able to tolerate larger deforma- tions than a stocky building clad in masonry. Itis wise to decrease the stresses in the tie rods to limit their elastic elongation to some maximum value, but this limit should be left to the foundation designer's dis- cretion. Some building manufacturers feel that the column spread of up to ¥4 in. is not harmful to the primary frames in most circumstances. Accordingly, in the absence of definitive research that establishes another value, it might make sense to limit the fotal tie-rod elongation under service (unfactored) loads to ¥ in. This limit corresponds to the maximum movement at each end of the frame of in. Ifthe building manufacturer permits a different limit for the frame spread, that limit could be used instead, 6.1.6 Post-Tensioned Tie Rods Even a relatively strict limit on the elastic elongation does little to alleviate another common problem with tie rods: sagging under their own weight. A tie rod that is 100 or 150 ft long and not placed in a grade beam will sag a significant amount. The sagging will not totally disappear even when the rods are supported by the ground or form- work at regular intervals and when the turnbuckles are used to lightly tighten the bars. ‘The vertical deflection of the rods will result in a slack that will have to be overcome when the building frame applies tension to the tie rod. It will permit the foundations— and the frame columns on them—to spread apart somewhat, unless another mecha- nism exists to restrain the movernent. This column spreading is in addition to the elastic elongation discussed in Sec. 6.1.5. The amount of slack in tie rods, and the eventual lateral movement of the foundations, is difficult to quantify. Many factors are involved, including the degree of soil compaction and the amount of rod tension induced by the turnbuckles ‘The problem is minimized in the grade-beam tie rod system described in Sec. 6.13. Another system, post-tensioned tie rods, goes even further. In this design, a high- strength steel tendon is placed in the middie of a concrete grade beam reinforced with mild steel (Fig. 6.6). The grade beam extends from one column pedestal to another and is cast integrally with the pedestals. The post-tensioned grade beam is a compression ‘element surrounded and laterally supported by the soil. ‘The tendon is post-tensioned after the concrete in the grade beam attains its 28-day ‘compressive strength and the interior slab on grade is placed. The end anchors are protected by appropriate means, such as by a nonshrink grout in combination with a ‘waterproofing membrane. 798 Chapter Six ‘Golurnn pier and footing B x KW eee er snsara ered concen conan ee ‘Stressed tendon atconter of grade bean ‘Mid stool ‘Section through grade beam Fraune 66 Posttensioned grade beam Ue rod “To reduce the upward pressure on the grade beam caused by the inevitable founda- tion settlement under load (see the discussion in Chap. 2), the soil underneath can be loosened after concrete in the grade beam reaches its design strength. Alternatively, the ‘grade beam can be placed on continuous compressible filler or on cardboard. However, these steps invite a problem of grade-beam deflection under its own weight and should be used cautiously. But why not simply post-tension the basic tie rods in Fig. 6.1? For post-tensioning to work, a compression element is needed. The grade beam is precompressed, and the tension forces from the building frame applied in the future will tend to stretch it. With proper design, the outward-acting column reactions will be less than the amount of the precompression, and the grade beam will stay compressed. But an attempt to post- tension a tie rod without a grade beam will simply result in overloading and perhaps fracturing the rods, as the post-tensioning stresses and those caused by the service loads would be additive. ‘The grade beam and the column pier in Fig. 6.6 are placed together to facilitate load transfer from the column to the grade beam. Otherwise, the load-transfer dowels orTie Rods, Hairpins, and Slab Ties other devices would be needed to carry the column reaction to the grade beam across the horizontal construction joint above it. ‘Since the post-tensioned tie rod is placed some distance below the floor (for the same reasons the tie rod in a plastic sheath is), an eccentricity exists between the point of the load application (the top of the pier) and the center of the tie rod. In essence, the column pier and footing function as a cantilevered beam. The load is applied outward at the top of the pier—the end of the cantilever—while the tie rod and the bottom of the footing act as supports. Accordingly, the load on the tie 1od is greater than the column reaction. The bottom of the footing should be capable of resisting the balance of the reactions by soil friction. If insufficient, soil friction can be augmented by passive soil pressure of the pier and the foundation walls. This mechanism of resisting lateral loading is discussed in Chap. 7. 6.1.7 Tle-Rod Grid Yet another reliable approach to using tie rods in metal building systems is to place them as a grid of grade beams running in two directions. In this system, the tie-rod grade beams are placed integrally with the slab on grade and are spaced at relatively close intervals—from 10 to 15 ft on centers. For the typical primary-frame spacing of 25 ft, the grade beams can be spaced at 12.5 or 25 ft on centers. The grade beams are reinforced at top and bottom and contain closed sticrups (Fig. 6.7). [At first glance, the approach appears rather expensive, but a similar design has been used throughout the United States in the areas of expansive soils. One such design (UEC 3-20-07) has grade beams that are 24 in. deep, 12 in. wide, and spaced from 11 to 12.fton centers. The grade beams are reinforced with two No. 5 bars at top and bottom and contain No. 2 stirrups (rarely available today). Sometimes, these grade beams are post-tensioned with in high-strength tendons. ‘This design system has been widely used in Texas and many Southern states where expansive soils are prevalent. It is considered one of the most economical solutions for lightly loaded single-family houses, as well as pre-engineered buildings in those areas. Why not expand the use of this system to the rest of the country? ‘A grid of tie-rod grade beams would be especially economical in the areas where soils allow for placing concrete in the excavated trenches integrally with the slab, thus avoiding the expense of using the formwork in the interior areas. The exterior edges of the grade beams should of course be formed for aesthetic appearance. Because the grace beams are placed relatively close to one another, the system should provide significant redundancy even if one of the tie rods is accidentally severed. The design of the longitudinal reinforcement follows the basic procedure outlined in Sec. 6.1.5. Ue b | (op) fl Foose 6.7 Wevod ara.100 Chapter Six ‘One of the questions about the grid of grade beams concerns the need to provide the grade beams in the direction perpendicular to the primary tie rods, While these grade beams do not serve as tie rods per se, they provide lateral bracing to the primary grade beams and stiffen the floor structure in general. Its certainly possible to reduce their spacing, but not eliminate them totally. For example, if the primary grade beams are spaced 12.5 ft on centers, the perpen- dicular grade beams might perhaps be spaced at 25 to 50 ft on centers, Since little empiri- cal guidance exists on the effects of the beam spacing in the transverse direction, the spacing becomes a maiter of the engineering judgment. (One intriguing advantage of placing the perpendicular grade beams at close inter- vals is a possibility of engaging the passive soil pressure in resisting horizontal frame reactions, a subject explored in Chap. 7. Where the passive soil pressure on the perpen- dicular grade beams can be developed, at the very least the redundancy of the floor system greatly increases; it might even be possible to make this the primary mechanism for resisting lateral frame forces. 6.1.8 Which Tie-Rod Design Is Best? ‘Which of the designs described in this chapter is the best? The answer depends on a umber of variables, inchiding the frame span, the magnitude of the design loading, the type ofsoil, and the sensitivity of the frame and of the building cladding to founda- tion movement. For small, lightly loaded buildings, where the possibility of a future slab cutting is negligible, the tie rods placed integrally with the slab might be acceptable. But as stated at the beginning of the chapter, tie rods are not necessarily the best solution for those circumstances anyway, and the hairpins might work just as well. Indeed, the main advantage of tie rods is that they can “extinguish” very large hori- zontal reactions at the opposite ends of the frame. This typically occurs when the frame spans are very large and the loading is significant. It isin this situation that the issues of elastic elongation and sagging become acute. Using tie rods placed in grade beams, with or without post-tensioning, helps overcome these challenges. Post-tensioned tie rods hold the promise of minimizing both problems, but their construction requires specialized equipment and expertise. When those are not readily available, the grade-beam tie rods of Sec. 6.1.3 might be as effective and probably less expensive. The system of the grade-beam tie rods deserves our nod as the most reliable ‘performer in the tie-rod family. When the soil conditions allow placing a grid of the tie- tod grade beams integrally with the slab on grade (Sec. 6.1.7), a use of this system should certainly be explored. Design Example 6.1: Tie Rod in Isolated Grade Beam Problem Design a grade-beam tie rod for a large single-story single-span rigid frame spanning 150 ft. The spacing between the frames is 25 ft; the eave height is 20 ft. The building manufacturer supplied the column reactions, The following load combination ‘was found to produce the maximum outward horizontal load: dead (14 kips) + snow (Zé kips). The depth of the footing must be at least 4 ft below the floor. The column is supported by a 24-by-24-in, concrete pedestal, the top of which is flush with the floor slab, Use f’ = 3000 psi and f, = 60,000 psi. Assume the grade beam will not actas a seismic tie. Limit the total tie-rod elongation under service loads to % in. (1 kip = 1000 Ib).Tie Rods, Wairpins, and Slab Ties 101. Solution Find the maximum factored and service (unfactored) design loads on the tie rod. The service design tension force from dead and snow loads is: N=14+76=90 kips ‘The factored design tension force from dead and snow loads is: N,= 141247616 = 138.4 kips Find the minimum required bar area from the factored tension force: 138.4 2 Ang = U5 = 808i ‘This requires three No. 9 bars (A, = 2.72 in2) or four No. 7 bars (4, =3.5 in). However, to limit the total tie-rod elongation to ¥% in,, the minimum bar area should be: = PL. 90(050)12 = OBE ~ 0,529,000) ‘This can be achieved with 12 No. 9 bars (A, = 12.0 in# > 11.17 in2) Find the minimum and maximum gross cross-sectional area of the grade beam A,, 4, =11.17 in? ‘The maximum A, = 12.0/0.01 = 1200 in? 2.0/0.08 = 150 in? ‘The minimum clear distance between the bars, using No. 9 bars and assuming contact lap splices are used, is 1.5d, + d,=2.5d, or 2.5x9/8=2.812 in, The minimum A, ‘The minimum center-to-center bar spacing is then 2.812 + 9/8 =3.94 in., say 4in. Choosing a 16-in-wide grade beam for easy constructability, and 2 %in, clear cover to the longitudinal bars on al sides (see discussion in Sec. 6.1.4), the minimum depth is 25+9/8+4X5 +25 = 26.125 in. Use 16 x30 in, grade beam with A, = 16 x30=480 in? 150< A, <1200 in? OK Setting the top of the grade beam 12 in, below top of slab, the top of column footing needs to be at least 3.5 ft below top of slab. Bar spacing = (0 - 2.5 x2 - 9/8)/5=478 in. < 6 in. so only one additional te is required. Other longitudinal bars will be close enough to the laterally supported bars Determine tie spacing: 16 longitudinal bar diameters = 16 x 9/8=18 in. 48 tie bar diameters = 48 x 4/8 = 24 in Least dimension of grade heam=16in. Controls Space two sets of ties 16 in. on centers. Note that if the grade beam also had to act as a seismic tie in the Seismic Design Category D, E, or its minimum size would be 18 in. and the tie spacing would be 9 in.102 Chapter Since the grade beam is narrower than the pier, a 2-in, embedment pocket can be provided. The No. 9 longitudinal bars ate developed into the column by standard hooks. Good practice dictates ma at least 2 in. clear cover is provided on bar extension beyond the hook. The available development length is (24 - 2-2) =20 in, > 17.3in. from Table 6.1, even before using the ‘excess reinforcement adjustment factor. For consistency with other clear cover require- ments, specify 2 in. cover beyond the hook. g the hook’s development length J, as long a8. ‘The cross-section through the grade-beam tie rod is shown in Fig. 6.8. Notes 1, Weremind the reader that this substantial grade beam has become necessary as a result of very heavy loading ona very large (150 ft) frame, and because of our intent to limit the elastic elongation of the tie rods to a strict limit of ¥ in. For many other situations the cross-section will be smaller. 2. The design example considers only the resistance to the horizontal column reactions acting outward. A comprehensive foundation design would also consider downward and uplift ioading on the column footing (see Design Example 4.1), as well as inward-acting horizontal column reactions (see Design Example 7.1). An added bonus of having the substantial grade beam is that ithelps resist uplift loading and lateral sliding, Italso helps transfer the inward-acting horizontal column reactions to the opposite side of the building, where they are resisted by passive pressure. A i= eames : sie en gad te L____ ay" clear to main bars IM sen 24" 24" column pier beyond tates 18°0.0. —— 12 #0 hare aq, spaced hooked at ends (38 cover behind hooks) PN Column footing beyond . = ne Fraune 6.8 Cross-Section trough the grade-beam te fod i Design Example 6.62 Hairpins and Slab Ties Tie Rods, Hairpins, and Siab Ties 6.2.1 Hairpin: The Essence of the System The basic principle behind the hairpin system and the tie-rod system is the same: ‘Two ends of the frame are tied together to “extinguish” the opposing horizontal column reactions. The critical difference lies in the way the load is transferred from one end of the frame to another. In the hairpin system the tension force is resisted by distributed steel reinforcement in the floor slab, rather than by discrete tie rods. Here is how the hairpin system is supposed to work, Hairpins are deformed rein- forcing bars bent into V-shape behind the frame column and extending some distance into the floor slab (Fig. 69). The slab is reinforced with either deformed bars or welded- wire fabric (WWE). The hairpins engage a certain number of slab reinforcing bars or welded-wire fabric wires and transfer the horizontal force to them. The bars or wires continue through the slab and eventually transfer their loading to the column founda- tions at the opposite side. ‘The hairpin system represents the least expensive solution for resisting horizontal column reactions, both in terms of design and construction costs. Hairpins can be effec- tive when used in elevated structural slabs reinforced with properly spliced deformed bars that extend through the joints. However, when used in slabs on grade, the single advantage of this system—its low cost—must be balanced against a host of significant weaknesses, as discussed next. Assumed projected tength of tensile crack ——~j Effective slab width Horizontal colurnn reaction ‘Anchor botts C Development length Of slab bars Assumed failure plane for tension transfor \> wae

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