Foundation Definition

A foundation is an engineering term for the part of a structure that connects it to the soil and transmits loads from the building to the earth first. In general, foundations are categorized as shallow or deep. Geotechnical engineering principles such as soil mechanics & rock mechanics are used in foundation engineering to create the foundation components of buildings.

The purpose of foundations is to ensure the stability of the building above ground:

• Spread out the structure's weight across a vast region to prevent overwhelming the ground's soil.
• To anchor the structure in the event of various natural calamities, including earthquakes, floods, droughts, frost heaves, storms, and wind.
• A flat surface to facilitate building. To securely anchor the building, improving stability and preventing overloading.
• To stop the supporting structure from swaying to the side.

Conditions for a Solid Foundation

A well-performing foundation should meet the following fundamental specifications in both design and construction:

• The foundation is built and designed in such a way that it can support and transfer imposed and dead loads to the earth. This transfer must be performed without causing any that kind of settlement might endanger the stability of the building.
• Differential settling may be avoided by providing the foundation with a solid base. These issues are especially visible in areas where the form of added stress is not uniform.
• Depending on the soil and location, it is suggested to build a deeper foundation to protect from any harm or pain. The foundation's chosen location should be free of all prospective repercussions or influences in the future.

Historical Types

• Building using ground pillars or earth fast

Buildings and other structures have long been constructed from wood that has come into contact with the soil.

The foundation of a post in the ground structure may not exist. Even under stone or brick walls, the soft or moist ground was supported by timber pilings. Grillage is the crosshatching of timbers and steel beams in concrete used in naval and bridge construction.

• Padstone

The padstone, a single stone that distributes the weight on the ground and lifts the wood off the ground, is the simplest foundation. Padstones of a particular kind are called staddle stones.

• Stone structures

Several regions of the globe often use dry stone or stones set in mortar to construct their foundations. After construction, mortar may have been used to dry-laid stone foundations. Occasionally quarry stones are hewn into the visible top course of stone. Stones may be included in a gabion in addition to mortar. One disadvantage is that, owing to corrosion, the gabion could endure much less time if mortar were used in place of conventional steel rebars. Utilizing weathering steel rebars might mitigate this drawback.

• Foundations with a sand trench

A shallow trench filled with stones or debris is a rubble trench foundation. These foundations extend below the frost line & help with groundwater drainage by including a drain pipe. They function effectively in soils having a holding capacity of more than 10 tonnes per square meter.

Modern Types

1.Shallow Foundation

• Also referred to as footings, are typically buried in the ground around a meter deep. One typical kind is the spread footing, which entails concrete (or other material) strips or pads that extend beyond the frost line and shift the weight of walls and columns to the ground or bedrock.
• The slab-on-grade foundation is another common kind of shallow foundation in which a concrete slab placed at the surface transfers the structure's weight to the soil. Reinforced mat slabs may range in thickness from 25 cm to several meters. Based on the construction site, post-tensioned slabs are normally at least 20 cm deep for dwellings and often thicker for bigger structures.
• Using screw piles is an additional, more ecologically friendly method of installing ready-to-build foundations. Residential screw pile installations are becoming common, and many homeowners prefer screw pile foundations over alternative solutions. Helical pile foundations are often used to support timber decks, fences, garden homes, pergolas, and carports.

2. Deep Foundations

Used to move the weight of a building from the topsoil's higher, weak layer to the subsoil's lower, stronger layer. Deep footings come in various forms, such as impact-driven piles, drilled shafts, submersibles, screw piles, geo-piers, and earth-stabilized columns (further clarity required). Different engineers have different naming practices for various footing kinds. Before the development of steel, reinforced concrete, & pre-tensioned concrete, piles were made of wood.

3. Monopile Foundation

A deep foundation in which the entire weight of a substantial above-ground structure is supported by a single, often large-diameter structural piece implanted in the soil.

In recent years, fixed-bottom offshore turbine farms have been economically built in shallow water subsea areas using a lot of monopile foundations.

For instance, a single wind farm with more than 100 turbines off the coast of England went on the internet in 2008; each was positioned on a 4.74-meter-diameter monopile foundation in ocean depths as deep as 16 meters.

Design

While an architect may construct the footing structurally, a geotechnical engineer constructs foundations to have an appropriate load capacity depending on the rock or topsoil supporting the foundation. Settlement & bearing capacity is the main design considerations. Total settlement & differential settlement are often taken into account while settling. Differential settlement is the settling of a foundation in different ways. A geotechnical engineer builds foundations to have a suitable load capacity depending on the kind of rock or dirt supporting the foundation. In contrast, an architect may build the footing itself structurally.

Conclusion

A Foundation is a building's supporting component that disperses the overall weight from the slabs, beams, columns, walls, etc. The foundation's primary goals are to stabilize the whole building and transmit the entire weight from the structure to the earth safely and efficiently.