Designing Foundations
Tips & Tricks
In RFEM 5 and RSTAB 8, you can design foundations according to EN 1992‑1‑1 and EN 1997‑1 in the RF‑/FOUNDATION Pro add‑on module.
The following types of foundations are available:
- bucket foundation with smooth bucket sides
- bucket foundation with rough bucket sides
- Foundation plate
- block foundation with rough bucket sides
In practice, these types of foundations cover a great number of design purposes.
It can, however, happen that you need other foundations with forms deviating from the options provided in RF‑/FOUNDATION Pro. For such special design purposes, RFEM and the available add‑on modules allow you to carry out a viable and economical design. Here, this is shown by an example of a foundation which is not covered by the types of foundations available in RF‑/FOUNDATION Pro.
Consider the following exemplary situation: We want to design a foundation for a lattice tower structure. The corner posts of the tower are applied to four bases that protrude from a concrete slab. The loads are specified manually by support forces from the design of the lattice tower structure. The individual load combinations can either be generated by RFEM or created manually.
For the design of the foundation plate, we use RF‑CONCRETE Surfaces for the bending design and the crack width check. The rising bases can be designed with RF-CONCRETE Members. The punching shear design of the individual bases on the plate is carried out with the RF‑PUNCH module. The geotechnical checks can be performed manually via the output of the existing bearing pressure. With the RF‑SOILIN module, you can enter the soil parameters from a soil investigation report to determine the foundation coefficients and consider them in the RFEM calculation.
The figure above shows the rendering of the modeled foundation plate with rising components, as well as the result values for the lower layer of the bending reinforcement.
Author
Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Paul Kieloch
Product Engineering & Customer Support
As technical support, Mr. Kieloch answers the questions of Dlubal Software customers, and is responsible for the development of the add-on modules for reinforced concrete structures.
Keywords
Foundation pad footing Foundation plate Geotechnics Floor Slab
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- How are the signs for the release results of a line release and line hinges interpreted?
- Is it possible to manually specify a longitudinal reinforcement for design in RF‑PUNCH Pro?
- Can I simulate the cracked state of a concrete cross-section for a bending beam with the "Isotropic Nonlinear Elastic 1D" material model?
- Why is the deflection of the reinforced concrete floor sometimes greater when selecting a larger basic reinforcement?
- How can I view the depth of the concrete compression zone in RF‑/CONCRETE?
- I have a question about the message No. 47 in RFEM. What is the exact meaning of the word "integrate"? What is the resulting effect?
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If I do not specify any basic reinforcement in RF‑CONCRETE Surfaces, I obtain the value X as an additionally required reinforcement. If I enter this value X as the provided basic reinforcement, I correctly do not get any additional required reinforcement.
However, if I enter a lower value than the determined required total reinforcement as the basic reinforcement, the additionally required reinforcement is increased in such a way that the originally required reinforcement content is exceeded. Why? - Why does the RF‑CONCRETE Surfaces add-on module not increase the amount of reinforcement until the SLS designs have a design ratio of 1.0?
- How can I get the member end forces to design the connections?
Associated Products
Main Program
Structural engineering software for finite element analysis (FEA) of planar and spatial structural systems consisting of plates, walls, shells, members (beams), solids and contact elements
3,540.00 USD
Add-on Module
Design of reinforced concrete members and surfaces (plates, walls, planar structures, shells)
810.00 USD
Add-on Module
Design of single, bucket and block foundations
760.00 USD
Main Program
The structural engineering software for design of frame, beam and truss structures, performing linear and nonlinear calculations of internal forces, deformations, and support reactions
2,550.00 USD
Add-on Module
Linear and nonlinear analysis of reinforced concrete members with reinforcement concept
810.00 USD
Add-on Module
Design of single, bucket and block foundations
760.00 USD
