RAFT FOOTING

INTRODUCTION

A raft foundation consists of a raft of reinforced concrete under the whole of a building. This type of foundation is described as a raft in the sense that the concrete raft is cast on the surface of the ground which supports it, as water does a raft, and the foundation is not fixed by foundations carried down into the subsoil.

WHEN ARE RAFT FOUNDATION USED?

Raft foundations may be used for buildings on compressible ground such as very soft clay, alluvial deposits and compressible fill material where strip, pad or pile foundations would not provide a stable foundation without excessive excavation. The reinforced concrete raft is designed to transmit the whole load of the building from the raft to the ground where the small spread loads will cause little if any appreciable settlement.

                                   

HOW DO RAFT FOUNDATIONS WORK?

A raft foundation spreads the weight of the building over the whole ground floor area of that building. The raft is laid on a hardcore, or scalping bed and usually thickened at the edges, especially in very poor ground. Rafts are most suitable when the ground is of good load bearing capacity and little work is required to get a solid foundation.

Raft Foundations are built is this following steps:

1. The soil removed down to correct depth
2. The foundation bed is then compacted by ramming
3. Lay reinforcement on spacers over the foundation bed
4. Pour the concrete over the reinforcement.

TYPES OF RAFT FOUNDATION

1) Ribbed raft foundation

 

                

In a ribbed raft foundation apart from the unified foundation slab there are also beams which behave as stiffeners. The beams add stiffness to the foundation and they also level the soil stresses.

2) Solid raft foundation

 

In the solid raft foundation, there is only one unified foundation slab. The unified solid raft foundation is the simplest form of foundation and its formwork assembling as well as its reinforcement is usually very easy.

(3) Raft foundation with hidden beams

 

                                            

In a raft foundation with hidden beams, the foundation slab is unified and has no additional stiffeners. This means that geometrically, it is as simple as the previous case. Its formwork assembling does not require a lot of effort as opposed to its reinforcement implementation.

4) Mixed raft foundation

 

                    

STRIP FOUNDATION

INTRODUCTION :

There are many types of foundation.A strip footing provided for a load bearing wall.a strip footing is also provided for a row of columns which are so closely spaced that their spread footings overlap or nearly touch each other.in such a case it is more economical to provide strip footing than to provide a number of  spread footings in one line.it is also known as continuous footing.    DESIGN OF STRIP FOOTINGS:

Plain cement concrete footings are provided when the loads are light and the soil is good.If the loads are heavy and the soil conditions are not favorable,plain cement concrete footings are not economical.Reinforcement cement concrete footings are more suitable in such cases.

FOOTING SLAB BEHAVIOUR 

The soil’s reaction, loads the footing slab (the inverted T-beam’s flange) in an upward direction. This causes deformations at the lower surface of the footing which are carried by the reinforcement.

SOME PICTURE ON STRIP FOUNDATION STEP BY STEP 

GLASS WOOL

GLASS WOOL is an insulating material made by glassfibres. arranged using a binder into a texture similar to wool. The process traps many small pockets of air between the glass, and these small air pockets result in the thermal insulation properties. Glass wool is produced in rolls or in slabs, with different thermal and mechanical properties. It may also be produced as a material that can be sprayed or applied in place, on the surface to be insulated.

Manufacturing process -

                        After the mixture of natural sand and recycled glass at 1,450 °C, the glass that is produced is converted into fibers. It is typically produced in a method similar to making cotton candy type thing, forced through a fine mesh by centripetal force, cooling on contact with the air. The cohesion and mechanical strength of the product is obtained by the presence of a binder that binds the fibers together. Ideally, a drop of binder is placed at each fiber intersection. This fiber mat is then heated to around 200 °C to polymerize the resin and is calendered to give it strength and stability. The final stage involves cutting the wool and packing it in rolls or panels under very high pressure before palletizing the finished product in order to facilitate transport and storage.

Principles of function

                   Gases possess poor thermal conduction properties compared to liquids and solids, and thus makes a good insulation material if they can be trapped. In order to further augment the effectiveness of a gas (such as air) it may be disrupted into small cells which cannot effectively transfer heat by natural convection. Convection involves a larger bulk flow of gas driven by buoyancy and temperature differences, and it does not work well in small cells where there is little density difference to drive it.

In order to accomplish formation of small gas cells in man-made thermal insulation, glass and polymer materials can be used to trap air in a foam-like structure. The same principle used in glass wool.

Uses of GLASS WOOL

                         Glass wool is a thermal insulation that consists of intertwined and flexible glass fibers, which causes it to "package" air, resulting in a low density that can be varied through compression and binder content . Glass wool can be a loose fill material, blown into attics, or, together with an active binder sprayed on the underside of structures, sheets and panels that can be used to insulate flat surfaces such as cavity wall insulating purpose, ceiling tiles, curtain walls as well ducting. It is also used to insulate piping and for sound proofing.