7.1 Isolated Footing Example: 7.1.1 Creating A New General Foundation Project

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STAAD.foundation Help
7.1 Isolated Footing Example

In this example, you will create a new project to illustrate the process for designing an isolated foundation.
7.1.1 Starting a New Project
7.1.2 Entering Support Coordinates
7.1.3 Defining the Loads
7.1.4 Using Jobs to Specify Design Constraints
7.1.5 Entering Design Parameters
7.1.6 Performing an Isolated Footing Design
7.1.1 Creating a New General Foundation Project

1. Start STAAD.foundation, if you have not already done so.
2. Create a new General Foundation project file by:
Selecting File > New > General Setup.
or
Click the General button on the Start Page.
or
Press <CTRL+N>, Select General Foundation, and click Open.
The program window opens an empty project file in the General Foundation mode.
7.1.2 Entering Support Coordinates

1. To enter the coordinates for supports that construct the foundation plan of a project, click on the leaf
called Column Position under Foundation Plan group in Main Navigator pane.
file:///C:/Users/KBogati/AppData/Local/Temp/~hhC7DA.htm
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The Column Position table opens in the Data Area pane.
2. Input the support coordinates (0,0,0), (10,0,0), (10,0,10), (0,0,15), (14,0,0) and (5,0,5) for position
numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, respectively.
The tab key or the arrow keys may be used to move from one cell to the next in the table.
Make sure length unit is set as ft. To change/set current length unit, click the Set Input/Output Unit
tool found in the Standard toolbar.
The supports along with their respective node numbers are displayed in the Graphics Window once
you click on a cell outside of the row you are currently in.
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7.1.3 Defining the Loads

This section uses the Loads & Factors leaf in the Main Navigator pane in conjunction with the Data area
for entering load data.
Create a Load Case

1. In order to define loads, please click on the Loads & Factors group in the Main Navigator pane.
The Load Description page opens in the Data Area pane. This page allows you to define loads for
load cases, as well as assign loads.
2. Select Loads & Factors > Create New Load Case entry in Main Navigator.
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A form under the load description area will appear allowing you to create a new load case.
3. Enter Load Case 1 for Load Title.

The Load Title allows you to give each load case a descriptive name to help identify between load
cases. Leave the Load Type set as Primary.
Three load types are available: Primary, Service, and Ultimate. Primary loads can be further used to
create combination loads. Service loads are not factored and are used for soil bearing pressure
checks. Ultimate loads are factored and are used for shear and reinforcement design.
4. While creating a new load case, load items from an existing load case can be copied. As there are no
defined load case yet, leave the Load Case No field as None.
5. Select No for the Add Self Weight field.
6. Click on the Add button to have the load case created.
The new load case appears in the Load Description Tree in the Load pane.
7. Repeat Steps 1 through 5 and create a similar load cased titled Live Load.
Specify the loads imposed on our foundation by the columns.

1. Select the Loads & Factors > Add a Column Reaction Load entry in Main Navigator.
or
Right click on Load Case 1: Load Case 1 entry in the Load Description Tree and select Add Column
Reaction Load from the pop-up menu.
The Load Data pane opens a form for entering nodal load information.
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2. Enter a value of 5 for Fx, and a value of 5 for Fy field.

3. Then click on the Add button to accept the load input.
Negative and positive values follow the sign conventions of the axis system. Negative values are
downward, compressive forces and positive values are upward, tensile forces.
The load will now appear under the Column Reaction Loading folder in the Load Description pane.
4. Repeat steps 1 through 3 to add a column reaction load to the "Live Load" case with Fz = 10 kip.
Assign the load to all supports

1. Select the new column load in the Data Area pane by clicking on it.
2. Click the Assign button to have the load assigned to all the supports in the project.
3. Then select Assign To View from the drop-down list as the assignment method.
The assigned loadings are displayed on the nodes in the graphics window.
4. Repeat steps 1 through 3 and assign the Live Load case to all supports in the view.
Alternatively, we could have selected all the supports in the Graphics window by clicking on them and then
selected Assign To Selection. Or, we could have selected Assign To Edit List and then typed in the list of
nodes for each support.
Load Combinations
If you have multiple load cases and want to combine them, you can use the Load Combination feature.
1. Click on the Create New Load Combination leaf under the Loads & Factors group in Main navigator
pane.
2. To define serviceability and design factors for each load case in a project, you may use the Safety
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Factor Table. To bring up the Safety Factors page, click on the Safety Factors leaf under Loads and
Factors group in Main Navigator pane.
A table allowing you to input serviceability and design factors for each load case will be displayed in the
Data Area pane.
By default, STAAD.foundation will assign values for the safety factors depending on the load type. Refer
to section 4.3.3.2 for a detailed explanation of the default values. The default values can be changed by
inputting new values into the table like any spreadsheet. The tab key or arrow keys may be used to move
from one cell to the next in the table. The serviceability factor will be applied when checking the base
pressure of a foundation (geotechnical design). The design factor will be used for design.
7.1.4 Create an Isolated Footing Jobs

Now that all the global project data has been inputted, you have the ability to design the foundation using
Isolated Supports, Pile Caps, Strip Footing or you could support the entire structure on a single Mat
Foundation. You will not have to create separate input files for entering all this information. All you have
to do is to create separate jobs under the same project.
Use the following procedure to create a job:
1. Click on Job Setup > Create a New Job in the Main Navigator pane.
The Job Info and Loading forms open in the Data Area pane.
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2.
3.
4.
5.
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Enter the following values in the Job Info form (top half of the Data area):
Enter Job1 for the Job Name.
Select Isolated for the Job Type.
Select Assign to all support for the Support Assignment method.
6. Click the Select All (

) button to move all the load cases over to the Selected Load Cases list on
the bottom of the page.
7. Click the Create Job button.
A new leaf is added to the Main Navigation pane for the Isolated Footing job.
When there are multiple jobs and load cases in a project, you can quickly switch between jobs or loads
using the tools in the Standard toolbar. Job settings of the selected job may be edited by clicking the Edit
Current Job leaf under job setup group in Main Navigator pane.
7.1.5 Entering Design Parameters

When you begin a new project, only the Project Info, Foundation Plan, Loads and Factor and Job Setup
groups will appear in the Main Navigator pane. The first three groups allow you to specify the physical
model upon which the foundation design is to be performed. This data is global to all jobs which are
created within a single project file.
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A fourth group (Job Setup) allows you to create a new job or edit an existing job. It is only when you create
a New Job (a set of constraints for the program to use in performing a foundation design) that groups
related to the current design process will appear.
Now that you have created a job, a new group called Isolated Footing Job is created in the Main
Navigator pane. This group allows you to enter design parameters like footing geometry, concrete cover,
soil parameters etc. The data contained within this job is local to this isolated footing, but will make use of
the common global data available to all jobs in the project file.
For the purposes of this example, you can use the default values provided for all design parameter sections.
The parameter sections are explained in detail in the General Foundation section.
STAAD.foundation gives the user flexibility to check an existing foundation by specifying footing
geometry like Length, Width and Thickness or design a new foundation where the program will calculate
footing dimension.
7.1.6 Performing an Isolated Footing Design

1. Click on the Design leaf under Design Parameters group in Main Navigator pane to design the
footing.
A warning dialog opens to confirm you wish to proceed with the design.
2. Click Yes.
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The progress of the foundation design is displayed in the Output pane. The Status bar also provides
feedback on the progress of each step.
Once the process is complete, the program will automatically display a Design Summary table in the
Output pane and the detailed design calculations in the Calculation Sheet tab of the View window.
3. Select File > Save As
or
Press <CTRL-S>
to save the project. Provide a file name and locate the file where you would like it stored before
clicking Save.
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