Effect of Raft Thickness on

Behaviour of Frame-Raft and

Sloping Soil Layer

Dr.K.Natarajan Dr. B. Vidivelli

Department of structural Engg,

Annamalai University,
Annamalainagar – 608002, India
• The objective of this paper is to perform the
analysis of space frame-raft-soil system under
static load to understand the influence of raft
thickness on behaviour of Varying Foundation
Layer Thickness l-raft and frame.

• In the analysis all the three components, viz,

space frame, raft and Varying Foundation
Layer Thickness were considered as a single
compatible unit.
• Raft is a foundation, which is generally used to
support heavily loaded structure as well as the
structure founded on heterogeneous deposits.

• The analysis of raft foundation has been

undergone various developments and
currently it is being analyzed with so much
sophistication by incorporating interaction
between structure, raft and soil inclusive of
time dependent non-linear behavior
• The analysis was carried out on a space frame
(3 bay x 5 bay)-raft-soil system of five-storey
height. The plan of quarter raft and positions
of columns are shown in figure 1.

• The column spacing is 5m. It is assumed that

the raft is placed directly on the sand medium.
In general sand is treated as non-
homogeneous material, wherein modulus of
sand varies with depth.
Fig1 Plan of Quarter Raft and Position of Columns
• FINITE ELEMENT MODEL
• An ANSYS finite element code is used here. The
finite element discretization along a vertical
section of space frame of 3 bay x 5 bay adopted
in this study is shown in figure 2.
• A two noded beam element (BEAM 4) with six
degrees of freedom per node is adopted for the
beams and columns of the superstructure.
Connection between them is treated as rigid.
• Soil medium below the raft has been modeled
using eight-node brick element (SOLID 45) having
three degrees of freedom of translations in the
respective co-ordinate directions at each node.
Fig. 2 Element Discretization of Frame – Raft - Soil
• RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

• A rectangular raft of 25 m x 15 m supporting

24 columns spaced at 5m centre to centre on
both directions is analysed. The results of the
analysis are presented and discussed below.
• Effect of raft thickness on behaviour of soil-raft and
frame
Settlement of raft
• The settlement (W) and span (X) of the raft are
normalized by spacing between column, (I) and are
presented in non-dimensional form as W/I and X/I in
figure 4.

• The variation of normalized settlement was presented

in figure 4 along the section b1-b4 of the raft on a
linear soil.
• In general, settlement at the centre of the raft is higher
than at edge irrespective of column spacing.
• The increase in raft thickness resulted in lesser
settlement of raft as expected.
Fig. 4 Variation of Settlement along B1-B4 for Different Thickness of Raft
• Contact pressure below the raft.

• The contact pressure distribution below raft is depicted

in figure 6 for section of b1-b4 of 5m column spacing.

• It is observed that contact pressures at the edges are

higher than at the centre. Further contact pressure
variation in the raft was studied by increasing the
thickness of raft.

• For a given stiffness of superstructure and soil

conditions, higher the `t’ lesser the contact pressure.
Fig.5 Variation of Contact Pressure along B1-B4 for Different Thickness of Raft
• CONCLUSIONS
• Space frame with a raft resting on a varying
foundation layer thickness was analyzed by
varying the raft thickness.

• The following important conclusions are

drawn. Increase in raft thickness resulted in
lesser settlement of raft Higher the thickness
of raft `t’ lesser the contact pressure