DEVELOPMENT OF DESIGN WORK SHEETS FOR ANALYSIS AND DESIGN OF FLEXIBLE RAFT FOUNDATIONS BASED ON BEAMS ON ELASTIC FOUNDATION

Raft foundations are one of the most appropriate foundation systems in order to
prevent the differential settlement particularly when column loads are large and variable.
The behavior of raft foundation is either rigid and/or flexible depending on the
characteristics of the soil at which the foundation rests. For analysis and design of rigid
raft, traditional methods of reinforced concrete design are available in a number of
literatures; however, the analysis of flexible raft is too tedious and quite cumbersome,
which involve very long formula and complex mathematical functions. This study is
mainly focused on the development of excel work sheets for analysis of flexible rafts
based on beams on elastic foundations that may ease out the tedious calculations and
solutions of complex mathematical functions.