In this study, a typical mat foundation and structural loading pattern is considered. Three dimensional finite element analyses, PLAXIS 3D, is performed to determine the soil / foundation contact stress distribution, settlement distribution, distribution of modulus of subgrade reaction as a function of column spacing, stiffness of the soil and thickness of the foundation. A parametric study is performed to demonstrate the dependence of those distributions on various parameters. Moreover, a relationship between size of the foundation, deformation modulus of foundation soil and modulus of subgrade reaction is proposed. Depending on the variations in those parameters, obtained shear force and bending moment distributions are compared. Consistency between the resulting shear forces and bending moments of a typical foundation, modeled in two different three dimensional finite element programs, PLAXIS 3D and SAP 2000, is discussed. It is found that the variation in the aforementioned parameters cause different influences on contact stress distribution, settlement distribution, distribution of modulus of subgrade reaction. The importance of those variations in beforementioned parameters, under different situations is discussed. A relationship between modulus of subgrade reaction and deformation modulus of foundation soil is proposed.

This work presents some aspects related to geometry and rigidity classification and structural analysis of reinforced and prestressed concrete mat foundations. Some strategies for modeling and solving the structural system are discussed, with focus on grid analogy with elastic restraints and soil-structure interaction. Details of the computer aided design of mat foundations by grid analogy performed at CAD/TQS system are also presented. The material list and cost are investigated and compared for three real buildings considering two prestressed cable geometry: straight and parabolic. The results show that the prestressed concrete mat foundation gives thinner thickness and greater total cost. The former is due to increasing in concrete resistance and the last is due to additional rebars and multistrand cost. The prestressing cost was not considered. / Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Alagoas / Neste trabalho são apresentados aspectos relacionados à classificação quanto a geometria e a rigidez bem como, à análise estrutural de fundações tipo radier em concreto armado e em concreto protendido. Algumas estratégias de modelagem e solução do sistema estrutural são discutidas, com foco no procedimento de analogia de grelha sobre base elástica, considerando-se a interação solo-estrutura. São apresentados os procedimentos para a análise automatizada de radier por analogia de grelha empregando o sistema CAD/TQS. Em um estudo de caso, três exemplos reais com emprego de cabo reto centrado na placa e parabólico foram comparados caso fosse adotado radier em concreto armado, tendo como parâmetros de comparação o consumo e o custo de materiais. Os resultados desses estudos de caso mostraram que o radier em concreto protendido permitiu uma redução na espessura da laje, porém para os casos estudados apresentou um custo total maior, devido ao emprego de concreto com maior resistência à compressão, necessidade de armadura passiva por ser elemento fletido, ancoragens e custo das cordoalhas, respectivamente. Não foram considerados os custos operacionais de aplicação da protensão.

Dissertação(mestrado) - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia Oceânica, Escola de Engenharia, 2003. / Submitted by Lilian M. Silva (lilianmadeirasilva@hotmail.com) on 2013-04-20T19:14:04Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Estudo da solução laje de concreto armado sobre base elástica para pavimentos portuários através do método dos elementos finitos..pdf: 2845655 bytes, checksum: ebe54cac72143405d98248889799b47a (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Bruna Vieira(bruninha_vieira@ibest.com.br) on 2013-06-08T22:32:31Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Estudo da solução laje de concreto armado sobre base elástica para pavimentos portuários através do método dos elementos finitos..pdf: 2845655 bytes, checksum: ebe54cac72143405d98248889799b47a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-06-08T22:32:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Estudo da solução laje de concreto armado sobre base elástica para pavimentos portuários através do método dos elementos finitos..pdf: 2845655 bytes, checksum: ebe54cac72143405d98248889799b47a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2003 / Os pavimentos dos portos normalmente estão sujeitos à cargas de grande intensidade. Quando a posição da carga é fixa, pode-se adotar a solução de estaqueamento, como é feito sob as bases dos guindastes fixos, por exemplo. Contudo, quando a posição das cargas é variável, como nos pátios de armazenamento de contêineres e nos locais de trânsito das empilhadeiras e guindastes móveis, uma solução em pavimento de concreto deve ser adotada. Dependendo da intensidade das cargas este pavimento de concreto deverá ser armado. O objetivo deste trabalho é estudar o comportamento de lajes de concreto armado apoiadas diretamente no solo (base elástica) sob a ação de cargas distribuídas e concentradas, devidas à equipamentos portuários, empregando o método dos elementos finitos. O concreto é modelado através de elementos finitos isoparamétricos quadráticos de oito nós, no qual a formulação de placas de Mindlin e o estado plano de tensões são combinados. O modelo constitutivo do concreto é bidimensional, e inclui o comportamento não-linear do material e a fissuração. A armadura é considerada como uma camada mais rígida dentro do elemento de concreto, que apenas resiste a esforços axiais na direção das barras.Através do Princípio dos Trabalhos Virtuais é incluída uma base elástica contínua sob todo o elemento, para representar o solo. O modelo foi testado comparando seus resultados com resultados numéricos e experimentais obtidos por outros autores. É apresentado um estudo de casode pavimento portuário submetido à cargas de grande intensidade, onde foram testadas várias variáveis como espessura da placa, resistência à compressão do concreto, taxa de armadura e coeficiente de reação vertical do solo. / Ports pavements are usually subjected to heavy equipment loads. When the loading position is fixed, the pile foundation solution can be adopted, under the basis of fixed cranes, for example. However, when the loading position is variable, as in container storage areas and in places subjected to movable cranes and stackers traffic, a solution in concrete mat foundation should be adopted. Depending on the loading intensity, this concrete slab should be reinforced. The objective of this work is to study the behavior of reinforced concrete mat foundations under the action of distributed and concentrated loads due to port equipments using the finite element method. The mat is modeled through isoparametric eight node elements, in which Mindlin plate bending and plane stress state formulations are combined. The concrete constitutive model is two-dimensional and includes material’s non-linear behavior and cracking. The reinforcement is considered as a stiffer layer inside the concrete element resisting only to axial forces in the bars direction. In order to represent the soil, a continuous elastic base is included under the whole element. The computational program was tested against numerical and experimental results obtained by other authors. A case of study considering a port pavement submitted to large loads is presented. Mat foundation thickness, concrete compressive strength, reinforcement rate and soil’s coefficient of sub grade reaction were taken as variables and tested.

Cement hydration is the result of a series of simultaneous chemical reactions occurring during the production of concrete. An excessive amount of heat is generated, which consequently may give rise to thermal stresses and cause early age cracks in concrete that may affect its structural integrity, and load bearing capacity. Incorporating fly ash into the concrete mixture has shown to be an efficient method to reduce the temperatures developed during early age hydration, especially for massive concrete structures. Fly ash does additionally affect the concrete's development of compressive strength, tensile strength and Young's modulus. The MahanaKhon tower's mat foundation is divided into 14 layers, with fly ash incorporated in the concrete mix. A finite element model was developed of the mat foundation with COMSOL Multiphysics to simulate the developed temperatures and thermal stresses during curing. The simulations were carried out as parametric studies with different strain reference temperatures. The simulated temperatures were compared with existing temperature measurements that were conducted in three different elevations in each concrete layer. The result of the temperature analyses showed that the measured temperatures were generally larger than the simulated ones, which may have been the result of the numerical model's heat conductivity and convective heat transfer coeffcient not reflecting the actual case. Furthermore, the numerical model did not take into account the effects of solar radiation, which would most likely have increased the temperature of the concrete. The maximum simulated temperatures were mostly found in the center level of the concrete, followed by the lower level, and the lowest at the top. It was also observed that the maximum temperatures in some of the mat foundation layers could exceed 70 °C, which is generally considered high since the risk of delayed ettringite formation may arise. The large temperature is partially a result of not using cooling methods, such as cooling pipes, but also due to the high initial and ambient temperatures. The result of the thermal stress analyses showed that no tensile stresses arose when the strain reference temperature, Tref, was specified to 30 °C, corresponding to the mean ambient temperature. This is due to the concrete temperature not falling below Tref, and the concrete will therefore be in expansion and only be subject to compressive stresses. Increasing Tref to 50 °C, which was considered a reasonable estimation, resulted in developed tensile stresses in all mat foundation layers, where the majority of the mat foundation layers showed a risk of superficial surface cracks. The maximum tensile stresses were found at the final time of the simulations, which was expected, since the temperatures were at their lowest as a result of removing the curing insulation. Finally, setting Tref to 70 °C, corresponding to the maximum temperature during hardening, increased the induced tensile stresses considerably, due to the large temperature gradient between Tref and the concrete temperature. The maximum stresses were, as expected, located at the top level and caused by internal restraint. The second largest tensile stresses were found in the center level, also subject to internal restraint. The lowest tensile stresses were located in the lower level, subject to external restraint. / Cementhydratation är resultatet av en serie kemiska reaktioner som sker under tillverkningen av betong. Stora mängder värme genereras, vilket följaktligen kan ge upphov till termiska spänningar och orsaka tidig sprickbildning som påverkar betongens hållfasthet, och bärförmåga. Inkludering av flygaska i betongblandningen har visat sig vara en effektiv metod avsedd att minska temperaturerna som utvecklas under hydratationen i ung betong, särskilt i massiva betongkonstruktioner. Flygaska påverkar också betongens utveckling av tryckhållfasthet, draghållfasthet och elasticitetsmodul. MahanaKhon towers bottenplatta är uppdelad i 14 lager, där flygaska inkluderades i bottenplattans betong. En finit elementmodell av bottenplattan skapades i COMSOL Multiphysics, där de utvecklade temperaturerna och termiska spänningarna i den unga betongen simulerades under bottenplattans härdningsfas. Simuleringarna genomfördes som parameterstudier med olika referenstemperaturer. De simulerade temperaturerna jämfördes vidare med befintliga temperaturmätningar som utfördes i tre olika elevationer i varje gjutetapp. Resultaten av temperaturerna visade att de uppmätta temperaturerna var generellt högre än de simulerade, vilket bland annat kan bero på att betongens värmeledningsförmåga, samt konvektiva värmeöverföringskoefficient inte återspeglade det aktuella fallet. Den numeriska modellen tog inte heller hänsyn till effekten av solinstrålning, som sannolikt skulle ökat betongens temperatur. De maximala temperaturerna hittades mestadels i betongens mittnivå, följt av den lägre nivån och slutligen lägsta nivåerna vid toppen. Det observerades även att de maximala temperaturerna i bottenplattan kunde överstiga 70 °C, vilket generellt anses vara högt då risken för fördröjd ettringitbildning kan uppstå. De höga temperaturerna beror delvis på avsaknad av kylmetoder, såsom kylrör, men även på den höga initialtemperaturen och omgivningstemperaturen. Resultaten av spänningsanalysen påvisade att inga dragspänningar uppstod när referenstemperaturen Tref denierades till 30 °C, som motsvarar den genomsnittliga omgivningstemperaturen. Detta förklaras av att betongen kommer att vara i expansion och följaktligen endast utsättas för tryckspänningar. Efter att Tref ökats till 50 °C, vilken ansågs vara en rimlig estimering i denna studie, uppstod dragspänningar i alla lager i bottenplattan, där vissa utsattes för risk för ytsprickor. De maximala dragspänningarna uppstod vid simuleringarnas slut, vilket var förväntat då temperaturerna var som lägst vid den tidpunkten till följd av att isoleringen avlägsnades. Slutligen höjdes Tref till 70 °C, vilket motsvarar den maximala temperaturen i bottenplattan under härdning. De inducerade dragspänningarna ökade avsevärt på grund av den stora temperaturgradienten mellan Tref och betongtemperaturen. Samtliga lager utsattes i detta fall för risk för genomgående sprickor. De maximala dragspänningarna påträffades på toppnivån och orsakades av inre tvång. De näst största dragspänningarna fanns i mitten av plattan och var också resultatet av inre tvång. De lägsta dragspänningarna påträffades vid plattans lägre nivå, som utsattes för yttre tvång.