Lecture 

1: Stability of buildings  
 

 
Mansoura University 
Faculty of Engineering 
Civil Engineering Dep. 

 
FOUNDATION ENGINEERING 
Lecture 01  
Stability of Buildings 
 
Prof. ADEL KAMEL GABR

   | P a g e 1
 
Lecture 1: Stability of buildings  
 
 

Contents 
 (FOUNDATION DESIGN) 
 
Lecture 1 Stability of Buildings

Lecture 2 Bearing Capacity

Lecture 3 Design of isolated footing (N-Only)

Lecture 4 Design of isolated footing (N-M)

Lecture 5 Design of strap beam

Lecture 6 Design of combined footing

Lecture 7 Design of Strip footing

Lecture 8 Design of raft foundation

   | P a g e 2
 
Lecture 1: Stability of buildings  
 
Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................................................... 3 

1.0 STABILITY OF BUILDINGS .......................................................................................... 4 
1.1.  Check of overturning .......................................................................................... 4 
1.2.  Check of stresses ................................................................................................ 4 
1.3.  Check of sliding.................................................................................................. 5 
1.4.  Check of bouncy. ................................................................................................ 6 

   | P a g e 3
 
Lecture 1: Stability of buildings  
 
1.0 Stability of buildings
There are four checks to determine the stability of buildings

1.1. Check of overturning

Studying the building against overturning

moment.

M stability
F .S   1 . 25
M overturn .

* Where:

M stability : Moment due to own weight of the building.

Moverturning: Moment due to horizontal forces.

M stability  W  X
Moverturning   PH
1.2. Check of stresses

Studying the stresses of the building and comparing it to bearing capacity of the
soil.

N Mx My
F21   .y  .X F21  B .C of soil .
A Ix Iy

* Where:

F21 : stresses on the soil.

N : Vertical forces acting on the soil.

M x : Moment about x axis.

M y : Moment about y axis.

I : Moment of inertia.

   | P a g e 4
 
Lecture 1: Stability of buildings  
 
1.3. Check of sliding.
The horizontal force acting on the building makes building to sliding and the
resisting force is the friction between the soil and the foundation of the building.

F
F .S   1 .25
H

* F: Friction force.

* H: Horizontal force.

F  C . A   W . tan 
2
C  .C 
3

* C = Cohesion of clay soil

2
  .
3
* Ø = Angle of friction

 W = Total vertical loads.

A = Area of footing.

   | P a g e 5
 
Lecture 1: Stability of buildings  
 
1.4. Check of bouncy.
Stability of the building against the uplift – Used only if there is ground water
table.

W  Adhesion force
F   1 .25
Uplift

* Uplift: force due to head of water Dw

Uplift   w . H w . A footing

* Adhesion force: friction at the area surface.

* Adhesion force = Adhesion coefficient. Lateral surface area.

2
* Adhesion coefficient C   .C 
3

   | P a g e 6
 
Lecture 1: Stability of buildings  
 
Example:
Check the stability of the tower shown, Soil bearing capacity 1.20 kg/cm2

Prop. Of the tower:-

* Empty case = 20.00 tons.

* Working case = 50.00 tons.

* Full case = 80.00 tons.

* C = 5 t/m2

* Ø = 300

*  R .C  2 . 5 t / m 3

*  p .C  2 . 0 t / m 3

*  soil  1 . 8 t / m 3

Solution
# Vertical forces:-

O .W footing  O .W R .C  O .W P .C
  3 .5 2   4 .5 2
O .W footing  2 . 50  (  0 . 80   0 . 80 )
4 4
  ( 4 .5 2  3 .5 2 )
 2 . 00  (  0 . 50 )  74 . 80 tons
4

  (5 .5 2  4 .5 2 )
O .W soil  1 . 80  (  ( 0 . 80  0 . 50 ))
4
  ( 4 .5 2  3 .5 2 )
(  0 .45 )  22 . 76 tons
4

# Horizontal forces:-

* Wind load (H) = H  0 . 120  ( 30  0 . 35 )  3 . 56 tons

   | P a g e 7
 
Lecture 1: Stability of buildings  
 
1. Check of overturning:

M stability
F .S   1 .25
M over

M stability  W  X
5 .5
 ( 20  74 . 80  22 . 76 )   323 .30 m .t
2

Moverturning  PH
30  0 . 35
 PH  3 . 56  (
2
 0 . 80  0 . 80  0 . 50 )  60 . 20 m .t

M stability 323 . 30
F .S    5 . 47  1 . 25
M over 30 . 0

O.K SAFE

2. Check of Stresses:

N Mx My
F21   .y  .X
A Ix Iy

* N  80  74 . 8  22 .75  177 .60 tons

 .5 .5 2
* A  23 .76 m 2
4

 .D 4   5 .5 2
* Iy    44 .92 m 4
64 64

30  0 . 35
* My  H . y  3 .56  (  0 . 80  0 . 80  0 . 50 )  60 . 2 m .t
2

   | P a g e 8
 
Lecture 1: Stability of buildings  
 
177 .60 60 . 20
F21   . 2 . 75
23 . 76 44 . 92
F1  11 . 16 t / m 2
F2  3 . 80 t / m 2

O.K SAFE

3. Check of sliding:

F
F .S   1 . 25
H

* F: Friction force.

* H: Horizontal force.

F  C . A   W . tan 
2 2
C  .C    5 . 0  3 . 33 t / m 2
3 3

 .5 .5 2
A  23 .76 m 2
4

2 2
  .   30  20 0
3 3

W  20  74 . 84  22 .75  117 . 60 tons

F  3 .33  23 . 76  117 .60  tan( 20 )  121 . 93 tons

H  3 . 56 tons

F 121 . 93
F .S    1 . 25
H 3 . 56

4. Check of bouncy:

** There is no ground water table – No check required.

   | P a g e 9