Abstract

Foundation is probably the most important and critical component of any structure as overall stability of the\nsuperstructure depends on how robust the foundation system is. Numerous structural failures have taken place owing to\ninadequacy of foundation system adopted and these have often lead to huge losses of life and property. As such, foundation\nanalysis should always be performed with due diligence towards adequate safety margins. However, at the same time, we\ncannot afford to overlook design optimization opportunities and provide overtly conservative foundation systems. The\nEngineer needs to formulate a reasonable tradeoff between design safety and design optimization.\nFoundation failures may be either from loss of stability or structural failure to effectively transfer the superstructure loads to\nthe ground. Stability failures can actually be pretty disastrous and are one of the most important considerations of foundation\nanalysis, in which ratio of stabilizing forces to de-stabilizing forces are compared against allowable factor of safety.\nThis paper discusses two widely prevalent methods for analyzing overturning stability of foundations, sometimes referred to\nas Traditional overturning safety factor method and True safety factor method vis-à-vis their depiction of the actual stability\nscenario of foundation system and thereby recommends the most reasonable approach for different design conditions\nanalyzed herein.