A mat or raft foundation is a single combined footing for an entire building unit. It is economical when building loads are relatively heavy and the safe soil pressure is small (See also Arts. 9.73 and 9.74.)
Weight of soil excavated for the foundation decreases the pressure on the soil under the mat. If excavated soil weighs more than the building, there is a net decrease in pressure at mat level from that prior to excavation.
When the mat is rigid, a uniform distribution of soil pressure can be assumed and the design can be based on a statically determinate structure, as shown in Fig. 9.48. (See Suggested Analysis and Design Procedures for Combined Footings and Mats, ACI 336.2R, American Concrete Institute.)
If the centroid of the factored loads does not coincide with the centroid of the mat area, the resulting nonuniform soil pressure should be used in the strength design of the mat.
Strength-design provisions for flexure, one-way and two-way shear, development length, and serviceability should conform to ACI 318 Building Code requirements (Art. 9.59).
