D. Nagarajan et al Int. Journal of Engineering Research and Applications www.ijera.com ISSN : 2248-9622, Vol. 4, Issue 4( Version 9), April 2014, pp. 26-30 www.ijera.com 26 | Page Investigation of Foundation Failure of a Residential Building – A Case Study D. Nagarajan*, K. Premalatha** *(Department of Civil Engineering, Anna University, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India) ** (Department of Civil Engineering, Anna University, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India) ABSTRACT Movement and distress in low rise building most commonly occur as a result of interaction between the footing system and the ground. This summarizes the study that is carried out to evaluate the possible causes of distress in the G+1 residential building founded on shallow foundation in Chennai, Tamilnadu, India by Detailed Investigation. Disturbed and Undisturbed samples are collected by drilling borehole up to significant depth by auger. Laboratory tests are carried out on disturbed and undisturbed soil samples obtained from the site of distressed building. The cause of failure of the structure are identified by considering the soil properties, intensity of loading, nature of foundation and pattern of cracks developed. Based on the degree of distress, the suitable measures are recommended. Keywords – cracks, distress, foundation, investigation, recommendations I. INTRODUCTION The investigation of a building where a failure has occurred is often necessary to establish the causes of the failure and to obtain the information required for the design of remedial measures. Observations and measurements of the feature of the structure to determine the mode of mechanism of failure are first needed, and these will often suggest the origin of the trouble, or at least indicate whether the ground conditions were partly or wholly responsible. II. DETAILS OF THE DISTRESSED BUILDING The G+1 Residential building founded on shallow foundation had undergone distress in Chennai, Tamilnadu. Hairline cracks were founded on exterior walls of the building. The building is surrounded by mango trees, azhadirachita indica (neem), coconut trees, and jack fruit trees about 20m height at a distance of 3.20m from the front exterior wall of the building. The distresses were found only on the front exterior wall of the building. The age of the building is about 35 years. III. FOUNDATION DETAILS The type of foundation is stepped continuous footing (wall footing). The depth of the foundation of the building is about 0.9m from the existing ground level. It is laid over 0.1m thickness of plain cement concrete and 0.3m thick sand cushion. At the time of soil exploration, a trench had been excavated near to the front wall of the building to identify the type and depth of foundation. The foundation details of the distressed building are shown in Fig.1. Fig.1 Foundation Details IV. NATURE OF THE DISTRESS The nature of the distress i.e. the typical crack patterns in the front wall of buildings that was observed are shown in Fig 2. The first crack was noticed during the year 2008 by the residents. There are a number of windows in the front wall RESEARCH ARTICLE OPEN ACCESS