Pauw (1953) considered the soil as a truncated pyramid extending to infinite depth; he

tried to evaluate the effect of the spring constant on the size and shape of control area and the
effect of variation of soil modulus with depth. He assumed the soil modulus to increase linearly
with depth for cohesionless soils, while it is taken to be a constant with depth for cohesive soils.
A modified mass-spring dashpot model, involving the use of the mass of soil
participating in the vibration in the evaluation of the spring constant, kz, and the damping ratio,
D, has been proposed by Subrahmanyam (1971).

9.13 Foundations for Reciprocating Machines

Reciprocating engines having crank-type mechanism include steam engines, diesel

engines, displacement compressors, and displacement pumps. Vibrations are caused due to
conversion of rotary motion to linear motion. Reciprocating machines may operate either
vertically or horizontally. These may have three modes of vibration-vertical, sliding, and
rocking. Generally block-type foundations (with openings where necessary for functional
reasons) are provided for reciprocating machinery. The main problem in the design is to
successfully evaluate the unbalanced inertial forces from the mechanical details of the engine.

9.13.1 Design Criteria

The principal design criteria for foundations for reciprocating machinery are as follows:
i) The natural frequency should be at least 30 percent away from the operating speed
of the machine.
ii) The amplitude of motion of the foundation should not exceed 0.2 mm.
iii) The pressure on soil (or other elastic layers such as cork, springs, etc., where
used) should be within the respective permissible values. For preliminary design,
the maximum pressure on soil due to static load alone may be taken as 0.4 times
the corresponding safe bearing capacity.
The design data to be supplied by the manufacturer of the machine include the following:
i) Normal speed and power of engine.
ii) Magnitude and position of static loads of the machine and the foundation.
iii) Magnitude and position of dynamic loads which occur during the operation of the
machine; alternatively, the designer should be supplied with all the data necessary
for computing such forces.
 iv) Position and size of openings provided in the foundation for anchor bolts, pipe
line, flywheel, etc.
v) Any other specific information considering the special nature of the machine.
These may include permissible differential settlements, permissible amplitudes of
motion, etc. The relevant IS Code–IS: 2974-Pt I-1982 (Revised)-contains further
details.

9.13.2 Calculation of Unbalanced Inertial Forces

A simple crank mechanism for a single-cylinder engine is shown in Fig. 9.20: It consists
of a piston which moves inside a cylinder, a crank which rotates about a point O and a
connecting rod which is attached to the piston at point P (known as “wrist pin”)and to the crank
shaft at point C (known as “crank pin”). The crank pin follows a circular path while the wrist pin
oscillates along a linear path. Points on the connecting rod between P and C follow an elliptical
path. Designating the total reciprocating mass which moves with the piston as Mrec and the
rotating mass moving with the crank as Mrot, the unbalanced inertial forces Pz (along the direction
of the piston) and Px (along a perpendicular direction) may be written as;

2 R2 2
Pz M rec M rot R cos t M rec cos 2 t (Eq. 9.60)
L

2
Px M rot R sin t (Eq. 9.61)

Here is the angular velocity and R is the radius of the crank.

For the simple crank-mechanism shown, the reciprocating and rotating masses are given by
the following equations:
L1
M rec M2 M3 (Eq. 9.62)
L

R1 L2
M rot M1 M3 (Eq. 9.63)
R L
where M1 = mass of crank,
M2 = mass of reciprocating parts, i.e., piston, piston rod, and crank-head,
M3 = mass of connecting rod,
L = length of connecting rod,
 L1 = distance between the CG of the connecting rod and the crank pin C,
L2 = distance between the CG of the connecting rod and the wrist pin P,
and R1 = distance between the CG of the crank shaft and the centre of rotation.
(These equations are based on a simplifying assumption regarding the distribution of the mass of
crank shaft).

Fig. 9.20: Simple crank-mechanism

The first term for Pz in Eq. 9.60 involving cos t (first harmonic) is called the “primary”
inertial force and the second involving cos 2 t (second harmonic) is called the “secondary”
inertial force. Generally speaking, the contribution to the total inertial force from the secondary
components (due to second and higher harmonics) is considered negligible compared with that
from the primary component.
The inertial force due to rotating masses may be eliminated by what is known as
“counter-balancing”; however, that due to reciprocating mass cannot be avoided. The above
analysis is applicable only for reciprocating machines with a single cylinder. But most machines
have more than one cylinder, that is to say, most machines are multi-cylinder engines, all
cylinders being usually housed in single plane. The analysis can be extended to a multi-cylinder
engine and the unbalanced inertial forces may be derived as follows:
 n
2
Pz M rec M rot R cos t i [Neglecting secondary inertial forces] (Eq.9.64)
i 1

n
2
Px M rot R sin t i (Eq.9.65)
i 1

where i = the angle between the crank of the i-th cylinder and that of the first cylinder
(this is known as the “crank angle” of the i-th cylinder) and n = number of cylinders.
(Note:- Moments of these inertial forces about the relevant centroidal axis of the machine may be
determined if the exact relative locations of the engines, and hence the lever arms, are
known).For a vertical two-cylinder engine, for example, the resultant unbalanced inertial forces
for different crank angles may be obtained as follows:

Crank Angle (or phase difference is )

2 2
This is the most common case.
2
Pz1 M rec M rot R cos t (approx.)

2
Pz2 M rec M rot R cos t
2

2
Therefore, Pz Pz1 Pz2 M rec M rot R cos t cos t
2

2
Or, Pz M rec M rot R cos t (Eq.9.66)
4
2
Similarly, Px1 M rot R sin t

2
Px2 M rot R sin t
2

2
Therefore Px Px1 Px2 M rot R sin t sin t
2

2
Or, Px 2 M rot R sin t (Eq. 9.67)
4

It may be noted that the peak values of the inertial forces in this case are 2 times those for a
single cylinder engine. The moments about the principal axes may be easily obtained if the exact
positions of the cylinders and lever arms are known in a given case.
Crank Angle
The resultant inertial forces Pz and Px are obviously zero in this case. However, the
moments may not be zero and have to be computed.
Crank Angle 3 /2
The resultant inertial forces are

2
Pz 2 M rec M rot R sin t (Eq. 9.68)
4

2
Px 2 M rot R sin( t ) (Eq. 9.69)
4
Crank Angle 2 (Cranks in parallel directions)
The resultant inertial forces in this case are
2
Pz 2 M rec M rot R cos t (Eq. 9.70)
2
Px 2 M rot R sin t (Eq. 9.71)
These are double the respective forces for a single-cylinder engine.
(Note:-Corresponding expressions for the unbalanced inertial forces may be derived for different
sets of crank angles for vertical reciprocating machines with three, four, and six cylinders, using
the same principles).
Similar treatment is applicable even for horizontal reciprocating machines, except that x and z
have to be interchanged; horizontal machines are generally two-cylinder engines with 90°-crank
angle.
If the engines have auxiliary cylinders such as a compressor and an exhaust, the loads
imposed by the auxiliaries should also be considered; however, these are usually small, relatively
speaking, and hence may be ignored. If vibration absorbers such as springs are interposed
between the machine and the foundation in order to limit the amplitudes, the system has to be
considered at least as one with two-degree freedom depicted in Fig. 9.5, 9.6, 9.7 although strictly
speaking, its degree of freedom is twelve.

9.14 Foundations for Impact Machines

Hammers are typical examples of impact type machines. The design principles of
foundations for hammers are entirely different from those for reciprocating machinery. In a
hammer, a ram falls from a height on the anvil executing either forging or stamping a material
placed on the anvil.
Hammer foundations are generally reinforced concrete block type of construction (Fig.
9.21). The anvil on which the tup falls repeatedly is usually placed on an elastic layer which may
be of timber grillage or cork. The foundation may be placed directly on soil or on a suitable
elastic layer, the purpose of which is to isolate the vibration and minimise the harmful effects of
the impact.
The frame of the hammer may either rest directly on the foundation or it may be supported
from outside depending on the convenience. The frame is essentially to guide the ram and house
the arrangement for the movement of the ram. The practice of design of the foundation for
hammers has been to provide a massive block foundation.

Fig. 9.21: Schematic of a typical hammer foundation (IS 2974-1980)