Course Catalogue.

Design of Equipment Foundations

SCHEDULED OFFERINGS
Course Code: 16-0313-ONL26  /  Online  /  Mar 11 - 13, 2026 More Info    REGISTER NOW

14 Professional Development Hours

After participating in this course, you will be able to:

  • Accurately calculate dynamic loads from various types of machinery, ensuring optimal foundation design.
  • Confidently select the most effective foundation type—shallow or pile—based on project-specific requirements.
  • Enhance and apply your understanding of the dynamic response of tabletop structures for reliable equipment support.
  • Conduct in-depth analysis of the dynamic behavior of shallow and pile foundations, optimizing performance under various conditions.
  • Implement advanced design strategies to address vibration issues, ensuring the stability and longevity of equipment foundations while mitigating potential risks.

Description
Understanding the dynamic interactions between machinery and its supporting foundations is critical to ensuring the stability and safety of any equipment-bearing structure. This course begins by introducing essential concepts and practical “rules of thumb” used in the preliminary layout and sizing of foundations. These foundational principles are thoroughly explained and demystified, relating them to the first engineering principles to ensure a robust theoretical understanding. You'll gain a solid foundation in machine dynamics, learning how different types of rigid block and pile-supported foundations behave under various conditions, including those with frozen and expansive soils.

The course considers loads induced by different machinery, modes of the structural response of the foundation and supporting frame, and the response and damping provided by the soils. It covers fundamentals of machine dynamics for the derivation of the applied loads, the behavior of different types of rigid block and pile-supported foundations, analysis and design of tabletop structures for equipment support, machine foundations on frozen and expansive soils, and vibration damage assessment and prevention.

This course bridges theory with practical application. It considers detailed real-life case studies, solved using the specialized software DYNA 6.1 and corroborated by alternative manual and finite-element software-assisted methods. These theoretical solutions are a unique feature of this course, allowing one to solve problems that exceed and supplement DYNA 6.1 capabilities and independently verify its results. You’ll be equipped to apply your newfound skills to complex design scenarios, ensuring that your foundation designs meet and exceed industry standards regarding stability and efficiency.

Who Should Attend
This course is intended for Consulting Structural Engineers who are responsible for analyzing and designing equipment foundations. It is suited for professionals seeking to enhance their expertise with advanced knowledge and practical design skills.

Course Syllabus

Day I

Welcome, Introduction, Course Preview, and Learning Objectives

Introduction to Design of Equipment Foundations
Design objectives, design procedure, degrees of freedom, pure and coupled modes of vibration, free and forced vibrations, resonance. Types of foundations and their uses: rigid block foundations, mat foundations, deep foundations, the significance of damping. Anchorages for vibrating machinery.

Dynamic Soil Properties
Small strain elastic moduli of soil, shear wave, compression wave, methods of soil exploration for dynamic problems, method of dynamic impedance

Design of Shallow Foundations
Theory of isotropic and layered elastic half-space, the response of circular footings, shape factors for the response of non-circular footings, stiffness and damping functions, frequency dependence, the effect of footing embedment, proximity of bedrock layers

Design Example
Free vibration analysis of a rigid block foundation

Dynamically Loaded Foundations on Frozen and Expansive Soils
Frost effects, dynamic properties of frozen soil, design considerations, static and dynamic design criteria. Expansive soils, principles of foundation construction on expansive soils, types of foundations for dynamic machinery

Adjournment

Day II

Design of Pile Foundations - Single Piles
Examples of piles applications, the effect of vibration on static pile design, stiffness and damping of single piles, pile dynamic response – DYNA 6.1, pile dynamic response - analytical methods, pile dynamic response using common FE software

Design of Pile Foundations - Pile Groups
Pile-soil-pile interaction, understanding of dynamic group effects, group factors calculation

Design Example
Common pump foundation on piles (illustrates the concept of “good” vs “bad” speed range for rotary machinery)

Dynamic Response of Vibratory Machinery Foundations
Dynamic forces from reciprocating machinery, dynamic forces from rotary machinery, high-tuned and low-tuned foundations, normal and abnormal regimes, basics of rotor dynamics, critical and tripping speeds

Dynamic Response of Impact Machinery Foundations
Types of impact machinery, foundations for impact machinery, design criteria, derivation of impact forces, mathematical models and methods of solution, propagation of vibrations in the soil

Vibration Damage and Taking Suitable Remedial Measures
Design criteria, resonance separation, admissible dynamic amplitudes and velocities, stationary and transitional resonance, problem assessment and evaluation, remedial principles and techniques

Adjournment

Day III

Tabletop Structures
Definitions, modes of oscillation, foundation-structure interaction, stiffness and damping, static and dynamic design criteria, method of symbolic dynamic models

Methods of Analysis (based on example) - oil pump on pile foundation
Demonstration of computer analysis using DYNA 6 software, its capabilities and limitations

Methods of Analysis (based on example) - tabletop-mounted, turbine-driven centrifugal compressor
Hand analysis using MS Excel: generalized dynamic models, equations for free vibrations, equations for forced vibrations, interpretation of results

Methods of Analysis (based on example) - tabletop-mounted, turbine-driven centrifugal compressor
Demonstration of computer analysis using common FE software

Methods of Analysis (based on example) - skid-mounted reciprocating compressor
Hand analysis partially automated using common FE software: derivation of stiffness and inertial properties, pile group effects, equations for free vibrations, assessment of damping, equations for forced vibrations, interpretation of results, mitigation of excessive vibration

Open Forum

Questions and Answers and Feedback to Participants on Achievement of Learning Objectives

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Course Rating
4.3 out of 5

Overall rating of this course by its previous attendees!

SCHEDULED OFFERINGS

This course is currently scheduled on the following date. Click to learn even more details about this offering.

Online, 3/11/2026

COURSE CREDIT

Almost all of EPIC's courses offer :

  • 1.4 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) and
  • 14 Professional Development Hours (PDHs)

These course credits will help attendees earn training requirements for their associations or provincial governing bodies.

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