Foundation Design API (piles)

Design and check reinforced concrete piles with the SkyCiv Foundation module via the standalone.foundation API.

Prerequisite: start the session with standalone.foundation.start, not S3D.session.start. See the skyciv-api-v3 skill for auth, options and the request/response envelope. If you also need an S3D model (e.g. to get column reactions), run that in a separate session.

Only piles are supported through the API at the moment. Pad footings (isolated_foundation) and combined footings (combined_foundation) are not: don't send them; tell the user instead.

Request

{
  "auth": { "username": "...", "key": "..." },
  "options": { "validate_input": true },
  "functions": [
    { "function": "standalone.foundation.start", "arguments": { "keep_open": false } },
    { "function": "standalone.foundation.check", "arguments": { "1": { "settings": { "...": "..." } } } }
  ]
}

arguments holds the foundations keyed by ID ("1", "2", ...).

Use the input format of the samples in assets/. Don't add settings.version, and don't send a file exported from the current Foundation Designer as it is: those calls time out or never return.

Set options.validate_input: true so bad keys and values come back as clear error messages before the design runs.

Supported piles

Loads

loads is keyed by column ID ("1"). It holds the load cases for the code, each with axial, shear_x, shear_z (kN / kip) and moment_x, moment_z (kN-m / kip-ft):

Custom loads

To give factored and service loads directly, set parameters.others.custom_load: true and use:

"loads": {
  "factored": { "P": 600, "Vx": 20, "Vz": 10, "Mx": 40, "Mz": 20 },
  "service": { "P": 420, "Vx": 14, "Vz": 7, "Mx": 28, "Mz": 14 }
}

Units

settings.units (metric or imperial) sets the unit system for every value in the pile. The units of each field are in references/fields.md where they're confirmed, e.g. pile length in m / ft, pile size and cover in mm / in, strengths in MPa / psi. Don't mix systems inside one pile.

Building a pile

Start from the sample for your code and change values; don't build the object from scratch. Every sample has been run successfully against the live API. Every key is described in references/fields.md; load it when you need the allowed values for a field.

Gotchas

• Piles use their own top-level keys: materials (not material), pile_details, long_rebar, shear_rebar, soils, layer. long_rebar lists every bar, one entry each.
• AS and EN pile parameters go in parameters.AS and parameters.EN; ACI piles have neither.
• A call that "times out" or never returns is almost always an unsupported input (a pad or combined footing, settings.version, or a v4 export), not a slow design. Supported calls finish in about 10 seconds.

Related skills

• skyciv-api-v3: auth, sessions, request envelope.
• s3d-api and analysis-results: get column reactions to use as pile loads.
• run-quick-design: other foundation calculators.