• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.829-853
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• 2015

This is an experimental study to investigate the behaviour of piled raft system in different types of sandy soil. A small scale "prototype" model was tested in a sand box with load applied to the foundation through a compression jack and measured by means of load cell. The settlement was measured at the raft by means of dial gauges, three strain gauges were attached on piles to measure the strains and calculate the load carried by each pile in the group. Nine configurations of group ($1{\times}2$, $1{\times}3$, $1{\times}4$, $2{\times}2$, $2{\times}3$, $2{\times}4$, $3{\times}3$, $3{\times}4$ and $4{\times}4$) were tested in the laboratory as a free standing pile group (the raft not in contact with the soil) and as a piled raft (the raft in contact with the soil), in addition to tests for raft (unpiled) with different sizes. It is found that when the number of piles within the group is small (less than 4), there is no evident contribution of the raft to the load carrying capacity. The failure load for a piled raft consisting of 9 piles is approximately 100% greater than free standing pile group containing the same number of piles. This difference increases to about 4 times for 16 pile group. The piles work as settlement reducers effectively when the number of piles is greater than 6 than when the number of piles is less than 6. The settlement can be increased by about 8 times in ($1{\times}2$) free standing pile group compared to the piled raft of the same size. The effect of piled raft in reducing the settlement vanishes when the number of piles exceeds 6.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.559-572
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• 2021

This research presents the monitoring results and their interpretation on load sharing of the pile foundation during the construction of a high-rise (124 m in height) building in Bangkok, in soft clayey ground. Axial forces in several piles, pore water pressure and earth pressures beneath the raft in a tributary area were monitored through the construction period of the building. The raft of the pile foundation in soft clayey ground can share the load up to 10-20% even though the foundation was designed using the conventional approach in which the raft resistance is ignored. The benefit from the return of ground water table as the uplift pressure is recognized. A series of parametric study by 3D-FEA were carried out. The potential of utilizing the piled raft system for the high-rise building with underground basement in soft clayey ground was preliminarily confirmed.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.19-31
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• 2013

In engineering practices, the superstructure was analyzed under a fixed boundary condition and the foundation was designed by considering the loading condition of superstructure. It may result in overestimation of forces, the bending moment, settlement of superstructure and foundation. In this study, an interactive analytical method is proposed for the interaction between the superstructure and the piled raft. The overall objective of this study is focused on the application of interactive analysis method for predicting behavior of entire structures. And a series of numerical analyses are performed to verify the interactive analysis routine in comparison to the unified analysis method. Through the comparative studies, it is found that the iterative and interactive analysis gave similar results of settlement and raft bending moment compared with those of finite element analysis. And it is also found that the proposed design method considering interaction between superstructure and foundation is capable of predicting reasonably well the behavior of entire structures. It can be effectively used to the design of a superstructure-piled raft foundation system.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.25 no.7
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• pp.23-33
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• 2009

In this study the characteristics of piled raft was investigated by using both centrifuge and numerical modeling. The ultimate bearing capacities of single pile, unpiled raft, freestanding pile group and piled raft were compared in order to investigate load sharing of each element : pile and raft. The comparison determined parameters to simply evaluate the ultimate bearing capacity of piled raft. Centrifuge test results were simulated by numerical simulation to verify the parameters.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.83-91
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• 2017

In case of estimation of settlement for the piled-raft foundation, it is necessary to consider interaction among raft, piles and soil. But, simple analytic methods usually are not applicable to considering this complicated interaction. In this study, a computer-based approximate analytic method, HDPR, was developed in consideration of above mentioned interaction in order to analysis of settlement for the piled-raft foundation. The finite element method was applied to raft analysis by means of the Mindlin plate theory, and soil and piles were modeled as springs which were connected with their raft. The linear spring which can consider multi layered soil and the non-linear spring were applied to soil springs and pile springs, respectively. The raft-piles-soil interaction was reflected to each spring. In order to verify the developed analytic method, it was compared and analyzed with 3D FEM analysis, existing approximate analytic method and site monitoring data. As a result, the developed analytic method showed reasonable results of settlement estimations of raft and piles for each case. From a practical point of view, it is confirmed that this analytic method is able to apply for analysis and design of the piled-raft foundation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2002.06a
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• pp.77-89
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• 2002

To analyze a bearing capacity for pile groups, a number of model tests have been done and theoretical methods studied. In the case of design of group pile bearing capacity is calculated with only pile capacity. But uncertainty of bearing capacity and behavior of foundation cap(raft) leads to conservative design ignoring bearing effects of foundation cap. In the case of considering bearing capacity of foundation cap, the simple sum of bearing capacity of foundation cap and pile groups cannot be the bearing capacity of total foundation system. Since cap-pile-soil interaction affects the behavior of pile groups. Thus, understanding cap-pile-soil interaction is very important in optimal design. In this paper, the piled raft behavior is studied through model tests of 2$\times$2, 2$\times$3, 3$\times$3 pile group. Changes of behavior of pile group foundation by touching effects of foundation cap with soil are studied. Also changes of spacing between piles. Foundation cap is made of rigid steel plate and piles are made steel pipes. From this model tests, the changes of behavior changes of pile groups by touching effects of foundation cap with soil are studied.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.43-50
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• 2018

Applicability of constructing piled raft foundations on soft clay has been given attention in recent years. Lack of sufficient stiffness for soil and thus excessive settlements to allow higher contribution of piles is the major concern in this regard. This paper presents a numerical investigation of performance of piled-raft foundations on soft clay with focusing on a case study. A 3D FEM numerical model is developed using ABAQUS. The model was calibrated by comparing physical and numerical modeling results of other researchers. Then the possibility of using piled-raft system in construction of foundation for a water storage tank in Sarbandar, Iran is assessed. Soil strength parameters in the numerical model were calibrated using the instrumentation data of a heavily instrumented preloading project at the construction site. The results indicate that choosing the proper combination of length and spacing for piles can lead to acceptable differential and total settlements while a high percentage of total bearing capacity of piles can be mobilized, which is an efficient solution for the project. Overall, the construction of piled-rafts on soft clays is promising as long as the total settlement of the structure is not imposing restrictions such as the common 25 mm allowable settlement. But instead, if higher allowable settlements are adopted, for example in the case of rigid steel tanks, the method shall be applicable with considerable cost savings.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.67-75
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• 2007

This study was undertaken in order to investigate the load bearing capacity of raft in a piled raft through the laboratory model tests, the numerical and analytical analyses. The model tests were conducted about a piled raft, the free-standing pile group, a single pile, as well as a shallow foundation under equal conditions. The pile spacing and length, group type and soil conditions were varied in the laboratory model tests. The experimental results were compared with those by the commercial program, DEFPIG, conventional methods and Phung's method. According to this study, the behavior of piled raft was affected by pile spacing, length and soil conditions. Phung's method proved to be reliable for estimating the experimental results.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.21 no.10
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• pp.73-83
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• 2005

Recently, foundation designs based on piled raft concept have been increasing, where the piles are required not to ensure the overall stability of the foundation but to act as settlement reducer. When a concrete track is constructed on soft ground, excessive settlements may occur, while it rarely has bearing capacity problems. In this case, the settlement of the concrete track may be effectively reduced by arranging a small number of small-diameter piles beneath the track. This paper presents the effect of pile installation on the reduction of concrete track's settlement. A 3D finite difference method was employed to model the piled concrete tracks. A parametric study was carried out to assess the effect of varying soil condition and pile arrangements. From the analysis results, it is verified that the effect of the pile installation is significant to effectively reduce the settlement of concrete track. Optimal number of pile rows and pile spacings was proposed for the economical design of a piled concrete track. The bearing mechanism of piles was also investigated by analyzing load sharing characteristics of pile according to soil conditions and pile arrangements.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.387-395
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• 2003

Model tests were conducted to study the behavior of the piled raft foundation system on sands. Especially in this study, the method using the triaxial compression apparatus was devised and used to apply the confining pressure which is considered difficult in the existing model test on the soil. Steel rods (6mm dia.) and aluminum plates (8mm thickness, 50mm dia.) were used to simulate piles and rafts respectively. Jumunjin standard sands were used to ensure the homogeneity of the sample. After the sample with the piled raft model was laid inside the triaxial cell, the confining pressure was applied and then the compressive force was applied. The increase and/or decrease ratio of the bearing capacity, the load distribution ratio between raft and piles and the effect of settlements decrease depending on the confining pressure, the number of piles and the length of piles were analyzed and the bearing capacity and skin friction of the pile was calculated. By the results of these experiments, the bearing capacity increased and the settlement decreased with this piled raft foundation system. Especially the effect was larger with the increase of the number of piles than with the increase of length of piles. Hereafter, the study of the load transfer mechanism of piles under confining pressure would be made possible using these small model tester like triaxial compression apparatus.