• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.26 no.6C
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• pp.395-406
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• 2006

Drilled shafts are a common foundation solution for large concentrated loads. Such piles are generally constructed by drilling through softer soils into rock and the section of the shaft which is drilled through rock contributes most of the load bearing capacity. Drilled shafts derive their bearing capacity from both shaft and base resistance components. The length and diameter of the rock socket must be sufficient to carry the loads imposed on the pile safely without excessive settlements. The base resistance component can contribute significantly to the ultimate capacity of the pile. However, the shaft resistance is typically mobilized at considerably smaller pile movements than that of the base. In addition, the base response can be adversely affected by any debris that is left in the bottom of the socket. The reliability of base response therefore depends on the use of a construction and inspection technique which leaves the socket free of debris. This may be difficult and costly to achieve, particularly in deep sockets, which are often drilled under water or drilling slurry. As a consequence of these factors, shaft resistance generally dominates pile performance at working loads. The efforts to improve the prediction of drilled shaft performance are therefore primarily concerned with the complex mechanisms of shaft resistance development. The shaft resistance only is concerned in this study. The nature of the interface between the concrete pile shaft and the surrounding rock is critically important to the performance of the pile, and is heavily influenced by the construction practices. In this study, the influences of asperity characteristics such as the heights and angles, the strength characteristics and elastic constants of surrounding rock masses and the depth and length of rock socket, et. al. on the shaft resistance of drilled shafts are investigated from elasto-plastic analyses( FLAC). Through the parametric studies, among the parameters, the vertical stress on the top layer of socket, the height of asperity and cohesion and poison's ratio of rock masses are major influence factors on the unit peak shaft resistance.