• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.853-861
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• 2015

In this study, FDM modelling with axisymmetry condition and interface element was verified whether it is reasonable to estimate compositive behavior of a piled raft foundation. To this end, the modelling validity of piled raft foundations was estimated by comparing and analyzing numerical analysis results and laboratory model test results. Also, load bearing ratio of a raft is analyzed by performing sensitivity analysis of foundation parameters with the actual field conditions. As a result of this study, correlation between bearing capacity and vertical displacement of numerical results turned out to be similar with that of a laboratory model test. In addition, ultimate bearing capacity of piled rafts and load bearing ratio of the raft is calculated to be similar in both cases. The load bearing ratio of the raft was also estimated to be in the range of 33% to 52% from the sensitivity analysis. The results were confirmed to be similar to the previous studies. Therefore, it can be inferred that piled rafts can be effectively modelled applying axisymmetry condition and interface element.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.33-40
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• 2012

The design of Piled Raft foundations considering the load sharing between raft and piles provides a more economical solution than the conventional design approach based on bearing capacity of piles only. Generally, numerical methods are used to analyze the behavior of Piled Rafts due to its complexity and load sharing ratio is also estimated by numerical methods about some limited cases under specific load level and soil conditions. In this study, a method to estimate the load sharing between the raft and piles was developed which is based on load-settlement characteristics of foundation elements. Normalized load-settlement curves of the raft and pile groups were derived individually, and the relationship between load sharing ratio and foundation settlement was proposed by using these curves. For each load-settlement curves, hyperbolic type was adopted in order to describe the non-linear behavior of foundations. Centrifuge test results were compared with the results from proposed method, and the trends of variation of load sharing ratio with settlement presented from both were similar.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.32 no.8
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• pp.35-46
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• 2016

In this study, a sensitivity analysis was carried out by using numerical analysis under the consideration that it is difficult to analyze the behavior of real piled raft foundations on different ground conditions through a real scale test. The program used for numerical analysis is FLAC 3D based on the finite difference method. Piles were modelled by using pile element that is one of the structure elements of FLAC 3D and the ground and raft were modelled by using continuum element. With a fixed pile arrangement of $3{\times}3$, the diameter, length, space of piles, and ground conditions were selected as sensitivity parameters and their mutual correlation were investigated. As a result, the bigger and longer pile diameter, length and pile space are, the bigger the bearing capacity of the piled raft becomes. When pile space exceeded a specific value, however, the piled raft foundation behaved like a shallow foundation supported by only a raft. Also it can be confirmed that the better ground conditions are, the more total bearing capacity of the piled raft foundation increases.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.5-16
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• 2023

The effect of raft flexibility on piled raft foundations in sandy soil was investigated using a numerical analysis and an analytical study. The investigation's emphasis was the load sharing between piles and raft following the raft rigidity (K_R), end-bearing conditions. The case of individual piles and subsequently the response of groups of piles was analyzed using a 3D FEM. This study shows that the α_pr, load-sharing ratio of piled raft foundations, decreases as the vertical loading increases and as the K_R decreases. This tendency is more obvious when using friction piles compared to using end-bearing piles. The effect of raft rigidity is found to be more significant for the axial force distribution - each pile within the foundations has almost similar axial forces of the pile head with a flexible raft; however, each pile has different values with rigid rafts, especially with the end-bearing piles. The axial force of the pile base with floating piles shows similar point-bearing resistance for all the piles; however, it shows different values with end-bearing piles. The differential settlement ratio of rafts showed a larger value with lower K_R.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.433-445
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• 2020

A new code, called PRaFULL (Piled Raft Foundation Under Lateral Load), was developed for the analysis of laterally loaded Combined Pile Raft Foundation (CPRF). The proposed code considers the contribution offered by the raft-soil contact and the interactions between all the CPRF system components. The nonlinear behaviour of the reinforced concrete pile and the soil are accounted. As shallower soil layers are of great relevance in the lateral response of a pile foundation, PRaFULL includes the possibility to consider layered soil profiles with appropriate properties. The shadowing effect on the ultimate soil pressure is accounted, when dealing with pile groups, as proposed by the Strain Wedge Model. PRaFULL BEM code obviously requires less computational resources compared to FEM (Finite Element Method) or FDM (Finite Difference Method) codes. The proposed code was validated in the linear elastic range by comparisons with the code APRAF (Analysis of Piled Raft Foundations). The reliability of the procedure to predict piled raft performance was then verified in nonlinear range by comparisons with both centrifuge tests and computer code PRAB.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.641-656
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• 2015

Using large monopod bucket foundations as an alternative to monopiles for offshore wind turbines offers the potential for large cost savings compared to typical piled foundations. In this paper, numerical simulations are carried out to assess the risk of structural buckling during installation of large-diameter bucket foundations. Since shell structures are generally sensitive to initially imperfect geometries, eigenmode-affine imperfections are introduced in a nonlinear finite-element analysis. The influence of modelling the real lid structure compared to classic boundary conditions is investigated. The effects of including soil restraint and soil-structure interaction on the buckling analysis are also addressed.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.67-72
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• 2012

Finite element method was used to compare un-piled and piled raft foundation behaviors on sandy soils in this study. The soil parameters were estimated from SPT tests of 25 boreholes. Based on these soil parameters, a finite element analysis was conducted on un-piled and piled raft foundations. For the un-piled raft, the normalized settlement parameter for raft sizes of $8m{\times}8m$ and $15m{\times}15m$ ranged from 1.02~1.15 and 0.64~0.81, respectively. The raft thickness affects differential settlement and bending moments, but has little effect on load sharing or maximum settlement. Pile spacing greatly affected the maximum settlement, the differential settlement, the bending moment in the raft, and the load shared by the piles, while the differential settlement, the maximum bending moment and the load sharing are not affected very much by increasing the pile lengths.

• 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.5 no.1
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• pp.17-36
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• 2013

Settlement of the piled raft can be estimated even after years of completing the construction of any structure over the foundation. This study is devoted to carry out numerical analysis by the finite element method of the consolidation settlement of piled rafts over clayey soils and detecting the dissipation of excess pore water pressure and its effect on bearing capacity of piled raft foundations. The ABAQUS computer program is used as a finite element tool and the soil is represented by the modified Drucker-Prager/cap model. Five different configurations of pile groups are simulated in the finite element analysis. It was found that the settlement beneath the piled raft foundation resulted from the dissipation of excess pore water pressure considerably affects the final settlement of the foundation, and enough attention should be paid to settlement variation with time. The settlement behavior of unpiled raft shows bowl shaped settlement profile with maximum at the center. The degree of curvature of the raft under vertical load increases with the decrease of the raft thickness. For the same vertical load, the differential settlement of raft of ($10{\times}10m$) size decreases by more than 90% when the raft thickness increased from 0.75 m to 1.5 m. The average load carried by piles depends on the number of piles in the group. The groups of ($2{\times}1$, $3{\times}1$, $2{\times}2$, $3{\times}2$, and $3{\times}3$) piles were found to carry about 24%, 32%, 42%, 58%, and 79% of the total vertical load. The distribution of load between piles becomes more uniform with the increase of raft thickness.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.28 no.8
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• pp.43-53
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• 2012

In the conventional design of a piled raft, the axial resistance offered by the raft itself is typically neglected and only that of the group pile is accounted in estimating the total axial resistance of the piled raft. As a consequence, piled rafts are usually designed conservatively by neglecting the raft resistance. In this study, a series of centrifuge model tests have been performed to compare the axial behavior of a group pile with that of a piled raft (both having 16 component piles with an array of $4{\times}4$) in sands with different relative densities and in clays with different preconsolidated pressures. The test results revealed that, with respect to the allowable settlement of 25 millimeters for bridge foundations, the piled raft resistances were greater than those of the group pile by 13% for dense sand, by 22% for loose sand, by 30% for stiff clay, and by 22% for soft clay. Furthermore, the ratio of piled raft resistance to group pile resistance increased as the settlement increased.