3D numerical analysis of pile response due to soil movements induced by an adjacent deep excavation

Purpose This paper aims to investigate single pile and pile group responses due to deep braced excavation-induced soil movement in soft clay overlying dense sand. The analysis focuses first on the response of vertical single pile in terms of induced bending moment, lateral deflection, induced axial force, skin resistance distribution and pile settlement. To better understand the single pile behaviour, a parametric study was carried out. To provide further insights about the response of pile group system, different pile group configurations were considered. Design/methodology/approach Using the explicit finite element code PLAXIS 3 D, a full three-dimensional numerical analysis is carried out to investigate pile responses when performing an adjacent deep braced excavation. The numerical model was validated based on the results of a centrifuge test. The relevance of the 3 D model is also judged by comparison with the 2 D plane strain model using the PLAXIS 2 D code. Findings The results obtained allowed a thorough understanding of the pile response and the soil–pile–structure interactions phenomenon. The findings reveal that the deep excavation may cause appreciable bending moments, lateral deflections and axial forces in nearby piles. The parametric study showed that the pile responses are strongly influenced by the excavation depth, relative pile location, sand density, excavation support system and pile length. It also showed that the response of a pile within a group depends on its location in relation to the other piles of the pile group, its distance from the retaining wall and the number of piles in the group. Originality/value Unlike previous studies which investigated the problem in homogeneous geological context (sand or clay), in this paper, the pile response was thoroughly studied in a multi-layered soil using 3 D numerical simulation. To take into account the small-strain nonlinear behaviour of the soil, the Hardening soil model with small-strain stiffness was used in this analysis. For a preliminary design, this numerical study can serve as a practical basis for similar projects.

Parametric Study of Pile Response to Side-by-Side Twin Tunneling in Stiff Clay

A three dimensional coupled-consolidation numerical parametric study was carried out in order to gain new insight of single pile response to side-by-side twin tunneling in saturated stiff clay. An advanced hypo plasticity (clay) constitutive model with small-strain stiffness was adopted. The effects of relative to the pile tunnel depths were investigated by simulating the twin tunnels near the pile at various depths of tunnels, namely near the pile shaft, adjacent to the pile toe, and below the pile toe. It was found that the second tunneling in each case resulted in a larger settlement than the one due to the first tunneling with a maximum percentage difference of 175% in the case of twin tunneling near the mid-depth of the shaft. This occurred due to the degradation of clay stiffness around the pile during the first tunneling. Conversely, the first tunneling-induced bending moment was reduced substantially during the second tunneling. The most critical location of twin tunnels relative to the pile was found to be below the pile toe.

Numerical analysis of a heat exchanger pile response in a Brazilian subtropical region

Ground-coupled heat exchanger systems have been used as acclimatization systems for residential and commercial buildings in many countries. Brazil is the ninth largest consumer of electrical energy in the world, for this reason, local researchers are investigating the use of the energy piles in order to reduce the consumption of electricity. Thermal response tests have been carried out on a heat exchanger pile at the geotechnical experimental site of the University of São Paulo in São Carlos city, a region of subtropical climate. Simultaneously, using the thermal properties obtained in these tests, numerical analysis has been performed to investigate the heat exchange performance of energy piles installed in this site. For this numerical analysis, the effect of soil and concrete properties, pile geometry and the flow rate on the pile thermal response were evaluated. The current paper presents the results obtained by the analysis of 67 models tested to found an optimal configuration of an energy pile through the software COMSOL, using Heat Transfer and Non-Isothermal Pipe Flow modules. From this work, it was observed that the optimal configuration was obtained for a turbulent flow condition in piles in the heat exchanger pipes.

Physical modelling of piles under lateral loading in unsaturated soils

In this paper, selected aspects of an experimental study conducted in a geotechnical centrifuge are discussed. The tests aimed to explore the effects of partial saturation of soil on the response of a single pile subjected to a combination of lateral force and bending moment under drained conditions. The soil used in the experiments is a low plasticity silty soil, named B-grade kaolin, characterized by a relatively high permeability compared to the typical values for clayey soils. Two different elevations of the water table and its effects on the pile response under loading are studied. The data show a marked influence of soil partial saturation on the pile response, both under working loads and ultimate loads. In particular, under working loads, the displacement of the head of the pile is appreciably lower than that measured under saturated conditions.