Comparison between the measured and the numerically predicted behaviour of an instrumented piled raft

Abstract

This paper presents the results of numerical predictions for an instrumented piled raft foundation of a tall building in tropical soil. The analysis was performed using 3D finite element analysis and included a comparison of foundation settlements, pile loads, skin friction mobilisation, and raft-soil contact pressure. Initially, the geotechnical model was defined based on field and laboratory test data to conduct a Class A geotechnical prediction. Subsequently, the soil parameters used in the numerical model were re-evaluated to match the measured settlements, aiming for a Class C prediction. The study discusses the main factors that affect the accuracy of the computed settlements, providing valuable insights for foundation designers. Additionally, it highlights the significance of considering the pile-soil-pile and raft-soil-pile interactions in the design of the piles beneath the raft, as these interactions impact the mobilisation of the pile skin friction at different depths.

Keywords:

• Piled raft
• field instrumentation
• finite-element modelling
• settlement

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the University of Brasilia and the Federal University of Goiás, in particular the Geotechnical Postgraduate Programs for the support and infrastructure that allowed the elaboration of this research. Also to the IFGoiano (Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia Goiano) and the Brazilian sponsorship organisation CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico) for the financial aid during the doctoral course of the first author.

Data availability statement

The data presented in this paper is extracted from the first author’s doctoral thesis, entitled “Analysis of the Behavior of a Piled Raft Based on Columns and Foundation Instrumentation” (Análise do Comportamento de um Radier Estaqueado com Base em Instrumentação de Fundação e Pilares, in Portuguese) which is published in the public institutional repository of the University of Brasilia (available in: http://repositorio2.unb.br/jspui/).

Authors’ contributions

Author 1: Conceptualisation, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Validation, visualisation, Writing—original draft.

Author 2: Resources, Software, visualisation, Supervision, Writing—original draft.

Author 3: Investigation, Methodology, Validation, Writing—review & editing.

Author 4: Conceptualisation, Supervision, visualisation, Writing—review & editing.

Author 5: Software, Supervision, visualisation, Writing—review & editing.

Disclosure statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare. All co-authors have observed and affirmed the contents of the paper and there is no financial interest to report.