A parametric study of settlement and load transfer mechanism of piled raft due to adjacent excavation using 3D finite element analysis

The urbanization and increasing rate of population demands effective means of transportation system (basement and tunnels) as well as high-rise building (resting on piled foundation) for accommodation. Therefore, it unavoidable to construct basements (i.e., excavation) nearby piled foundation. Since the basement excavation inevitably induces soil movement and stress changes in the ground, it may cause differential settlements to nearby piled raft foundation. To understand settlement and load transfer mechanism in the piled raft due to excavation-induced stress release, numerical parametric studies are carried out in this study. The effects of excavation depths (i.e., formation level) relative to piled raft were investigated by simulating the excavation near the pile shaft (i.e., He/Lp=0.67), next to (He/Lp=1.00) and below the pile toe (He/Lp=1.33). In addition, effects of sand density and raft fixity condition were investigated. The computed results have revealed that the induced settlement, tilting, pile lateral movement and load transfer mechanism in the piled raft depends upon the embedded depth of the diaphragm wall. Additional settlement of the piled raft due to excavation can be account for apparent loss of load carrying capacity of the piled raft (ALPC). The highest apparent loss of piled raft capacity ALPC (on the account of induced piled raft settlement) of 50% was calculated in in case of He/Lp = 1.33. Furthermore, the induced settlement decreased with increasing the relative density from 30% to 90%. On the contrary, the tilting of the raft increases in denser ground. The larger bending moment and lateral force was induced at the piled heads in fixed and pinned raft condition.