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3D Finite Element Analysis on Behaviour of Piled Raft Foundations

Article  in  Applied Mechanics and Materials · July 2014

DOI: 10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.580-583.3

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Applied Mechanics and Materials Vols. 580-583 (2014) pp 3-8
© (2014) Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland
doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.580-583.3

3D Finite Element Analysison Behaviour of Piled Raft Foundations

Anhtuan Vu1,2,a, Ducphong Pham1,3,b, Tuonglai Nguyen1,c, Yu He3,d
1
Instituteof Techniques for Special Engineering, Le Quy Don Technical University, Hanoi, Vietnam
2
Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan
3
School of Civil Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, China
a
vuanhtuan@mta.edu.vn, bducphong357@gmail.com, clainthn@gmail.com, d352866785@qq.com

Keywords:Piled raft, Settlement, Plaxis 3D Foundation

Abstract.This paper highlights settlement behaviour of piled raft foundation by 3D finite element
analysis through Plaxis 3D Foundation program. The effects of pile number, pile length, pile layout
and pile spacing on the behaviour of piled raft foundation were studied.The numerical results show
that:Piled raft foundation has much more efficency to reduce settlement than that of traditional raft
foundation. The value of vertical defomation decreases as the result of the increase of pile number,
pile length, pile spacing and vice versa. Pile layout has significant effect on both value and location
of maximum settlement of piled raft foundation.

Introduction
In the recent years, piled raft foundation (PRF) has been more and more popularly applied to
increase load capacity and reduce settlement in a very economic way comparing with traditional
foundation concepts. Many researchs on piled raft foundation engineering have been published,
such asBaziar et al. [1], Poulos et al. [2], Poulos[7], Randolph[8], Poulos and Davis [9]. Analysis
methods related to PRFwere presented in[3-6].
This study concentrates on the effect of engineering factors related to pile in raft foundation such
as number of pile, pile length, pile layout and pile spacing on the behaviour of the piled raft
foundation; analysis is carried out by 3D finite element method via Plaxis 3D Foundation software.

Finite Element Modelling

Among different numerical modeling approaches, finite element technique is popular in recent
years in the field of foundation engineering. To date, a variety of finite element computer programs
have been developed with a number of useful facilities and to suit different requirements. The
analysis method in this study refers to three dimensional finite element methods (FEM)[10] via
Plaxis 3D Foundation software. In the analysis, raft and piles are in elastic state. The nonlinear
behavior of soil has been modeled with elastic idealplastic constitutive model with a Mohr Coulomb
yield criterion.
The finite element mesh can be generated automatically after the full geometry model has been
defined and all the components have their initial properties. The elements used for meshing of
subsoil are 15-node wedge elements.

Numerical examples and parametric studies

A 8x8x1m piled raft with massive circular piles which have diameter of 0.4m and length of 10m
is used as numerical example for parametric studies. Foundation is subjected to a 100KN/m2
uniformly distributed load. The displacement due to effect of selfweight was ignored.The model
was extended in both horizontal directions to a width of 16m to advoid any influence of the outer
boundary. Number of pileswas varied to investigate the effect on the settlement of foundation with
different layout such as: raft foundation without piles, raft foundation with various pile layouts from
one to nine piles.This raft was also used to consider the influence of the pile length and the pile
layout.Horizonal dimensions of the raft were changed according to the change of pile spacing

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4 Advances in Civil and Industrial Engineering IV

butthe dimension between the border pile row and the raft edge of 2D (D is pile’s diameter) was
kept remain.
The surveyed ground includes 2 layers with the thickness of layers are 5m and 18m respectively.
Soil properties and material model are shown in the
Table 1. Pile and raft are concrete with the behaviour of linear elastic and Young modulus of
2.9*107kN/m2.

Table 1. Soil properties

Properties Layer 1 Layer 2
Depth (m) 0-5 5-23
3
Unit weight (kN/m ) 16 17
Material model Mohr Coulomb Mohr Coulomb
Cohesivec (kN/m2) 10 5
Internal friction angle (degree) 15 25
Deformation modulus (kN/m2) 4500 2*104
Poisson’s ratio 0.3 0.2
3.1. Effect of number of piles
Apiled raft foundation 8x8x1m, which has variablenumber of piles was loaded with a uniformly
distributed force of 100kN/m2. The results of settlement of the foundation in cases of raft only, raft
with single pile, raft with 3 piles, raft with 5 piles and raft with 9 piles were illustrated in Fig. 1(a-e)
respectively.

a) Raft without piles b) Raft with 1 pile c) Raft with3 pile

Umax= 252.55*10-3m Umax= 190.78*10-3m Umax= 176,41*10-3m

d) Raft with 5 piles e) Raft with 9 piles

-3
Umax= 140.44*10 m Umax= 98.15*10-3m
Fig. 1Settlement of the raft with different number of piles

Fig. 2 and Fig. 3show the load-settlement curves at center of the raft and at midle point of the
raft edge.
 Applied Mechanics and Materials Vols. 580-583 5

0 20 40 60 80 100
0 20 40 60 80 100
0
0

-50
Settlement at the center

Settlement at the middle

of the raft edge (mm)
-50
of the raft (mm)

-100
raft only raft only
-100
-150 1 pile 1 pile
3 piles 3 piles
5 piles -150 5 piles
-200
9 piles 9 piles
-250 -200
Load q (kN/m2) Load q (kN/m2)

Fig. 2 Load-settlement curve Fig. 3 Load-settlement curve

at the centre of the raft at the middle of the raft edge

The numerical results show that: piled raft foundation is more efficient than traditional raft
foundation in reducing settlement. The increase of pile number results in the decrease of global and
diffirential settlement and vice versa.
3.2. Effect of pile length
A piled raft foundation 6x6x1m, which was reinforced by 9 piles with diameter of 0.4m,was
loaded with a uniformly distributed force of 100kN/m2. The pile spacing was S=5D=2m. The
distance from border pile row to the raft edge was 2.5D=1m. The Fig. 4(a-d) show the results of the
foundation settlement in cases thatthe length of piles were 6m, 8m, 10m and 12m respectively.

a) Lp = 6m, Umax = 113.2*10-3mb) Lp = 8m, Umax = 80.03*10-3m

c) Lp = 10m, Umax = 28.26*10-3md) Lp = 12m, Umax = 23.38*10-3m

Fig. 4Settlement of the raft with different piles length, number of piles are 9

Numerical results show that the vertical displacement declined due to the growth of pile length.
However, the efficency in the settlement decrease is not the same in cases of different pile length
increases. The maximum settlement was reduced by 33.17*10-3m from 113.2*10-3m to 80.03*10-
3
m, approximate 29.3% when the pile length varied from 6m to 8m. The maximum settlement was
reduced significantly by 51.77*10-3m from 80.03*10-3m to 28.26*10-3m, approximate 64.7% when
the pile length varied from 8m to 10m. Meanwhile, the maximum settlement unnoticealely
6 Advances in Civil and Industrial Engineering IV

decreased only by 4.88*10-3m from 28.26*10-3m to 23.38*10-3m, approximate 17.3% when the pile
length increase from 10m to 12m.
3.3. Effect of pile layout
Both the location and the value of the maximum settlement was highly infuenced by the pile
layout.Fig. 5(a-c)express the different results on the settlement when the raft was embeded with the
same 9 piles but different layout.Fig. 5a and b (pile spacing was 5D and 8D respectively) illustrate
the similar value around 98*10-3mbut different location of maximum settlement to each other.
Meanwhile, the maximum settlement in Fig. 5c (pile spacing S=2D and piles concentrated to the
center of the raft) was 154.30*10-3m which was much bigger than those in the previous cases.
TheFig. 5d shows the settlement of the raft which was embeded with 5 piles. As can be seen that
this value was smaller than the value in Fig. 5c although there were more piles in Fig. 5c (9 piles)
comparing toFig. 5d (only 5 piles).

a) Raft with 9 piles, S=5D, Db=2mb) Raft with 9 piles, S=8D, Db=0.8m
Umax = 98.15*10-3m Umax = 98.83*10-3m.

c) Raft with 9 piles, S=2D, Db=3.2md) Raft with 5 piles, S=5D, Db=2m
Umax = 154.30*10-3m Umax = 140.34*10-3m.
Fig. 5 Effect of pile’slayout on the maximum settlement of the foundation
3.4. Effect of pile spacing
Effect of pile spacing was studied by using 9-pile-rafts, which had varied pile spacing as 2D, 4D,
6D and 8D and unchanged dimention from border pile row to the raft edge of 2D.The results shown
in Fig. 6illustrate that the settlement will increase due to the growth of pile spacing and vice versa.
However the effect of increase of pile spacing on the settlement was not unchanged. The maximum
vertical displacement grew up only by 5.64*10-3m (about 53%) when the spacing increased from
2D to 4D. Meanwhile, when the spacing increased from 4D to 6D and from 6D to 8D, the
maximum settlements experienced the growths from 16.26*10-3m to 42.37*10-3m (increase about
160%) and from 42.37*10-3m to 98.83*10-3m (increase about 133%).
 Applied Mechanics and Materials Vols. 580-583 7

a) Pile spacing S=2D b) Pile spacing S=4D

Umax = 10.62*10-3m Umax = 16.26*10-3m

c) Pile spacing S=6D d) Pile spacing S=8D

-3
Umax = 42.37*10 m Umax = 98.83*10-3m
Fig. 6 Effect pile spacing on the settlement of the foundation

Conclusion
The numerical results reveal the following conclusions:
(1) The settlement behaviour of piled raft foundation was depended on several factors such as
number of piles, pile length, pile layout and pile spacing.
(2) The increase of pile number will lead to the decrease of both global and differential
settlement.
(3) The settlement of the foundation will be reduced due to the growth of pile length and vice
versa.
(4) The layout of piles have significant effect on not only the value but also the location of
maximum settlement.
(5) The settlement behaviour of pile raft foundation is also affected by pile spacing, an increase
of pile spacing will lead to an increase of settlement and vice versa.

References
[1] M.H. Baziar, A. Ghorbani, R. Katzenbach: Small-scale model test and three-dimensional
analysis of pileraft foundation on medium-dense sand, International Journal of Civil
Engineering, 2009,Vol. 7(3), pp. 170-175.
[2] H.G. Poulos, J.C.Small and H.Chow: Piled raft foundation for tall buildings, Geotechnical
Engineering Journal of the SEAGS & AGSSEA, 2011, Vol. 42(2), pp.78-84.
[3] C.J. Lee, M.D. Bolton, A.Al-Tabbaa:Numerical modelling of group effects on the distribution
of dragloads in pile foundations, Geotechniques, 2002, Vol. 52(5), pp. 325- 335
[4] Pastsakorn Kitiyodom, Tatsunori Matsumoto and Ryuuichi Sonoda: Approximate numerical
analysis ofa large piled raft foundation, Soils and Foundations, Japan, 2011, Vol.51(1), pp.1-10.
[5] G. Beer, J.R. Booker, J.P. Carter, eds: Computer Methods and Advances in Geomechanics, A.A.
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[6] H.G. Poulos: An approximate numerical analysis of pile-raft interaction, International Journal
of Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics, 1994, Vol. 18(2), pp. 73-92.
[7] H.G.Poulos: Piled raft foundations - Design and applications, Geotechnique, 2001, Vol. 51(2),
pp. 95-113.
 8 Advances in Civil and Industrial Engineering IV

[8] M.F. Randolph (1983). Design of piled raft foundations. CUED/D, CambridgeUniversity, U.K,
1983, Vol. 143, pp. 1-22.
[9] H.G.Poulos and E.H. Davis: The settlement behaviour of single axially-loaded incompressible
piles and piers, Geotechnique, 1968, Vol. 18(3), pp. 351–371.
[10] L.J. Novak, L.C. Reese, S.T. Wang: Analysis of piled-raft foundations with 3D finite-element
method, Proceedings of the 2005 Structures Congress, New York, Structural Engineering
Institute of ASCE, (2005), pp. 1-12.

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