Analysis Method for Laterally Loaded Pile Groups Using an Advanced Modeling of Reinforced Concrete Sections

A Boundary Element Method (BEM) approach was developed for the analysis of pile groups. The proposed method includes: the non-linear behavior of the soil by a hyperbolic modulus reduction curve; the non-linear response of reinforced concrete pile sections, also taking into account the influence of t...

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Main Authors: Stefano Stacul, Nunziante Squeglia
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2018-02-01
Series:Materials
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/11/2/300
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spelling doaj-1124c2189886456e87a4d2a6488f2b842020-11-25T00:11:36ZengMDPI AGMaterials1996-19442018-02-0111230010.3390/ma11020300ma11020300Analysis Method for Laterally Loaded Pile Groups Using an Advanced Modeling of Reinforced Concrete SectionsStefano Stacul0Nunziante Squeglia1Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering, University of Pisa, Largo Lucio Lazzarino, 56122 (PI) Pisa, ItalyDepartment of Civil and Industrial Engineering, University of Pisa, Largo Lucio Lazzarino, 56122 (PI) Pisa, ItalyA Boundary Element Method (BEM) approach was developed for the analysis of pile groups. The proposed method includes: the non-linear behavior of the soil by a hyperbolic modulus reduction curve; the non-linear response of reinforced concrete pile sections, also taking into account the influence of tension stiffening; the influence of suction by increasing the stiffness of shallow portions of soil and modeled using the Modified Kovacs model; pile group shadowing effect, modeled using an approach similar to that proposed in the Strain Wedge Model for pile groups analyses. The proposed BEM method saves computational effort compared to more sophisticated codes such as VERSAT-P3D, PLAXIS 3D and FLAC-3D, and provides reliable results using input data from a standard site investigation. The reliability of this method was verified by comparing results from data from full scale and centrifuge tests on single piles and pile groups. A comparison is presented between measured and computed data on a laterally loaded fixed-head pile group composed by reinforced concrete bored piles. The results of the proposed method are shown to be in good agreement with those obtained in situ.http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/11/2/300laterally loaded pilespile groupshadowing effectboundary element methodtension stiffeningreinforced concretesuction
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Stefano Stacul
Nunziante Squeglia
spellingShingle Stefano Stacul
Nunziante Squeglia
Analysis Method for Laterally Loaded Pile Groups Using an Advanced Modeling of Reinforced Concrete Sections
Materials
laterally loaded piles
pile group
shadowing effect
boundary element method
tension stiffening
reinforced concrete
suction
author_facet Stefano Stacul
Nunziante Squeglia
author_sort Stefano Stacul
title Analysis Method for Laterally Loaded Pile Groups Using an Advanced Modeling of Reinforced Concrete Sections
title_short Analysis Method for Laterally Loaded Pile Groups Using an Advanced Modeling of Reinforced Concrete Sections
title_full Analysis Method for Laterally Loaded Pile Groups Using an Advanced Modeling of Reinforced Concrete Sections
title_fullStr Analysis Method for Laterally Loaded Pile Groups Using an Advanced Modeling of Reinforced Concrete Sections
title_full_unstemmed Analysis Method for Laterally Loaded Pile Groups Using an Advanced Modeling of Reinforced Concrete Sections
title_sort analysis method for laterally loaded pile groups using an advanced modeling of reinforced concrete sections
publisher MDPI AG
series Materials
issn 1996-1944
publishDate 2018-02-01
description A Boundary Element Method (BEM) approach was developed for the analysis of pile groups. The proposed method includes: the non-linear behavior of the soil by a hyperbolic modulus reduction curve; the non-linear response of reinforced concrete pile sections, also taking into account the influence of tension stiffening; the influence of suction by increasing the stiffness of shallow portions of soil and modeled using the Modified Kovacs model; pile group shadowing effect, modeled using an approach similar to that proposed in the Strain Wedge Model for pile groups analyses. The proposed BEM method saves computational effort compared to more sophisticated codes such as VERSAT-P3D, PLAXIS 3D and FLAC-3D, and provides reliable results using input data from a standard site investigation. The reliability of this method was verified by comparing results from data from full scale and centrifuge tests on single piles and pile groups. A comparison is presented between measured and computed data on a laterally loaded fixed-head pile group composed by reinforced concrete bored piles. The results of the proposed method are shown to be in good agreement with those obtained in situ.
topic laterally loaded piles
pile group
shadowing effect
boundary element method
tension stiffening
reinforced concrete
suction
url http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/11/2/300
work_keys_str_mv AT stefanostacul analysismethodforlaterallyloadedpilegroupsusinganadvancedmodelingofreinforcedconcretesections
AT nunziantesqueglia analysismethodforlaterallyloadedpilegroupsusinganadvancedmodelingofreinforcedconcretesections
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