A Nonlinear Approach for Time-Dependent Settlement Analysis of a Single Pile and Pile Groups

Abstract

The settlement of piles in soft soil can last for several decades because of the creep or viscoelastic behavior of soft soil around the pile. This paper proposes nonlinear viscoelastic pile shaft and pile base load transfer (t − z) models based on the modified Burgers model in which the spring is substituted by a hyperbolic model. Using these models, we developed a nonlinear approach to calculate the time-dependent settlement of a vertically loaded single pile and pile groups in layered soft soil. Parametric studies were conducted to investigate the influence of the calculation parameters on the time-dependent settlement of a single pile. The time-dependent settlement of a well-instrumented pile loading test was calculated. Theoretical results were in close agreement with measured results and demonstrate the effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed approach.