Bearing and uplift capacities of under-reamed piles in soft clay underlaid by stiff clay using lower-bound finite element limit analysis

Abstract

Ensuring a safe foundation design in soft clay is always a challenging task to engineers. In the present study, the effectiveness of under-reamed piles in soft clay underlaid by stiff clay is numerically studied using the lower-bound finite element limit analysis (LB FELA). The bearing and uplift capacities of under-reamed piles are estimated through non-dimensional factors Ncul and Fcul, respectively. These factors increased remarkably and marginally compared to Ncul and Fcul of the piles without bulbs when the bulb is placed in stiff and soft clay, respectively. For a given ratio of undrained cohesion of stiff to soft clay (c2/c1), the factors Ncul and Fcul moderately increased with the increase in the length-to-shaft-diameter ratio (Lu/D) and adhesion factors in soft clay (αs1) and stiff clay (αs2). The variation of radial stress along the pile-soil interface, distribution of axial force in the under-reamed piles, and state of plastic shear failure in the soil are also studied under axial compression and tension. The results of this study are expected to be useful for the estimation of the bearing and uplift capacities of under-reamed piles in uniform clay and soft clay underlaid by stiff clay.