Behavior of piled rafts overlying a tunnel in sandy soil

Abstract

The present research presents experimental and finite element studies to investigate the behavior of piled raft-tunnel system in a sandy soil. In the experimental work, a small scale model was tested in a sand box with load applied vertically to the raft through a hydraulic jack. Five configurations of piles were tested in the laboratory. The effects of pile length (L), number of piles in the group and the clearance distance between pile tip and top of tunnel surface (H) on the load carrying capacity of the piled raft-tunnel system are investigated. The load sharing percent between piles and rafts are included in the load-settlement presentation. The experimental work on piled raft-tunnel system yielded that all piles in the group carry the same fraction of load. The load carrying capacity of the piled rafttunnel model was increased with increasing (L) for variable (H) distances and decreased with increasing (H) for constant pile lengths. The total load carrying capacity of the piled raft-tunnel model decreases with decreasing number of piles in the group. The total load carrying capacity of the piles relative to the total applied load (piles share) increases with increasing (L) and the number of piles in the group. The increase in (L/H) ratio for variable (H) distance and number of piles leads to an increase in piles share. ANSYS finite element program is used to model and analyze the piled raft-tunnel system. A three dimensional analysis with elastoplastic soil model is carried out. The obtained results revealed that the finite element method and the experimental modeling are rationally agreed.