Experimental and Numerical Behavior of Horizontally Loaded Piled Rafts with a Defective Pile

Abstract

The present paper aims to investigate the effects of defective piles in horizontally loaded piled raft foundations. Close to real scale foundation models of defective and intact three-piled systems were submitted to horizontal load tests. The models used bored type piles drilled with 5 m in length and 0.25 m in diameter, connected to a concrete raft founded on a tropical soil profile at the University of Campinas research site. Based on the experimental data, a three-dimensional finite element analysis was initially calibrated and consequently used to study the effects of the defective element at the pile load distribution and the horizontal subgrade forces at the pile shaft. The results show that the presence of a defective pile increases the raft tilting, which affects both vertical and horizontal load distributions among the raft and the piles, and among trailing and leading piles.