Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Pile Group With and Without Building Frame Subjected to Axial Load

Abstract

The interactions between soil, piles and building frames are very complex in the analysis of structures. The existing design produces the conservative estimation of pile group capacity which is subjected to axial loads. The realistic behavior of pile group may change due to the soil structure interaction. For the proper design of pile foundations, one has to consider the interaction of building frame, soil and the pile group. In this study, experimental studies are carried out on a single pile and pile group (2 × 3) with and without building frame entrenched in cohesionless soil to understand the influence of building frame on pile group behavior when it subjected to axial loads. Also, numerical analysis has been carried out by using the finite element method based on ANSYS software. The effect of building frame on the behavior of pile group was investigated in terms of pile settlements, pile cap rotation, pile head deflection and bending moment in piles by varying the parameters (aspect ratio of the pile, the spacing between the piles and the relative density of sand bed). The numerical analysis results are well in agreement with the experimental results with a percentage of deviation in the range 5–20% for all the cases considered in the study.