Interaction effects on load-carrying behavior of piled rafts embedded in clay from centrifuge tests

Abstract

In the present study, various interaction effects and load-carrying behavior of piled rafts embedded in clay were investigated. For this purpose, a series of centrifuge load tests were conducted using different types of model foundations, including single pile, group piles, piled raft, and unpiled raft. Different clay conditions were considered to prepare for centrifuge specimens. It was found that the pile group effect in clays is significant within initial loading range, showing lower load-carrying capacity. As settlement increases, the pile group effect becomes less pronounced. For both soft and stiff conditions, the values of the raft-to-pile (R-P) interaction factor varied initially, which became converged to some values around unity with increasing settlement. Similar tendency was observed for the pile-to-raft (P-R) interaction factor. The load responses of different pile components within the piled raft were not significantly different for the soft condition. For the stiff condition, the corner and inner piles showed the highest and lowest load-carrying capacities, respectively, due to piled-raft interaction effects. Correlations to cone resistance were analyzed and presented for the base and shaft resistances of piles for piled rafts.