MODELING SINGLE BARRETTES AS ELASTIC SUPPORT BY CCT

Abstract

Classical analyses of barrette foundation taking into account full interactions between barrette and the surrounding soil leads to a huge barrette stiffness matrix. Consequently, a large system of linear equations must be solved, especially for analyzing barrette group and barrette raft. To overcome this problem, a Composed Coefficient Technique (CCT) is developed for analyzing barrette. In the analysis, the elasticity of the barrette body is considered using the finite element method, while that of the soil elements is considered using flexibility coefficients. The compatibility between the vertical displacements of the barrette and the soil settlements at the soil-barrette interface is taken in the vertical direction only. This assumption is that the external load on the barrette head, which is expected to be heavy load, is applied in the vertical direction. For comparative examinations, the barrette elasticity is determined using either 1D or 3D finite elements. A series of examinations is carried out to verify the application for analyzing barrette by CCT. It was found that, treating the barrette as an elastic body and representing the barrette by either 1D or 3D finite elements, gives nearly the same results.