Abstract
Very few studies measured the settlement of retaining wall supported piles foundation under a soil movement. This study explores the pile settlement induced from the sudden breakdown of a closely located retaining wall using a small-scale experimental model. Various factors affect the pile settlement, but the influence of the embedment ratio of the pile and collapsed height of the retaining wall is relatively more visible. The induced settlement decreases with pile embedment depth and increases with the collapsed height of the retaining wall. The pile settlement initially increases at a higher rate with an increase in the collapsed height to a certain extent, beyond which, becomes relatively less observable. Pile group settlement reduces with the increase in spacing and the number of piles in longer piles. However, opposite trends have been observed in piles with a smaller embedment ratio. The settlement reduces logarithmically with the increase in the distance between piles and the retaining wall. Pile groups with small embedment ratio are severely more affected by the breakdown of the retaining wall than the piles of a large embedment ratio. Pile groups placed parallel to the retaining wall are more affected than those placed orthogonally.
Highlights
A pile foundation is a deep foundation, commonly used when soil is loose at shallow depth, structural loading is large and under various other adverse conditions
Piles transferring the loads to the soil are active piles, and piles sustaining the lateral loads induced from the soil movement are passive piles
Lateral loads generated by the soil movement causes additional deflections, settlement and bending moment in piles located close to the construction site, which may further reduce the structural integrity of the piles [3]
Summary
A pile foundation is a deep foundation, commonly used when soil is loose at shallow depth, structural loading is large and under various other adverse conditions. Based on the mechanism of load transfer, laterally loaded pile foundation is divided into two classes; passive and active [1]. Piles transferring the loads to the soil are active piles, and piles sustaining the lateral loads induced from the soil movement are passive piles. The loading on passive piles derives due to the soil movement induced from mining, soil liquefaction, constructions activities, landslides, tunnelling and several other human activities [2]. A large volume of soil is excavated for carrying out new construction, which induces soil movement and changes the prevailing soil stresses. Lateral loads generated by the soil movement causes additional deflections, settlement and bending moment in piles located close to the construction site, which may further reduce the structural integrity of the piles [3]
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