Vertical harmonic vibration of piled raft foundations in layered soils

Abstract

SummaryThis paper develops a method to analyze the piled raft foundation under vertical harmonic load. This method takes into account the interactions among the piles, soil, and raft. The responses of the piles and raft are formulated as a series of equations in a suitable way and that of layered soils is simulated with the use of the analytical layer‐element method. Then, according to the equilibrium and continuity conditions at the piles–soil–raft interface, solutions for the piled raft systems are obtained and further demonstrated to be correct through comparing with the existing results. Finally, some examples are given to investigate the influence of the raft, pile length‐diameter ratio, and layering on the response of the piled raft foundations. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.