Pile-cap-pile-group interaction in nonhomogeneous soil

Abstract

A numerical method of analysis is presented to study the behavior of vertically loaded pile groups embedded in a nonhomogeneous soil with the pile caps in contact with the ground. The considered soil profiles consist of soil with Young's moduli increasing linearly with depth. Parametric solutions are presented to show the influence of the distribution of the soil Young's moduli on the behavior of the groups. For the nonhomogeneous-soil profiles considered, the effect of the cap in contact with the ground has a small influence on the stiffness of the group compared to the case without a ground-contacting cap. The load carried by the cap, as expected, is significantly affected by the distribution of the soil Young's moduli. Case studies of field tests in clay show that the consideration of the nature of the soil inhomogeneity at the sites better models the behavior of pile groups with ground-contacting caps.