Analysis of piled raft foundations using a variational approach

Abstract

A variational approach for the analysis of piled raft foundations is presented. The raft and piles are both analyzed by the use of the principle of minimum potential energy. By representing the deformation of the piles and raft using finite series, the method is very efficient for the analysis of a piled raft with a large number of piles. Comparisons with other numerical methods and field measurements have shown reasonable agreement. © 2003 ASCE.