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Three-dimensional numerical analysis of under-reamed pile in clay under lateral loading

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Abstract

Unlike the bearing and uplift capacities of under-reamed pile, the lateral resistance of under-reamed pile is studied by a very few researchers. Therefore, in the present study, a three-dimensional numerical analysis is carried out to study the response of under-reamed pile in clay under lateral loading. In the numerical analysis, various parameters such as embedment length to shaft diameter ratio (Lu/D), top bulb distance from the base to bulb diameter ratio (hb/Du), undrained cohesion (cu), rate of increase of undrained cohesion (m), number of bulbs, and bulb spacing to bulb diameter ratio (s/Du) are considered as variables. From the present study, load–deflection curve, variations of deflection, shear force, and bending moment, displacement contour, and soil stress in front of the pile are obtained. The lateral load-carrying capacity of under-reamed pile is estimated based on displacement-based criteria. The lateral load-carrying capacity of under-reamed pile (Qhur) is found to increase with increase in Lu/D, hb/Du, number of bulbs, cu, m, and decrease in s/Du. The deflection at the pile head is found to decrease significantly with increase in hb/Du and number of bulbs, and decrease in s/Du. It is expected that the present results will be useful from serviceability point of view.

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Abbreviations

A :

Representative area associated with the interface node

A i :

Plan area of element i

CH:

Homogeneous clay

CN:

Nonhomogeneous clay (linearly increasing undrained cohesion)

c u :

Undrained cohesion of clay

c a :

Soil–pile adhesion

c 0 :

Undrained cohesion of clay at the ground level

D :

Shaft diameter

D u :

Bulb diameter

E p :

Young’s modulus of pile

E s :

Young’s modulus of soil

F n :

Normal force on the interface

F smax :

Limiting shear force at interface node

G :

Shear modulus

G s :

Shear modulus of soil

h b :

Distance of centre of the top bulb from the pile base

K :

Bulk modulus

k 0 :

Coefficient of earth pressure at rest

k n :

Normal stiffness

k s :

Shear stiffness

L :

Depth of embedment of pile without bulb

L u :

Depth of embedment of under-reamed pile below the ground level

M(z):

Bending moment at any depth z below the ground level

m :

Rate of increase of undrained cohesion

n :

Total number of zones in each layer of pile

p :

Pore pressure (interpolated from the target face)

Q hur :

Lateral load-carrying capacity of under-reamed pile

s :

Centre to centre spacing between consecutive bulbs

V(z):

Shear force at any depth z below the ground level

\(x_{{{\text{c}},i}}\) :

Centroid distance of element i from the centre of the pile in x-direction

\(\Delta z_{\min }\) :

Smallest width of an adjoining zone in the normal direction

α s :

Adhesion factor between pile shaft and soil

β :

Angle of the bulb surface with the horizontal (under-ream angle)

γ p :

Unit weight of pile

γ s :

Unit weight of soil

δ h :

Horizontal deflection at the pile head

ν p :

Poisson’s ratio of pile

ν s :

Poisson’s ratio of soil

σ xx :

Normal stress in the x-direction

\(\sigma_{zz,i}\) :

Vertical stress in element i

\(\tau_{xz,i}\) :

Horizontal shear stress in element i

ϕ :

Angle of internal friction of soil

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Funding

This study was funded by ISIRD, SRIC, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (No: IIT/SRIC/CE/PPL/2015-16/108).

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  1. Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur, West Bengal, 721302, India

    Mantu Majumder & Debarghya Chakraborty

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  1. Mantu Majumder
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Correspondence to Debarghya Chakraborty.

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Majumder, M., Chakraborty, D. Three-dimensional numerical analysis of under-reamed pile in clay under lateral loading. Innov. Infrastruct. Solut. 6, 55 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41062-020-00428-2

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