FLOATING RAFT-PILE FOUNDATIONS ANALYSIS USING NUMERICAL SIMULATION

The numerical simulation of raft-pile foundations subjected to vertical load is presented in this paper. For comparison study, numerical models of single raft and pile groups are completed. The numerical models are adopting the elastic constitutive law for the materials. The stresses and vertical displacement of the models are observed. The behaviour of the raft-pile foundation compared to the pile-group is then investigated. The results using the same external load show that the raft-pile foundation has smallest displacement compared to the others. In terms of stresses, the raft shows contribution of the load transfer to the underneath soil as well as the piles. Moreover, the behaviour of the raft-pile system appears to be a combination of the pile-group and the single raft. In order to estimate the bearing capacity of the raft-pile system, it is suggested that the contribution of the raft should be included in addition of the piles’. Keywords: raft-pile foundation, soil-structure interaction, floating foundation