In deep fill foundations, the pile foundation might suffer from negative frictional resistance (NFR) due to the consolidation and settlement of the soil. The NFR will cause the pile to settle excessively and reduce its bearing capacity. However, there are not yet many accurate methods to calculate the NFR of foundation piles in deep fill foundations. To make up for the gap, this paper carries out shear tests on the pile-soil interface and discusses the mechanism of pile-side frictional resistance. Considering the distribution law of pile-side frictional resistance with depth, the authors proposed a piecewise calculation model for pile-side frictional resistance, which couples the hyperbolic model and effective stress method. Then, the energy balance equation of the pile when the NFR occurs was established in the light of the energy transfer of the pile-soil system during the settlement of the soil around the pile. Furthermore, the calculation formulas of the axial force and displacement of the pile at different depths were derived, considering the pile-soil displacement and the potential energy change of the pile-soil system. The proposed method was applied to calculate the NFR of the foundation pile in a construction site, and the calculated results were compared with the measured data. The results show that the axial force-depth curve of the pile obtained through theoretical calculation agrees well with the measured data. Hence, our method can accurately reveal the mechanical features of the pile foundation in deep fill foundations.

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