Comparative study of load distribution ratio of various piled raft foundations based on coupled stiffness matrix

Abstract

Load distribution ratio of piled raft foundation was investigated based on an interactive foundation analytical method that considers the coupling effect between the stiffness of the superstructure, the piled raft, and the soil. Series of numerical analysis was performed to verify the proposed analytical routine in comparison with various methods and field measurements. Through the comparative studies between various piled rafts with different aspects, it was found that the proposed analytical method derived accurate results in structural response compared with actual field data, in settlement, load distribution ratio, and raft bending moment. And it was also found that the proposed analytical method was capable of considering interaction between superstructure and foundation in predicting the behavior of building structures. As a result, it was found that in most cases, the pile in the piled raft foundation supports a majority portion of the structural load. However, for cases where the length of the pile was short and acts as a short column, the load distribution ratio between raft and pile may be overturned and shows significantly different behavior and load distribution ratio. KEYWORDS case histories, coupled stiffness matrix (CSM), iterative and interactive analysis, load distribution ratio, piled raft foundations, superstructure