• Interaction and multiscale mechanics
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.17-34
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• 2011

This paper deals with the modeling of the plane frame structure-foundation-soil system. The superstructure along with the foundation beam is idealized as beam bending elements. The soil medium near the foundation beam with stress concentrated is idealized by isoparametric finite elements, and infinite elements are used to represent the far field of the soil media. This paper presents the modeling of shear wall structure-foundation and soil system using the optimal membrane triangular, super and conventional finite elements. Particularly, an alternative formulation is presented for the optimal triangular elements aimed at reducing the programming effort and computational cost. The proposed model is applied to a plane frame-combined footing-soil system. It is shown that the total settlement obtained from the non-linear interactive analysis is about 1.3 to 1.4 times that of the non-interactive analysis. Furthermore, the proposed model was found to be efficient in simulating the shear wall-foundation-soil system, being able to yield results that are similar to those obtained by the conventional finite element method.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.73-84
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• 2020

In the seismic design of bridges, formation of plastic hinges plays an important role in the dissipation of seismic energy. In the case of conventional fixed-base bridges, the plastic hinges are allowed to form in the superstructure alone. During seismic event, such bridges may be safe from collapse but the superstructure undergoes significant plastic deformations. As an alternative design approach, the plastic hinges are guided to form in the soil thereby utilizing the inevitable yielding of the soil. Rocking foundations work on this concept. The formation of plastic hinges in the soil reduces the load and displacement demands on the superstructure. This study aims at evaluating the seismic response of bridge pier supported on rocking shallow foundation. For this purpose, a BNWF model is implemented in OpenSees platform. The capability of the BNWF model to capture the SSI effects, nonlinear behavior and dynamic loading response are validated using the centrifuge and shake table test results. A comparative study is performed between the seismic response of the bridge pier supported on the rocking shallow foundation and conventional fixed-base foundation. Results of the study have established the beneficial effects of using the rocking shallow foundation for the seismic response analysis of the bridge piers.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.117-125
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• 2022

In this study, centrifuge model tests were performed to evaluate the seismic response of multi-DOF structures with shallow foundations. Also, elastic time history analysis on the fixed-base model was performed and compared with the experimental results. As a result of the centrifuge model test, earthquake amplification at the fundamental vibration frequency of the soil (= 2.44 Hz) affected the third vibration mode frequency (= 2.50 Hz) of the long-period structure and the first vibration mode (= 2.27 Hz) of the short-period structure. The shallow foundation lengthened the periods of the structures by 14-20% compared to the fixed base condition. The response spectrum of acceleration measured at the shallow foundation was smaller than that of free-field motion due to the foundation damping effect. The ultimate moment capacity of the soil-foundation system limited the dynamic responses of the multi-DOF structures. Therefore, the considerations on period lengthening, foundation damping, and ultimate moment capacity of the soil-foundation system might improve the seismic design of the multi-DOF building structures.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.169-177
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• 2021

In this paper, horizontal seismic responses of a structure built on a sunken mat foundation were compared with those built on a solid embedded mat foundation to investigate the effect of a sunken mat foundation on the horizontal response of a structure. Seismic analyses of a structure laid on the embedded mat foundation were performed by utilizing a pseudo-3D finite element software of P3DASS. Three bedrock earthquake records downloaded from the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center database were scaled to reproduce weak-moderate earthquakes. Weak, medium, and stiff soil layers were considered for the seismic analyses of the structure-foundation-soil system. Parametric studies were performed for foundation radius, foundation embedment depth, and shear wave velocity of a soil layer to investigate their effect on the seismic response spectrum. The study result showed that the design spectrum of a structure built on a sunken mat foundation was similar to that with a solid embedded mat foundation showing a slight difference due to almost the same seismic base motion beneath both embedded foundations.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2010.03a
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• pp.1148-1155
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• 2010

To suggest a modified shallow foundation design method which can be considered the scale effect of foundation on IGM(intermediate geomaterial) soil layer, the weathered soil layer that is uniformly formed up to 8m(2B) with over 50 N-value is selected and 3 times field loading tests are performed on several sized square-shaped shallow foundations with 30, 75, 150, 240 and 400cm in width respectively. Because the soil modulus of elasticity(Es) calculated by soil investigation and 1st field test(PBT) results showed an underestimated tendency, a modified correlation is required for the reasonable estimation of Es on the weathered soil. Also, the N-value was increased with an increasing in depth. However, the N-values around the test foundations showed the different values even though the foundations on the same level because the test site was arranged by excavation. Therefore, the more detail soil investigations are required for the each test foundations respectively. Since Es based on elasticity theory is determined by the stress distribution shape of the foundation and elasticity modulus of the soil, the scale effect considered pressure-settlement curve can be clearly derived from the correlation on stress distribution shape and the variation of soil elasticity modulus with depth. Therefore, the modified correlation will be suggested to estimate a reasonable Es on the weathered soil, and the scale effect considered shallow foundation design method is also developed based on the elastic theory and field tests in this research.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.271-281
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• 2015

This paper introduces detailed three-dimensional numerical analyses on a bored pile foundation for a high-rise building. A static load test was performed on a test pile and a numerical model of a single pile, which was calibrated by comparing it with the test result. The detailed numerical analysis was then conducted on the entire high-rise building foundation. Further study focused on soil pressures under the base slab of a piled raft foundation. Total seven cases with different pile numbers and raft-soil contact conditions were investigated. The design criteria of a foundation, especially settlement requirement were satisfied even for the cases with fewer piles under considerable soil pressure beneath the base slab. The bending moment for the structural design of the base slab was reduced by incorporating soil pressures beneath the base slab along with bored piles. Through the comparative studies, it was found that a more efficient design can be achieved by considering the soil pressure beneath the slab.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.67-78
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• 2012

Soil foundations exhibit significant creeping deformation, which may result in excessive settlement and failure of superstructures. Based on the theory of viscoelasticity and fractional calculus, a fractional Kelvin-Voigt model is proposed to account for the time-dependent behavior of soil foundation under vertical line load. Analytical solution of settlements in the foundation was derived using Laplace transforms. The influence of the model parameters on the time-dependent settlement is studied through a parametric study. Results indicate that the settlement-time relationship can be accurately captured by varying values of the fractional order of differential operator and the coefficient of viscosity. In comparison with the classical Kelvin-Voigt model, the fractional model can provide a more accurate prediction of long-term settlements of soil foundation. The determination of influential distance also affects the calculation of settlements.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.433-445
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• 2020

A new code, called PRaFULL (Piled Raft Foundation Under Lateral Load), was developed for the analysis of laterally loaded Combined Pile Raft Foundation (CPRF). The proposed code considers the contribution offered by the raft-soil contact and the interactions between all the CPRF system components. The nonlinear behaviour of the reinforced concrete pile and the soil are accounted. As shallower soil layers are of great relevance in the lateral response of a pile foundation, PRaFULL includes the possibility to consider layered soil profiles with appropriate properties. The shadowing effect on the ultimate soil pressure is accounted, when dealing with pile groups, as proposed by the Strain Wedge Model. PRaFULL BEM code obviously requires less computational resources compared to FEM (Finite Element Method) or FDM (Finite Difference Method) codes. The proposed code was validated in the linear elastic range by comparisons with the code APRAF (Analysis of Piled Raft Foundations). The reliability of the procedure to predict piled raft performance was then verified in nonlinear range by comparisons with both centrifuge tests and computer code PRAB.

• Coupled systems mechanics
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.367-384
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• 2014

The study deals with the physical modeling of a typical single storeyed building frame resting on pile foundation and embedded in cohesive soil mass using the finite element based software SAP-IV. Two groups of piles comprising two and three piles, with series and parallel arrangement thereof, are considered. The slab provided at top and bottom of the frame along with the pile cap is idealized as four noded and two dimensional thin shell elements. The beams and columns of the frame, and piles are modeled using two noded one dimensional beam-column element. The soil is modeled using closely spaced discrete linear springs. A parametric study is carried out to investigate the effect of various parameters of the pile foundation, such as spacing in a group and number of piles in a group, on the response of superstructure. The response considered includes the displacement at the top of the frame and bending moment in columns. The soil-structure interaction effect is found to increase the displacement in the range of 38 -133% and to increase the absolute maximum positive and negative moments in the column in the range of 2-12% and 2-11%. The effect of the soil- structure interaction is observed to be significant for the type of foundation and soil considered in this study. The results obtained are compared further with those of Chore et al. (2010), wherein different idealizations were used for modeling the superstructure frame and sub-structure elements (foundation). While fair agreement is observed in the results in either study, the trend of the results obtained in both studies is also same.

• Coupled systems mechanics
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.289-302
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• 2013

The piled raft is a geotechnical construction, consisting of the three elements-piles, raft and the soil, that is applied for the foundation of a tall buildings in an increasing number. The piled rafts nowadays are preferred as the foundation to reduce the overall and differential settlements; and also, provides an economical foundation option for circumstances where the performance of the raft alone does not satisfy the design requirements. The finite element analysis of the piled raft foundation is presented in this paper. The numerical procedure is programmed into finite element based software SAFE in order to conduct the parametric study wherein soil modulus and raft thickness is varied for constant pile diameter. The problems of piled raft for three different load patterns as considered in the available literature (Sawant et al. 2012) are analyzed here using SAFE. The results obtained for load pattern-I using SAFE are compared with those obtained by Sawant et al. (2012). The fair agreement is observed in the results which demonstrate the accuracy of the procedure employed in the present investigation. Further, substantial reduction in maximum deflections and moments are found in piled raft as compared to that in raft. The reduction in deflections is observed with increase in raft thickness and soil modulus. The decrease in maximum moments with increase in soil modulus is seen in raft whereas increase in maximum moments is seen in piled raft. The raft thickness and soil modulus affects the response of the type of the foundation considered in the present investigation.