Deep Foundation Pit Excavations Adjacent to Disconnected Piled Rafts: A Review on Risk Control Practice

Foundation pit excavation engineering is an old subject full of decision making. Yet, it still deserves further research due to the associated high failure cost and the complexity of the geological conditions and/or the surrounding existing infrastructure around it. This article overviews the risk control practice of foundation pit excavation projects in close proximity to existing disconnected piled raft. More focus is given to geotechnical aspects. The review begins with achievements to ensure excavation performance requirements, and follows to discuss the complex soil structure interaction involved among the fundamental components: the retaining wall, mat, piles, cushion, and the soil. After bringing consensus points to practicing engineers and decision makers, it then suggests possible future research directions.

Influence of dynamic soil-pile raft-structure interaction:an experimental approach

Traditionally seismic design of structures supported on piled raft foundation is performed by considering fixed base conditions, while the pile head is also considered to be fixed for the design of the pile foundation. Major drawback of this assumption is that it cannot capture soil-foundation-structure interaction due to flexibility of soil or the inertial interaction involving heavy foundation masses. Previous studies on this subject addressed mainly the intricacy in modelling of dynamic soil structure interaction (DSSI) but not the implication of such interaction on the distribution of forces at various elements of the pile foundation and supported structure. A recent numerical study by the authors showed significant change in response at different elements of the piled raft supported structure when DSSI effects are considered. The present study is a limited attempt in this direction, and it examines such observations through shake table tests. The effect of DSSI is examined by comparing dynamic responses from fixed base scaled down model structures and the overall systems. This study indicates the possibility of significant underestimation in design forces for both the column and pile if designed under fixed base assumption. Such underestimation in the design forces may have serious implication in the design of a foundation or structural element.