Pile Behavior due to Excavation-Induced Soil Movement in Clay. I: Stable Wall

A series of centrifuge model tests has been conducted to investigate the behavior of a single pile subjected to excavation-induced soil movements behind a stable retaining wall in clay. The results reveal that after the completion of soil excavation, the wall and the soil continue to move and such movement induces further bending moment and deflection on an adjacent pile. For a pile located within 3?m behind the wall where the soil experiences large shear strain (>2%) due to stress relief as a result of the excavation, the induced pile bending moment and deflection reach their maximum values sometime after soil excavation and thereafter decrease slightly with time. For a pile located 3?m beyond the wall, the induced pile bending moment and deflection continue to increase slightly with time after excavation until the end of the test. A numerical model developed at the National University of Singapore is used to back-analyze the centrifuge test data. The method gives a reasonably good prediction of the induced bending moment and deflection on a pile located at 3?m or beyond the wall. For a pile located at 1?m behind the wall where the soil experiences large shear strain (>2%) due to stress relief resulting from the excavation, the calculated pile response is in good agreement with the measured data if the correct soil shear strength obtained from postexcavation is used in the analysis. However, if the original soil shear strength prior to excavation is used in the analysis, this leads to an overestimation of the maximum bending moment of about 25%. The practical implications of the findings are also discussed in this paper.     

Behavior of Pile Groups Subject to Excavation-Induced Soil Movement in Very Soft Clay

A series of centrifuge model tests was conducted to investigate the behavior of pile groups of various sizes and configurations behind a retaining wall in very soft clay. With a 1.2-m excavation in front of the wall, which may simulate the initial stage of an excavation prior to strutting, the test results reveal that the induced bending moment on an individual pile in a free-head pile group is always smaller than that on a corresponding single pile located at the same distance behind the wall. This is attributed to the shadowing and reinforcing effects of other piles within the group. The degree of shadowing experienced by a pile depends on its relative position in the pile group. With a capped-head pile group, the individual piles are forced to interact in unison though subjected to different magnitudes of soil movement. Thus, despite being subjected to a larger soil movement, the induced bending moment on the front piles is moderated by the rear piles through the pile cap. A finite element program developed at the National University of Singapore is employed to back-analyze the centrifuge test data. The program gives a reasonably good prediction of the induced pile bending moments provided an appropriate modification factor is applied for the free-field soil movement and the amount of restraint provided by the pile cap is properly accounted for. The modification factor applied to the free-field soil movement accounts the reinforcing effect of the piles on the soil movement.     

Behavior of Pile Groups Subject to Excavation-Induced Soil Movement

Centrifuge model tests have been conducted on free-head and capped-head pile groups consisting of two, four, and six piles located adjacent to an unstrutted deep excavation in sand. It is found that when two free- or capped-head piles are arranged in a row parallel to the retaining wall, the interaction effect between piles is insignificant. When two piles are arranged in a line perpendicular to the wall, the existence of a front pile would reduce the detrimental effect of excavation-induced soiled movement on the rear pile. In addition, the provision of a pile cap for two piles arranged in a line would exert a significant influence on the behavior of the pile group. For free-head four- or six-pile groups, the induced bending moment decreases as the number of piles increases. Moreover, the interior piles of the pile group always experience lower bending moments than those of peripheral piles as the latter have more exposure to the excavation-induced soil movement and are thus more adversely affected. For the capped-head four- or six-pile groups, it can be established that the provision of a pile cap would help to moderate the pile-group deflection against soil movement as the rear piles, that are located farther away from the wall and thus less affected by the soil movement, would drag the front piles back.     

Pile Response Adjacent to Braced Excavation

The excavation of soil for the construction of basements or cut-and-cover tunnels results in ground movements. One particular concern is that the excavation-induced lateral soil movements may adversely affect any nearby pile foundation. The lateral loads imposed by the soil movements induce bending moments and deflections in the pile, which may lead to structural distress and failure. This paper presents the results of an actual full-scale instrumented study that was carried to examine the behavior of an existing pile due to nearby excavation activities resulting from the construction of a 16 m deep cut-and-cover tunnel. The pile was located 3 m behind a 0.8 m thick diaphragm wall. Excavation to the formation level that was 16 m below the ground surface resulted in a maximum lateral pile movement of 28 mm. A simplified numerical procedure based on the finite-element method was used to analyze the pile response. Generally, the theoretical predictions were in reasonable agreement with the measured results.     

Performance of a Stiff Support System in Soft Clay

The performance of an excavation support system for a subway station renovation project in Chicago and its effects on an adjacent, shallow-foundation supported building are presented. The 13-m-deep excavation was made through soft to medium stiff clays and was supported by a 900-mm-thick secant pile wall, one level of cross-lot bracing, and two levels of tiebacks. Design considerations are discussed and construction procedures are summarized. Field performance data were collected, including lateral soil movements at five locations, building settlements along the exterior wall and interior columns, support system loads, and observations of building damage. As planned in the design, minor damage occurred to nonload bearing portions of the building. Of the 38 mm of maximum lateral movement adjacent to the building, 9 mm occurred during wall installation, 16 mm developed as the soil was excavated, and 13 mm occurred during tunnel demolition and station renovation as a result of soil creep and reduction of wall stiffness. Settlements extended beyond the secant pile wall a distance approximately equal to the depth of the secant pile wall. The effect of excavation was to cause larger settlements within the affected zone, but not to expand the width of the settlement trough. When distortions exceeded approximately 1/960, damage began to manifest itself in the nonload bearing portions of the building.     

Effects of Jet Grouting on Adjacent Ground and Structures

The basement excavation of the Singapore Post Center involved extensive jet grouting to improve the soft marine clay present within the excavation. The treated soil mass, with much improved strength and deformation characteristics, was intended to act as an internal strut below the bottom of the excavation level, reducing movements caused by the basement excavation. This paper presents the performance of production grouting carried out during the construction of the building's basement. Results of monitoring suggest that the jet grouting caused the retaining diaphragm walls to move between 9.7 and 36.4 mm. The soils behind the walls also moved away from the excavation. Movements ranged from 35.3 to 53.6 mm within 1–2 m from the wall to 13.5 to 32.8 mm at 4.5–20.5 m away from the wall. The recorded soil heave ranged from 2 to 24 mm, with the majority of the measurements being less than 10 mm. The backward movements induced by the production grouting are similar to those induced by preloading a strut of braced excavation system. Provided the backward movements do not exceed the allowable limits, they would help in minimizing the ultimate positive movements induced by the subsequent basement excavation. The jet grouting also induced some bending moments on the diaphragm walls and caused the adjacent structures to tilt and move away from the jet grout area.     

Neural Network Forecast Model in Deep Excavation

Diaphragm wall deflection is an important field measurement in deep excavation. The monitoring data are applied to evaluate the construction performance to avoid a supporting system failure or damages incurred to adjacent structures. Despite the numerous case histories of construction projects and several forecasting methods, no method accurately forecasts the performance of construction due to the complicated geotechnical and construction factors affecting the behavior of the diaphragm wall. This work predicts the diaphragm wall deflection by using the adaptive limited memory–Broyden-Fletcher-Goldfarb-Shanno supervised neural network. Eighteen case histories of deep excavations with four to seven excavation stages are selected for training and verification. In addition, the knowledge representation adopts measured wall deflections of previous excavation stages as inputs to the network. Doing so substantially reduces the importance of soil parameters, which are often extremely fluctuating and difficult to assess. Simulation results indicate that the artificial neural network can reasonably predict the magnitude, as well as the location, of maximum deflection of the diaphragm wall.     

Simplified Lateral Load Analyses of Fixed-Head Piles and Pile Groups

The characteristic load method (CLM) can be used to estimate lateral deflections and maximum bending moments in single fixed-head piles under lateral load. However, this approach is limited to cases where the lateral load on the pile top is applied at the ground surface. When the pile top is embedded, as in most piles that are capped, the additional embedment results in an increased lateral resistance. A simple approach to account for embedment effects in the CLM is presented for single fixed-head piles. In practice, fixed-head piles are more typically used in groups where the response of an individual pile can be influenced through the adjacent soil by the response of other nearby piles. This pile–soil–pile interaction results in larger deflections and moments in pile groups for the same load per pile compared to single piles. A simplified procedure to estimate group deflections and moments was also developed based on the p-multiplier approach. Group amplification factors are introduced to amplify the single pile deflection and bending moment to reflect pile–soil–pile interaction. The resulting approach lends itself well to simple spreadsheet computations and provides good agreement with other generally accepted analytical tools and with values measured in published lateral load tests on groups of fixed-head piles.     

Displacement Flexibility Number for Multipropped Retaining Wall Design

The results from 30 nonlinear finite-element analyses of undrained deep excavation in stiff clay are used to support the use of a new displacement flexibility number in multipropped retaining wall design. The analyses address the effects of different initial stress regimes and various values of prop stiffness for the internal supports to the excavation. It is demonstrated that this flexibility number defines support systems that will displace to the same maximum lateral wall deflection and will result in the same profiles of vertical and horizontal ground surface displacement behind the wall. It is concluded that, as it is these movements that must be controlled to limit the damage to adjacent buildings, structures, and services, the new flexibility number gives the engineer more confidence in assessing possible support strategies to a given problem at a given site.     

Simulating Seismic Response of Cantilever Retaining Walls

Many failures of retaining walls during earthquakes occurred near waterfront. A reasonably accurate evaluation of earthquake effects under such circumstance requires proven analytical models for dynamic earth pressure, hydrodynamic pressure, and excess pore pressure. However, such analytical procedures, especially for excess pore pressure, are not available and hence comprehensive numerical procedures are needed. This paper presents the results of a finite-element simulation of a flexible, cantilever retaining wall with dry and saturated backfill under earthquake loading, and the results are compared with that of a centrifuge test. It is found that bending moments in the wall increased significantly during earthquakes both when backfill is dry or saturated. After base shaking, the residual moment on the wall was also significantly higher than the moment under static loading. Liquefaction of backfill soil contributed to the failure of the wall, which had large outward movement and uneven subsidence in the backfill. The numerical simulation was able to model quite well the main characteristics of acceleration, bending moment, displacement, and excess pore pressure recorded in the centrifuge test in most cases with the simulation for dry backfill slightly better than that for saturated backfill.     

Simplified Model for Wall Deflection and Ground-Surface Settlement Caused by Braced Excavation in Clays

Accurate prediction of ground-surface settlement adjacent to an excavation is often difficult to achieve without using accurate representation of small-strain nonlinearity in a soil model within finite-element analyses. In this paper a simplified semiempirical model is proposed for predicting maximum wall deflection, maximum surface settlement, and surface-settlement profile due to excavations in soft to medium clays. A large number of artificial data are generated through finite-element analyses using a well-calibrated, small-strain soil model. These data, consisting of wall displacements and ground-surface settlements in simulated excavations in soft to medium clays, provide the basis for developing the proposed semiempirical model. The proposed model is verified using case histories not used in the development of the model. The study shows that the developed model can accurately predict maximum wall deflection and ground-surface settlement caused by braced excavations in soft to medium clays.     

Loads on Braced Excavations in Soft Clay

A parametric finite element study has been carried out to demonstrate the importance of clay strength and depth of clay layer on the earth pressures, strut loads, and bending moments for a strutted sheet pile wall in soft, essentially normally consolidated clay. The clay is modeled as nonlinear and anisotropic. The modeled excavation is 10?m deep. For a shear strength profile giving a close to failure condition the maximum bending moment is found to be 6 times larger than for a clay profile with 40% higher strength, and the maximum strut loads are up to twice as large. The maximum strut loads are significantly higher than those given by existing empirical design rules. Comparative analyses with an isotropic linear elastic–plastic soil model show relatively small differences in moments and strut loads. Comparisons against analyses with a beam-on-spring type finite element model show significant differences to the continuum FEM analyses. The main reason is that beam-on-spring models cannot capture the significant effect of arching on earth pressures, strut loads and bending moments.     

Use of Jet Grouting to Limit Diaphragm Wall Displacement of a Deep Excavation

Excessive lateral diaphragm wall displacement and the associated ground settlement are often the primary cause of damage of nearby buildings. It is therefore imperative to minimize diaphragm wall displacement during basement excavation if the integrity of adjacent buildings is of concern. This paper describes the application of a jet grouting scheme to reduce the diaphragm wall displacement of a six-level basement excavation. Based upon field experience of similar projects, buildings adjacent to the construction site may settle well beyond an acceptable limit if excavation is carried out without any protection measures being taken. In this excavation project, the soil mass within the excavation zone was partially jet grouted in an attempt to increase its passive resistance as an effective measure to limit wall displacement. Numerical analyses were carried out to assess the effects of jet grouting. Field measurements on wall displacement and ground settlement confirm the effectiveness of the improvement scheme.     

Moment Capacities and Deflection Limits of PFRP Sheet Piles

The structural response of pultruded fiber-reinforced polymer (PFRP) sheet pile panels subjected to a uniform pressure load was investigated. Single, connected, and concrete-backfilled panels were tested to ultimate failure in an attempt to determine their moment capacities, deflection limits, and failure mechanisms. The load-carrying capacity of single-panel FRP piles was found to be 15% higher than that of three panels connected together. No pin and eye joint separation was observed at failure. The concrete backfilled hybrid panels exhibited significantly increased moment capacity. However, the increase in stiffness after the first concrete crack was, at best, only 76% over the pile without backfill. Bearing failure of a PFRP pile with a partially confined support created excessive deflection in the wall, but showed no significant reduction in the load capacity. On the other hand, with fully confined support, the ultimate failure of single, connected, and concrete-backfilled panels was dominated by local buckling, longitudinal tearing, and bearing crush at shear keys, upon reaching a deflection limit of span/50.     

Failure Mechanisms of Pile Foundations in Liquefiable Soil: Parametric Study

This paper presents the response of piles in liquefiable soil under seismic loads. The effects of soil, pile, and earthquake parameters on the two potential pile failure mechanisms, bending and buckling, are examined. The analysis is conducted using a two-dimensional plain strain finite difference program considering a nonlinear constitutive model for soil liquefaction, strength reduction, and pile-soil interaction. The depths of liquefaction, maximum lateral displacement, and maximum pile bending moment are obtained for concrete and steel piles for different soil relative densities, pile diameters, earthquake predominant frequencies, and peak accelerations. The potential failure mechanisms of piles identified from the parametric analysis are discussed.     

Reliability Analysis of Laterally Loaded Piles Involving Nonlinear Soil and Pile Behavior

An alternative approach of analyzing laterally loaded piles in the ubiquitous spreadsheet platform is presented. The numerical procedure couples nonlinear pile flexural rigidity (EpIp) with nonlinear p-y analysis. The deterministic study is then extended to carry out reliability analysis, which reflects the uncertainties and correlation structure of the underlying parameters. The reliability index is evaluated based on the alternative intuitive perspective of an expanding equivalent ellipsoid in the original space of the random variables. This paper investigates two modes of failure: deflection and bending moment, and considers non-normal random variables. Spatial variability of the soil medium is accounted for by incorporating an autocorrelation model. The spreadsheet-based reliability approach can also be coupled with stand-alone programs via the response surface method. The probabilities of failure inferred from reliability indices agree well with Monte Carlo simulations. Simple reliability-based design is demonstrated, in which the appropriate pile section or length that satisfies target reliability in one or more limit states is sought.     

Wall and Ground Movements due to Deep Excavations in Shanghai Soft Soils

An extensive database of 300 case histories of wall displacements and ground settlements due to deep excavations in Shanghai soft soils were collected and analyzed. The mean values of the maximum lateral displacements of walls constructed by the top-down method, walls constructed by the bottom-up method (including diaphragm walls, contiguous pile walls, and compound deep soil mixing walls), sheet pile walls, compound soil nail walls, and deep soil mixing walls are 0.27%H, 0.4%H, 1.5%H, 0.55%H, and 0.91%H, respectively, where H is the excavation depth. The mean value of the maximum ground surface settlement is 0.42%H. The settlement influence zone reaches to a distance of about 1.5H to 3.5H from the excavation. The ratio between the maximum ground surface settlement and the maximum lateral displacement of a wall generally ranges from 0.4 to 2.0, with an average value of 0.9. The factors affecting the deformation of the wall were analyzed. It shows that there is a slight evidence of a trend for decreasing wall displacement with increasing system stiffness and the factor of safety against basal heave. Wall and ground movements were also compared with that observed in worldwide case histories.     

Transmission of Shear Forces in Sheet Pile Interlocks

An experimental study was conducted to investigate the transmission of shear forces in sheet pile interlocks. This transmission strongly determines the safety of retaining walls made up of U-sheet piles. The limits are given by no and full transfer of the shear at the interlock between the piles. The bending stiffness in the first case is only about one-third compared to that of the second case. Operating values for real systems given in literature and code vary in a broad range within those limits. By estimating the characteristic of the shear force F versus the relative displacement x of small elements at different positions y along the interlocks, it was possible to explain the different results. It was found that F(x,y) depends not only on the coordinates but also on several uncertain, unknown factors. The uncertainty results mainly from the unknown penetration process. The process is determined by the velocity of the penetration, which itself is influenced by the state of the soil inside the clutches, the parameters of the vibrator, and a noncentered penetration of one clutch against the other. Furthermore, the behavior of the wall during excavation at one side and in service is not predictable.     

Three-Dimensional Analysis of Performance of Laterally Loaded Sleeved Piles in Sloping Ground

Development of urban cities in hilly terrain often involves the construction of high-rise buildings supported by large diameter piles on steep cut slopes. Under lateral loads, the piles may induce slope failure, particularly at shallow depths. To minimize the transfer of lateral load from the buildings to the shallow depths of the slope, an annulus of compressible material, referred to as sleeving, is usually constructed between the piles and the adjacent soil. However, the influence of the sleeving on the pile performance in a sloping ground is not fully studied and understood. To investigate the influence, a 3D numerical analysis of sleeved and unsleeved piles on a cut slope is described in this paper. The influences of relative soil stiffness on the response of sleeved piles are also examined. The load transfer from the laterally loaded sleeved pile to the sloping ground is primarily through a shear load transfer mechanism in the vertical plane. Under small lateral loads, the sleeving can lead to a significant reduction in subgrade reaction on the sleeved pile segment and may considerably increase the pile deflection and bending moments. Under large lateral loads, the influence of the sleeving on pile performance appears to diminish because of the widespread plastic zones developed around the pile.     

Stress Paths in Relation to Deep Excavations

The mechanical behavior of many soils such as stiff clays depends on their current effective-stress states and stress history. For improving design and analysis of soil-structure interaction associated with deep excavations in these soils, it is important to understand effective-stress changes around excavations caused by both horizontal and vertical stress relief. In this paper, total and effective-stress variations adjacent to a diaphragm wall during construction of a 10-m-deep excavation in stiff fissured clay are reported and discussed. Interpreted field stress paths are compared with some relevant laboratory triaxial stress path tests, which simulate the horizontal and vertical stress relief in the field at an appropriate stress level. The interpreted field effective-stress paths in front of the wall are found to be similar to laboratory stress paths determined in undrained extension tests. Field stress paths behind the wall do not correspond particularly well with those from laboratory undrained compression tests, except when the stress state approaches active failure. The conventional undrained assumption does not seem to hold for the soil located immediately behind the wall during a relatively rapid excavation in the stiff clay.