Deformation of compensated piled raft foundations with deep embedment in super‐tall buildings of Shanghai

This paper presents a synergetic approach based on a statistical‐empirical method, conservation of energy method and superstructure‐foundation interaction theory, and this paper aims to estimate the deformation level of a compensated piled raft foundation. The advantages and main characteristics of such a compensated piled raft foundation are described, and a history of the heave, recompression deformation and final settlement data measurements is provided. Case studies of four super‐tall buildings, the 88‐story Jinmao Building, 66‐story Henglong Plaza, 101‐story Shanghai World Financial Center and 121‐story Shanghai Center Tower in Shanghai, all of which are engineering projects that the second author participated in, are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of different calculations for heave, recompression deformation and final settlement. This study demonstrates that the deformation process can be reasonably projected for a piled raft foundation with deep embedment in Shanghai using superstructure‐foundation interaction methods, statistical‐empirical formulas and a method based on the conservation of energy. The coefficients in the statistical‐empirical method are also further optimized. This deformation estimation considering compensation for deep embedment unloading is reasonable and can be used to avoid excessively conservative designs, and the synergetic approach is applicable to any compensated piled raft foundation with deep embedment in Shanghai. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.