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Journal of Engineering Research

Journal of Engineering Research

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the mutual interaction between rigid Pile Inclusions (PI) and the surrounding soft formations, such as soft to medium stiff silty Clay. The studied area is located at New Mansoura City, Nile Delta, Egypt, where the soil formation consists of a surface silty Sand layer with a depth of 4m, followed by 15m-thick Soft Clay formation. The third layer is medium dense to dense sand extending to a depth of 40, followed by a deep layer of very dense sand.

The Finite Element Method (FEM) is utilized to simulate this sophisticated seismic geotechnical problem, using PLAXIS-2D software and the embedded beam row feature was used to model the PI. The seismic analysis is performed in the time domain, using artificial time history (20.0 sec.).

Considering the generated dynamic bending moment along PI, an extensive parametric study is carried out to investigate the effect of the PI penetration length into Sand layer, PI diameter, Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA) and Shear Strength of Soft Clay Formation. According to the conducted study, results show that the penetration length has a significant effect up to a certain depth while both the pile diameter and PGA are directly proportional with the generated bending moment. In addition, the relative stiffness between the soft clay formation and the underlying sand layer highly affects the results of the study. As a general conclusion from all considered studies, edge piles were found to be more critical than middle piles.

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