Computers and Geotechnics 59 (2014) 112–126

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Computers and Geotechnics

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/compgeo

Proposed nonlinear 3-D analytical method for piled raft foundations

Sangseom Jeong, Jaeyeon Cho ⇑
Department of Civil Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul 120-749, Republic of Korea

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The load distribution and deformation of piled raft foundations subjected to axial and lateral loads were
Received 1 February 2013 investigated by a numerical analysis and field case studies. Special attention is given to the improved ana-
Received in revised form 5 February 2014 lytical method (YSPR) proposed by considering raft flexibility and soil nonlinearity. A load transfer
Accepted 25 February 2014
approach using p–y, t–z and q–z curves is used for the analysis of piles. An analytical method of the
Available online 28 March 2014
soil–structure interaction is developed by taking into account the soil spring coupling effects based on
the Filonenko-Borodich model. The proposed method has been verified by comparing the results with
Keywords:
other numerical methods and field case studies on piled raft. Through comparative studies, it is found
Piled raft
Soil–structure interaction
that the proposed method in the present study is in good agreement with general trend observed by field
Numerical analysis measurements and, thus, represents a significant improvement in the prediction of piled raft load sharing
Field measurement and settlement behavior.
Load transfer approach Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction approximate computer-based methods [5,9,14,15,37] and (3) more

In recent years, a number of huge construction projects, such as
high-rise buildings and long span bridges, are being undertaken.
The piled raft foundations are especially being recognized as an
economical foundation system for high-rise buildings. Here, piles
as settlement reducers have been discussed for over a quarter of
a century [2] and some significant applications have been reported
[12,38,42]. Optimized design strategy is a major importance for an
economic construction to be achieved. An optimized design of a
piled raft can therefore be defined as a design with minimum costs
for the installation of the foundation and satisfactory bearing
behavior for a given geometry and raft loading [35]. The piled raft
is a composite foundation system consisting of three bearing ele-
ments: raft, piles and subsoil. Therefore, the behavior of a piled raft
is affected by the 3D interaction between the soil, piles and raft,
thus, a simple and convenient analytical method is needed to eval-
uate these interactions.
Much work has been done to study load sharing and settlement
behavior of piled raft by many researchers. Numerical methods
have been developed widely in the last two decades because
numerical methods are less costly and may be used to consider
many kinds of different soil and foundation geometries compared
to field and model tests. Although these methods make slightly
different modeling techniques, they can generally be classified into
three groups: (1) simplified calculation methods [30,32], (2)
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: jaeyeon82@hotmail.com (J. Cho).
rigorous computer-based methods [12,17,18,45,48].
The first type of method is based on the linear elastic analysis of
piled raft subjected to axial loading. Generally, the simplified
calculation methods are most commonly used procedure for the
preliminary design of a piled raft foundation. However, it is noted
that these analytical methods are limited to elastic problem.
Because this calculation procedure is developed for rigid raft and
is assumed that the soil is perfectly elastic. Thus, it may not repre-
sent the nonlinear behavior of actual piled raft in the field: it does
not take into account the actual behavior of finite flexible raft and
pile–soil interaction, etc.
The second type of method has been used to investigate the
piled raft system, which is analyzed as a continuous elastic
medium using finite element formulation. In these methods, the
research by Poulos [29], Clancy and Randolph [5], Poulos [30]
and Russo [37] also have some disadvantages. It did not predict
the membrane behavior of raft because the raft is generally mod-
eled as plate element. Therefore, the raft used in these methods
may not reflect the displacement due to membrane action of large
size raft foundations for high-rise buildings. In addition, most of
the previous research is related to piled rafts subjected to vertical
loading and only semi-infinite homogeneous single soil layer was
considered. The consideration of various loading condition and soil
layer will be more realistic in design practice.
The third type of method is based on the three-dimensional
finite-element or finite-difference techniques. Poulos [31] noted
that the most feasible method of analysis was the three-
dimensional linear/nonlinear FE method. However, a rigorous

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compgeo.2014.02.009
0266-352X/Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 S. Jeong, J. Cho / Computers and Geotechnics 59 (2014) 112–126 113

Fig. 1. Flat-shell element.

Fig. 2. Modeling of pile element.

numerical approach of the piled raft system is computationally
expensive and requires extensive training because of the three-
dimensional and nonlinear nature of the problem. Therefore, a fi-
nite element analysis is more suitable for obtaining benchmark
solutions against which to compare simpler analysis methods, or
for obtaining solutions of a detailed analysis for the final design
of a foundation, rather than as a preliminary routine design tool
[15].
In this study, an improved analytical method (YSPR) for the de-
sign of piled raft has been proposed to overcome some limitations
of the existing methods. It is intermediate in complexity and theo-
retical accuracy between the second and third type of method. In
the present method, a numerical technique is used to combine
the soil and pile head stiffness with the stiffness of the raft. In order
to examine the validity of the proposed method, the analysis re-
sults are compared with the available solutions from previous re-
searches. In the field case study, comparative analyses between
YSPR and a field measurement data are carried out for the pile load
and settlement behavior.
2. Method of analysis
2.1. Modeling of flexible raft
Finite element techniques have often been used for the analysis
of raft by different researchers such as Clancy and Randolph [5],
Zhang and Small [49], Kitiyodom and Matsumoto [14]. According
114 S. Jeong, J. Cho / Computers and Geotechnics 59 (2014) 112–126

Fig. 3. Soil–structure interactions in piled raft foundation [13].

Fig. 4. Interactions between raft, piles, and subsoil in present method.

to the former methods [5,49], the raft can be treated as a plate and
the soil can be treated as a series of interactive springs by using a
Mindlin’s solutions [22], in which the contact pressure at any point
on the base of the raft is proportional to the deformation of the soil
at that point or as an elastic half-space in which the behavior of the
soil can be obtained from a number of closed-form solutions. In the
later method, the raft is modeled as thin plates and the piles as
elastic beams and the soil is treated as interactive springs [14].
The interactions between structural members are made by the
use of Mindlin’s solutions. The primary limitation of these methods
is that the membrane behavior of the flexible raft cannot be con-
sidered because the nodal displacements (in the x- and y-direction)
for the membrane action are not included. This limitation can be
overcome by using a flat-shell element. An improved four-node
flat-shell element proposed by the authors [48], which combines
a Mindlin’s plate element and a membrane element with torsional
degrees of freedom, is adopted in this study. The flat-shell element
can be subjected to the membrane and bending actions that are
shown in Fig. 1. The displacement due to the membrane action is
considered independent of the displacement due to the bending
action, therefore it can be considered separately. For the bending
action, the displacement field for an individual element can be de-
scribed in terms of the vertical nodal displacement and the rota-
tions about the x and y axes. For the membrane action, the
displacement field can be described in terms of the nodal displace-
ments in the x and y directions.
2.2. Modeling of single and pile groups
In this study, piles are treated as beam-column elements. The
behavior of soil surrounding the individual piles is represented
by load–transfer curves (t–z, q–z, and p–y curves), and the interac-
tion between piles is represented by p-multiplier (fm) and group
efficiency factor (Ge). The load–deformation relationship of individ-
ual pile heads may be derived by a single pile analysis based on
beam-column method. In this method, a pile member is described
as a series of beam column elements with discrete springs to rep-
resent the soil support condition as shown in Fig. 2. The governing
differential equations for the axially loaded and laterally loaded
pile can be expressed as:
 S. Jeong, J. Cho / Computers and Geotechnics 59 (2014) 112–126 115

2
P d w
Axially loaded pile : EA 2
 Cbz w ¼ 0 ð1Þ
Iteration dz
2 2’
P2
Load increment

4 2
d y d y
(k t) 2
Laterally loaded pile : EI 4
þQ 2
þ q  Ksy ¼ 0 ð2Þ
ΔP2 dz dz
(k s) 2

P1 1 where EA, EI are the axial stiffness and the flexural rigidity the pile,
1’ w is the vertical deflection of the pile at point z, bz is the stiffness/
(kt) i : tangential slope
(k t) 1 circumference for the axial reaction represented by the modulus
(ks) i : secant slope ΔP1
of the soil-response (t–z or q–z or both), which depends on the
depth z and pile movement w, and C is circumference of the pile
0 at point z. Q is the axial load on the pile, q is the distributed load
u1 u’1 u2 u’2 u
along the length of the pile, and KS is the stiffness for the lateral soil
(a) reaction represented by the modulus of the soil-response (p–y)
curve.
(k i) j : i = load increment j=1 : tangential stiffness In the next step, finite difference technique is used to solve the
j = Iteration number j>1 : secant stiffness
Fu
differential equations governing the compatibility between the pile
displacement and the load transfer along a pile. These techniques
(k i) 1
are generally based on load tests on full-scale and parametric finite
f((u i) i) element analyses of pile–soil interactions, which are represented
Fu=f(u ) by load–transfer curves (t–z, q–z, and p–y curves).
(ki) j
f((u) i- 1)
2.3. Soil–structure interaction

Δuj
The load-bearing behavior of a piled raft is characterized by
complex soil–structure interaction between the piles, raft and the
subsoil, as shown in Fig. 3 [13]. The present method makes use
(u) i- 1 (ui) j u of pile–soil–pile and raft–soil–pile interaction to simulate the real
0

(b) piled raft–soil response under lateral and vertical loadings. Addi-
tionally, for the raft–soil–raft interaction, this study uses a semi-
Fig. 5. Increment secant modulus method [48]. (a) Concept of increment secant empirical parameters proposed by many researcher [7,39,40] as
modulus method. (b) Estimating stiffness at ith load increment. the modulus of soil reaction below the raft. The use of these
parameters as assumed in the derivation procedure, may be a lim-
itation. However, these interactions are incorporated in a calcula-
tion procedure that is computationally very efficient.

Fig. 6. Modeling of piled raft (YSPR).

116 S. Jeong, J. Cho / Computers and Geotechnics 59 (2014) 112–126

Fig. 7. Flow chart of YSPR.

Piles in such groups interact with one another through the sur-
rounding soil, resulting in the pile–soil–pile interactions. In this
study, a set of nonlinear p–y curves which can be modified by
reducing all of the p-values on each curve by a p-multiplier (fm)
are used as input to study the behavior of the laterally loaded piles.
The p-multiplier can be calculated for each pile in the group
[3,6,19]. For each pile i in the group, the p-multiplier can be ex-
pressed as:
fmi ¼ b1i b2i b3i    bji ð3Þ
where bji is the p-reduction factor due to the effect of pile j on pile i.
In a group of closely-spaced piles, the axial capacity of group is
also dominated by variation in settlement behavior of individual
piles due to pile–soil–pile interaction. The most reliable data
concerning the efficiency of the piles in a group is derived by many
researchers [11,21,41]. In this study, load–transfer curves in side
resistance (t–z curve) and in end bearing resistance (q–w curve)
which can be modified by reducing all of the t- and q-values on
each curve by a group efficiency factor (Ge) are used as input to
study the behavior of the vertically loaded piles.
In classical solution, the Winkler model [46] is used for analyz-
ing raft foundation. However, the Winkler model could not predict
accurately the displacement of some solids, e.g. soil. The Winkler
model ignores the important interaction existing between adjacent
points in the soil continuum. In other words, the soil springs are
considered as isolated foundation elements. In order to overcome
a limitation, much work has been performed to propose some
improved or refined models [8,10,27,43]. For the raft–soil–pile
 S. Jeong, J. Cho / Computers and Geotechnics 59 (2014) 112–126 117

present method proposed an improved raft–soil–pile system by

connecting the top ends of soil springs and pile elements with an
elastic flat-shell element including membrane action. By using
flat-shell element, a realistic representation of the subgrade reac-
tion can be established directly in terms of coupled soil resistance
in which the response at any point on the interface affects other
points. The authors believe that a combination of the soil spring
and the elastic flat-shell element may be used to overcome the
restrictions associated with conventional methods, and thereby
also used to analyze appropriately axially loaded piled raft, in soil
deposits. Consequently, the proposed analytical method should be
based on the concept of soil–structure interaction under the lateral
and vertical loadings.

2.4. Global stiffness matrix

The stiffness matrix of a flat-shell element (Kflat-shell=raft) in local

coordinate system was constructed through combining separately
the stiffness matrix of a plate element (Kplate) and that of a mem-
brane element (Kmembrane) as followings:
 
K plate 0
K flat-shell ¼ ð4Þ
0 K membrane
The stiffness matrix of a plate element Kplate is represented in
the following form:
Z Z
K plate ¼ BTb Db Bb dV þ BTs Ds Bs dV ð5Þ
V V

where Bb is the bending strain matrix and Bs is the shear strain ma-
trix. For an isotropic material, Db and Ds are given as follows:
2 3
3
1 m 0
Et 6 7
Db ¼ 4m 1 5 0 ð6aÞ
12ð1  m2 Þ
0 0 ð1  mÞ=2
 
WEt 1 0 5
Fig. 8. Schematic diagram of vertical and lateral loaded piled raft. (a) Pile Ds ¼ ; W¼ ð6bÞ
configuration. (b) Section-view. 2ð1 þ mÞ 0 1 6
where E is Young’s modulus, m is Poisson’s ratio, and t is constant
interaction, in this study a membrane-spring system originally
thickness of the plate. On the other hand, the stiffness matrix of a
proposed by Filonenko-Borodich [8] was incorporated to involve
membrane element Kmembrane is represented in the following form:
the soil spring-coupling effects. This system can provide a mechan-
Z
ical interaction between the individual soil spring and pile 1 T
K membrane ¼ ½Bm GRT  C  ½Bm GRdV þ hh ð7aÞ
elements by using the flat-shell element. As shown in Fig. 4, the v cV

Fig. 9. Soil spring constant for linear analysis of a single pile.

118 S. Jeong, J. Cho / Computers and Geotechnics 59 (2014) 112–126

IwV
CsH
0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05
-0.1 0 0.1 0.2
0
0

2
2
Depth from G.L.(m)

Depth from G.L.(m)

4 4

6 6

8 PRAB PRAB
8
FEM (K&M, 2003) FEM (K&M, 2003)
PLAXIS 3D PLAXIS 3D
YSPR YSPR
10 10
(a) (c)
IuH CbH
-0.1 0 0.1 0.2 -0.4 -0.2 0 0.2
0 0

2 2
Depth from G.L.(m)

Depth from G.L.(m)

4 4

6 6

PRAB 8 PRAB
8
FEM (K&M, 2003) FEM (K&M, 2003)
PLAXIS 3D PLAXIS 3D
YSPR YSPR
10 10
(b) (d)
Fig. 10. Comparison of analysis result for piled raft: (a) Settlement and (b) lateral displacement, (c) shear force; and (d) bending moment.
Z
g dV; T for pile groups can be formed by sum of n single pile stiffness ma-
h¼ ½bg b ð7bÞ
v trix (Eq. (10)).
2 3
E K 11 0 0 0 K 15 0
c¼ ð7cÞ 6 0 K 22 0 K 24 0 0 7
2ð1 þ mÞ 6 7
6 7
6 0 0 K 33 0 0 0 7
where C is the constitutive modulus, c is taken as the shear modu- K pile ¼6
6 0
7 ð8Þ
6 K 42 0 K 44 0 0 7
7
lus. Bm, G, R are the strain matrices representing the relationship be- 6 7
4 K 51 0 0 0 K 55 0 5
tween the displacements (the membrane displacement, the
rotation, and midside incompatible displacement respectively) 0 0 0 0 0 K 66 i
and the strains. b, g, b, and g are also the strain matrices for the
infinitesimal rotation fields. ½KpileðiÞ fdgi ¼ fF i g ð9Þ
The pile head stiffness (K11  K66) is assumed to be constant
within each load increment and each iteration and then superposi-
X
n
tion can be applied in order to develop a pile head stiffness matrix K pilegroups ¼ ½K pileðiÞ  ð10Þ
(Eq. (8)) in individual piles. Using load–displacement relationships i¼1
representing pile behaviors according to pile head movements
[34], the relationship between the nodal force and nodal displace- where [K]pile(i) is an individual pile head stiffness matrix, {di} a dis-
ments can be expressed in Eq. (9). In addition, the stiffness matrix placement or rotation, and {Fi} force or moment at the ith pile head.
 S. Jeong, J. Cho / Computers and Geotechnics 59 (2014) 112–126 119

22 mm 2.5D and 5.0D

2.5D, 5.0D,
22 mm
and 7.5D

Fh Pile cap Fh Pile cap

(variable) (variable)

15 mm 15 mm

600 mm 600 mm
Sand Sand

Pile Pile

Rock Rock
(a) (b)
Fig. 11. Test pile group configurations [4] (a) 2  2 pile groups (b) 3  3 pile groups.

A component (K11  K66) of pile head stiffness matrix is changed at The procedure for nonlinear solution in this study includes the
each load increment and iteration stage. following step. In total, 10 (ten) load–displacement curves (axial 1;
The soil support at various nodes of raft foundation is simulated lateral 8; torsional 1) are estimated per each pile head. Fig. 5(b)
by a series of equivalent and independent springs in three direc- shows the estimation method of stiffness at an ith load increment.
tions (x, y and z directions). The spring behavior can be linear or In this method, external forces are first divided by N (number of
nonlinear. In linear case, soil behavior is defined by soil stiffness load increment). The stiffness at ith load increment and jth itera-
(K11  K33) which is assumed to be constant within each load tion is represented (ki)j. In each load increment, tangential slope
increment and each iteration. The soil reactions at any point can is adopted at first iteration (j = 1) and the secant modulus at j > 1
be expressed as for the stiffness of pile head, which is expressed as Eqs. (14) and
2 38 9 8 9 (15), respectively.
k11 0 0 0 0 0 > du > > Fu >
>
> >
> >
> >
>
6 07 > dv > > Fv >
6 0 k22 0 0 0 7>> >
> >
> >
>  
6 7>>
<
>
>
=
>
>
<
>
> df ðuÞ
6 0 0 k33 0 0 0 7 dw Fw = ðki Þj ¼ ðj ¼ 1Þ ð14Þ
6 7 ¼ ð11Þ du u¼ðuÞi1
6 07
6 0 0 0 0 0 7>> >
> au >
>
> Mu >
>
> >
>
6 7> > > >
4 0 0 0 0 0 05 >>
> a
> ;v
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> M v
>
>
>
>
: : ;
0 0 0 0 0 0 i aw i Mw i f ððui Þj Þ  f ððuÞi1 Þ
ðki Þj ¼ ðj > 1Þ ð15Þ
ðui Þj  ðuÞi1
½KsoilðiÞ fdgi ¼ fF i g ð12Þ

where [K]soil(i) = individual soil stiffness matrix, {di} = displacement

or rotation, and {Fi} = force of soil at point i. In nonlinear case, spring
behavior is defined by giving pairs of load–relative displacement
values. At this point, soil stiffness is calculated by nonlinear solution
procedure.
Finally, the stiffness matrix of a piled raft can be defined by the
combination of the foundation system and the supporting soil.
Therefore, the stiffness matrix formulations of a piled raft system
can be written as the following:
½K piled raft  ¼ ½K raft  þ ½K soil  þ ½K pilegroups 
2.5. Nonlinear solution procedure
To consider the nonlinear load–displacement relationship at
each pile head and soil (below the raft), an incremental secant
modulus method developed by Won et al. [48] is used. When this
‘‘incremental secant modulus method’’ is used, the displacement u2
corresponding to load P2 is increased to u02 as shown in Fig. 5(a), so
that point (P2, u02 ) will be located on the curve and consequently
the displacement will be close to the exact solutions.
ðui Þj ¼ ðuÞi1 þ Duj ð16Þ
where (u)i1 is an accumulated final displacement at a previous
load increment and (ui)j is an accumulated displacement at the ith
load increment and jth iteration.
At each load increment, displacements (Duj) are calculated
through structural analysis and then accumulated displacements
(ui)j are estimated using Eq. (16). If the convergence criteria,
Duj–Duj1 < e is satisfied, the accumulated final displacements
ð13Þ
(u)i are calculated and continue to the next load increment. This
process iterates until the load increment number reaches N. In
the structure analyses, the tangential slope (df(u)/du) and load
(f(u)) of individual piles are estimated using cubic spline method
[1]. The procedure described above is iterated until the error
between the assumed and calculated displacements falls within a
tolerance limit.
As a final outcome, an improved numerical method (YSPR) was
proposed to analyze the response of a raft and a piled raft consid-
ering raft flexibility and soil nonlinearity (Fig. 6). Fig. 7 shows the
flow chart of present method.
120 S. Jeong, J. Cho / Computers and Geotechnics 59 (2014) 112–126

0.04 3. Verification of proposed method with previous studies

3.1. Kitiyodom and Matsumoto [14]

0.03 A series of linear piled raft analyses were performed to verify

Lateral load (kN)

the present method by comparison with other numerical methods

which have been used in the preliminary design of piled raft. A
schematic diagram of a 2  2 piled raft is shown in Fig. 8. This
structure consists of a raft, and four identical vertical piles, which
0.02
are spaced by 1.5 m (=3.75D, where D is the pile diameter). The
piles have an embedded length of 10 m, a diameter of 0.4 m. Pile
head conditions are fixed. A square raft of size 3  3 m with a
measured (2.5D)
measured (5.0D)
thickness of 0.9 m is rested on a homogeneous soil. The Young’s
0.01 modulus and Poisson’s ratio of the soil are 12,500 MPa and 0.3.
measured (7.5D)
predicted (2.5D) The raft and piles, with a Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio of
predicted (5.0D) 125,000 MPa and 0.3 respectively, is subjected to a vertical and
predicted (7.5D) lateral load. Fig. 9 shows the spring constants were used for the
0 linear soil condition. The same axial spring constants were used
0 0.004 0.008 0.012 0.016 along the pile depth, with a constant value of 7,527,867 kN/m2,
which includes the pile perimeter. The end-bearing spring was
Displacement (m)
8,692,180 kN/m2, and the tension part was neglected. The con-
(a) stants of the horizontal springs were increase from 0 to
4,682,274 kN/m2 along the pile depth. Since the soil is assumed
0.08
to be an elastic model, the p-reduction and group efficiency factor
of unity were used [6,18,41].
The response of piled raft is presented in settlement, lateral dis-
placement of pile, and in shear force and bending moment distri-
0.06 bution at various depths. Fig. 10(a–d) shows representative
Lateral load (kN)

results from the proposed method. In addition, these results were

tested by comparing them with well-known three existing numer-
ical methods: the PRAB [15]; the finite element method performed
0.04 by Kitiyodom and Matsumoto and PLAXIS 3D [28]. The results are
shown in terms of dimensionless parameters of IwV for the settle-
ment, IuH for the lateral displacement of a pile respectively, CsH,
CbH for the shear force, and the bending moment along the pile
0.02 respectively. These parameters can be calculated by Eqs. (17)–(20).
measured (2.5D)
measured (5.0D) Es Dw
IwV ¼ ð17Þ
predicted (2.5D) qz Br Lr
predicted (5.0D)
0 Es Du
IuH ¼ ð18Þ
0 0.004 0.008 0.012 0.016 0.02 qx B r L r
Displacement (m)
S
(b) C sH ¼
qx Br Lr
ð19Þ

Fig. 12. Lateral load–displacement curves at pile head. (a) 2  2 pile groups. (b)
3  3 pile groups.
B
C bH ¼ ð20Þ
qx DBr Lr

Table 1
Material parameters used for this study (case studies).

Case Material properties

Type Depth (m) E (MPa) m c (kN/m3) / (°) c (kPa) Modela
Japan case [15] Pile Steel pipe 0 to 5.5 2.1E08 0.2 75 – – L.E.
Raft Concrete 0 to 2.2 30,000 0.2 25 – – L.E.
Soil Sandy silt 0 to 1.7 13 0.3 18 0 25 M.C.
Silty clay 1.7 to 13.5 15 0.3 18 0 29.64 M.C.
Germany case [34] Pile Concrete 5.5 to 25.5 23,500 0.2 25 – – L.E.
Raft Concrete 3 to 5.5 34,000 0.2 25 – – L.E.
Soil Sand 3 to 8 75 0.25 18 32.5 0 M.C.
Frankfurt clay 8 to 113 47a 0.15 19 20 20 M.C.
Korea case Pile Concrete 0 to 30 28,000 0.2 – – – YSPR
Raft Concrete 0 to 6.0 33,234 0.15 – –
Soil Gneiss Soil spring stiffness (kPa/m)
0 to 204,250
a
Note: M.C. is Mohr Coulomb elasto-plastic model, L.E. is linear elastic model used in PLAXIS 3D Foundation Frankfurt clay: E = 45 + [tanh((z  30)/15) + 1]  0.7z.
 S. Jeong, J. Cho / Computers and Geotechnics 59 (2014) 112–126 121

Fig. 13. Field test of piled raft [16]. (a) Plan-view and (b) section-view.

Table 2
Load (MN)
Properties used for estimating load transfer curves (Japan case).
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
Contents Sandy silt Silty
clay 0
t–z, q–z curves [39] Ultimate skin friction, s 40 40
(kPa)
Initial shear modulus, Gi 5000 5769
(kPa)
10
Poisson’s ratio, m 0.3 0.3
Settlement (mm)

Ultimate bearing – 250

capacity, Qf (kN)
20
p–y curves [19,20] Undrained shear strength 25 29.64
(kPa)
Unit weights (kN/m3) 18.0 18.0
p–y modulus, k (kN/m3) 27,150 27,150
30
Subgrade reaction Kx, Ky (kN/m3) 27,150 –
modulus Kz (kN/m3) 5291 –

where w, u are the settlement and lateral displacement at the pile
head, qz and qx are uniform vertical and lateral load, the breadth,
Br and length, Lr, S and B are the shear force and the bending mo-
ment along the pile.
The calculated results of the proposed analysis method closely
approach the computed data from the other numerical methods.
It should be noted that the present method provides a very satisfac-
tory prediction of the shear force and the bending moment in indi-
vidual piles, when the flexibility of the raft is considered by using
the combination of the membrane and bending actions. Although
a reasonably good agreement between the proposed and the exist-
ing methods was obtained, the proposed method has a larger settle-
ment those of the existing methods at the same load. Conclusively,
it is thought that YSPR can be used with some confidence in the pre-
liminary design of axially and laterally loaded piled raft.
3.2. Chung and Jeong [4]
In this section, the verification of lateral response of the present
method against laboratory load test is discussed. By Chung and
40 Measured (K&I, 1967)
Calculated (R & E, 2006)
YSPR
PLAXIS 3D
50
Fig. 14. Computed and measured response of piled raft settlement.
Jeong [4], a series of small scale model tests were carried out to
study the behavior of pile groups subjected to lateral loadings on
sand. The test soil used in this study was: the unit weight
15.3 kN/m3, cohesion 0 kN/m2 and drained friction angle 37°. The
model piles made from PVC tubes were 0.6 m in embedded length,
22 mm in diameter and 2.5 mm wall thickness and 28,265 kN m2
flexural rigidity(EI). Fig. 11 shows an idealization of the subsurface
profile and pile embedment for test piles.
Using present method the behavior of pile groups are predicted
with different group configurations and different center-to-center
pile spacing: 2.5D, 5.0D, and 7.0D. Back-fitted hyperbolic p–y
curves that are calculated at 5, 10, and 20 cm along the pile depth
in model test of single pile are implemented. Initial tangent

Table 3
Calculated stiffness of single pile and piled raft (Japan case).

K11 (kN/m) K22 (kN/m) K33 (kN/m) K44 (kN/rad) K55 (kN/rad) K66 (kN/rad)
Single pile 0.4052E+02 0.4052E+02 0.3877E+05 0.3434E+03 0.3434E+03 0
Piled raft (w/o Ge) 0.2735E+05 0.2735E+05 0.3453E+06 0.2730E+06 0.2730E+06 0
Piled raft (w/Ge) 0.2735E+05 0.2735E+05 0.2492E+06 0.2208E+06 0.2208E+06 0
122 S. Jeong, J. Cho / Computers and Geotechnics 59 (2014) 112–126

Fig. 16. Pile load: (a) pile 1, 2, 3 and (b) pile 4, 5, 6.

Fig. 15. Torhaus Der Messe: (a) profile view and (b) configuration of pile. stiffnesses (Ks) of the p–y curves at the depths of 0.05, 0.1, and
0.2 m are 11, 14.3, and 50 kN/m2, respectively. Also ultimate capac-
ities (Pu) of the p–y curves at the same depths are 0.0011, 0.0033,
Table 4 and 0.0033 kN/m, respectively.
Properties used for estimating load transfer curves (Germany case). To consider the detailed group effect, p-multipliers calculated
Contents Quaternary Frankfurt
from the Chung’s experiment are implemented. For the 2  2
silt clay group, p-multipliers are 0.86 for lead row and 0.45 for trail row
at 2.5D pile spacing; 0.95 for lead row and 0.67 for trail row at
t–z, q–z curves [39] Ultimate skin friction, sf 143 91.6
(kPa) 5.0D; 1.0, 0.83 for lead, trail row at 7.5D. For the 3  3 group,
Initial shear modulus, Gi 30,000 20,434 p-multipliers are 0.8, 0.3 and 0.4 for lead, middle, and trail rows
(kPa) at 2.5D pile spacing; 0.93, 0.48, and 0.6 at 5.0D pile spacing.
Poisson’s ratio, m 0.25 0.15
Fig. 12 shows the predicted and observed lateral load–settle-
Ultimate bearing – 90
capacity, Qf (kN)
ment curves. The analysis of pile groups was performed for a fixed
p–y curves [24,33] Internal friction angle (°) 32.5 20 head condition and spacing-to-diameter ratios varying from 2.5 to
Unit weights (kN/m3) 18 19 7.5. The present method considering pile–soil–pile interaction rel-
p–y modulus, k (kN/m3) 16,300 136,000 atively well predicts the general trend of the measured lateral
Subgrade reaction Kx, Ky (kN/m3) 16,300 136,000
loads for the pile groups studied if the measured deflections are
modulus Kz (kN/m3) 294,000 –
relatively small (say less than 15 mm).

Table 5
Calculated stiffness of single pile and piled raft (Germany case).

K11 (kN/m) K22 (kN/m) K33 (kN/m) K44 (kN/rad) K55 (kN/rad) K66 (kN/rad)
Single pile 0.3979E+03 0.3979E+03 0.3020E+06 0.4482E+05 0.4482E+05 0
Piled raft (w/o Ge) 0.1118E+08 0.1138E+08 0.1300E+08 0.2583E+09 0.2115E+09 0
Piled raft (w/Ge) 0.1117E+08 0.1137E+08 0.1242E+08 0.2548E+09 0.2078E+09 0
 S. Jeong, J. Cho / Computers and Geotechnics 59 (2014) 112–126
Load (MN)
0 50 100 150 200
0 than the results of the proposed solution. This clearly demonstrates
PLAXIS 3D
YSPR (w/o Ge)
20
YSPR (w/ Ge)
Measured
40 settlement
Settlement (mm)
60
80
100
120
Smax = 124mm
140
Fig. 17. Settlement behavior of large piled raft foundation.
4. Comparison with other case histories
The validity of the proposed method was examined by compar-
ing the results from the present approach with some of the field-
measured results. The pile and soil properties employed with the
YSPR and PLAXIS 3D analyses for the case histories were the same
properties mentioned in their research. In the field, the soil stiff-
ness significantly depends on the stress level, indicating that the
stiffness generally increases with depth. To account for the in-
crease of the stiffness with the depth, the Young’s modulus of soil
(Eincrement) value which is the increment of stiffness per unit of
depth was used in FE analyses. Table 1 summarizes the material
properties used in the case studies.
4.1. Japan case
The settlement behavior of axially loaded piled raft reported by
Koizumi and Ito [16] are compared with the predicted values of the
proposed method. This test site was located near the 1-chome, Ote-
machi in Tokyo. A fully instrumented piled raft was installed in the
clay soil, which consists of sandy silt with gravel and organic silty
clay. Fig. 13 shows the subsurface profile and pile configurations of
the test piled raft. All of the test piles are 300 mm in dia. and 5.5 m
in length. The soil and material properties were determined by
back-analysis of field load test results using PLAXIS 3D Foundation.
From full-scale tests in clay soil presented by O’Neill [23] and Whi-
taker [47], the group efficiency factor, Ge, was set at 0.7 for the
reduction of side resistance (t–z curve) and end bearing resistance
(q–w curve) of piles. The input parameter of soil used to generate
the load transfer curve and soil-spring are summarized in Table 2.
Table 3 shows the estimated stiffness of single pile and piled
raft when a vertical load of unity is applied. Compared to the stiff-
ness in which the group efficiency factor was 1.0, the stiffness of
piled raft showed a significant decrease in K33 of about 28%. This
is because the decrease of the pile resistance due to the pile–
soil–pile interaction (i.e. group efficiency factor), change the global
stiffness of piled raft.
The proposed analysis method (YSPR) and a finite element
program analysis (PLAXIS 3D) results were compared with the
measured load–settlement curves in Fig. 14. All the methods
123
predicted the general trend of the measured values reasonably
well. However, the calculated results by Roberto and Enrico [36]
250
have a relatively smaller settlement as the applied load increased
that for analysis result, YSPR gives more flexible results for nonlin-
ear behavior of soil, because the Roberto and Enrico [36] use soil
flexibility matrix(based on linear elastic analysis of pile groups)
for soil–pile interaction and the proposed method does so using
nonlinear load transfer curves and solution algorithm. These dis-
crepancies between predicted and measured behavior at the high
load levels are because the assumptions of raft–soil relative stiff-
ness and group efficiency factor are influenced on the settlement
behavior of piled raft. In addition, computational time to run this
case saves 57 min of computer time, and is about 20 times faster
than the 3D FE analysis.
4.2. Germany case
The settlement and load sharing behavior of instrumented,
large, piled raft installed in stiff clay was compared with the pre-
dicted values of the proposed and the FE analyses. Constructed be-
tween 1983 and 1986, the 130 m high Torhaus was the first
building in Germany with a foundation designed as a piled raft. A
total number of 84 bored piles with a length of 20 m and diameter
of 0.9 m are located under two 17.5  24.5 m large rafts. The bot-
tom of the 2.5 m thick raft lies just 3 m below ground level
(Fig. 15(a)). The subsoil comprises quaternary sand and gravel up
to 2.5 m below the bottom of the rafts, followed by the Frankfurt
clay [34]. And a schematic diagram of 7  6 piled raft structure is
shown in Fig. 15(b). The maximum load of Peff = 200 MN for each
raft [37] minus the weight of the raft is successively applied by
means of a uniform load over the whole raft area. In the present
method (YSPR), the soil around individual pile is modeled with
nonlinear load transfer curves. The axial load transfer curves (t–z,
q–z curves) are estimated using the equation developed by Wang
and Reese [44], the lateral load transfer curve (p–y curve) is used
as an API model [25,32]. The group efficiency factor, Ge, was set
at 0.73 for the average value of pile spacing: 3D  4D [23,47].
The input parameter of soil used to generate the load transfer curve
and soil-spring are summarized in Table 4.
Table 5 summarizes the calculated stiffness for the single pile
and the piled raft foundation. A decrease in the group efficiency
factor from 1.0 to 0.73 results in about 4.5% decrease in stiffness
of piled raft. It is also noted that the stiffness of piles inside the
group varied with a group effect. Fig. 16(a–b) shows a comparison
of the measured and calculated pile loads. The prediction of the
present method is much more conservative than that of 3D FE
analyses and the measured one. However the proposed method
is in good agreement with general trend of pile load which increase
from a center pile (pile1) to the edge (piles 2, 4 and 6) and to the
corner pile (piles 3 and 5). The computed results for the center,
side, and corner piles show that the load distribution of the indi-
vidual piles in a group is highly influenced by the flexibility of
the raft. This finding was similar to what Won et al. [48] discussed
about correlation between the pile member force and the flexibil-
ity of pile cap for a pile groups.
Fig. 17 shows a settlement behavior of the piled raft. The mea-
sured maximum settlement is about 124 mm, the calculated set-
tlements using YSPR and PLAXIS 3D are 106.7 (with Ge; 111.5)
mm and 117 mm respectively. This curve demonstrates the effect
of pile–soil–pile interaction by considering group efficiency. The
proposed method with an interaction factor is more appropriate
and realistic to represent a pile–soil–pile interaction for closely-
spaced piles than on that of no-interaction analysis. In Both values
of YSPR and 3D FE analyses are smaller than the measured one.
However, these two numerical methods provide an acceptable
124 S. Jeong, J. Cho / Computers and Geotechnics 59 (2014) 112–126
Fig. 18. Preliminary design case of large piled raft: (a) plan view and (b) profile view.
design prediction. Despite the approximate assumptions involved
(i.e., loading condition, construction process, consolidation of clay),
the present method when used in nonlinear analysis is useful for
predicting the settlement behavior of a piled raft foundation taking
account of soil nonlinearity, the flexibility of the large raft, and the
pile arrangement. The time taken for the computer to run this case
saves 115 min of computer time, and is about 24 times faster than
the 3D FE analysis. For large problems this computational saving
can be very significant.
4.3. Korea case
As shown in Fig. 18, preliminary design case of a piled raft (OO
super tower) conducted at high-rise building construction sites in
Korea were representatively selected for the design application.
The construction site is comprised mainly of normally banded
gneiss, brecciated gneiss and fault core zones. Based on the results
of pressure meter, Goodman Jack and plate load tests carried out in
the field, a nonlinear elastic modulus design line is established to
represent the stiffness of the ground. A schematic diagram of a raft
foundation with piles is shown in Fig. 18(b). This structure consists
of a raft, and 112 of ground strengthen piles. The piles have an
embedded length of 30 m, a diameter of 1.0 m. A large raft size
71.7  71.7 m with a thickness of 6.0 m is resting on a banded
gneiss. The raft and ground strengthen piles, with a Young’s mod-
ulus of 30 GPa and 28 GPa respectively, is subjected to a vertical
load (Ptotal = 6,701 MN).
Fig. 19(a–d) shows the raft settlement at different sections pre-
dicted by GSRaft [26] and YSPR. Agreement between the GSRaft
and YSPR of settlement is generally good; however there is a slight
difference in prediction of settlement in the faulting zone where
the sudden drop of the magnitudes were occurred. This can be
attributed to the inappropriate assumption of material properties
due to no accurate ground investigation data on this section. The
calculated raft settlement has some difference between the
proposed method and the existing solution, based on the same
analysis conditions. This is because the conceptual methodology
of the present method is completely different from that of general
 S. Jeong, J. Cho / Computers and Geotechnics 59 (2014) 112–126
Fig. 19. Raft settlement distribution: (a) section 1, (b) section 2, (c) section 3; (d) section 4.
structural models. The raft is modeled as a grillage and the piles are
treated as bar element with axial stiffness only in GSRaft while
YSPR is adopted flat-shell element and 6  6 pile head stiffness.
Although there are no measured profiles of raft settlement, the
proposed analysis method showed reasonably good correspon-
dence with well-known in-house program.
5. Conclusions
The primary objective of this study was to propose an improved
analytical method for a pile raft foundations. The conceptual meth-
odology of the proposed method is completely different from that
of general continuum method. A series of analytical studies were
conducted. Through comparisons with case histories, it is clearly
demonstrated that the proposed method was found to be in good
agreement with measurement data. From the findings of this
study, the following conclusions can be drawn:
1. By taking into account the raft flexibility and soil nonlinearity,
the proposed analytical method is an appropriate and realistic
125
representation of the settlement and load sharing behavior of
piled raft foundation. It provides results that are in good agree-
ment with the field measurement and numerical analyses.
2. Proposed analytical method produces a considerably larger set-
tlement of piled raft than the results obtained by the linear elas-
tic analysis. Additionally, the analytical method is intermediate
in theoretical accuracy between general three-dimensional FE
analysis and the linear elastic numerical method. The settle-
ment of piled raft obtained by the present method is similar
to that obtained by the PLAXIS 3D, while it shows smaller val-
ues than those obtained by existing method based on linear
elastic analysis of pile groups.
3. From the example case histories, the proposed method is shown
to be capable of predicting the behavior of a large piled raft.
Nonlinear load–transfer curve and flat-shell element can over-
come the limitations of existing numerical methods, to some
extent, by considering the realistic nonlinear behavior of soil
and membrane action of flexible raft.
4. Additionally, the comparative studies demonstrated that the
present method, when used in analysis of large scale piled raft,
126 S. Jeong, J. Cho / Computers and Geotechnics 59 (2014) 112–126
is useful for computational saving and improving performance
in engineering practice.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Research Foundation
of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIP) (No.
2011-0030040).
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