Product Overview:
This tutorial demonstrates the simulation of a concrete piled raft foundation interacting with soil using Abaqus. The piled raft foundation system has gained popularity for various structures, particularly high-rise buildings. In this system, the piles significantly contribute to reducing settlement and differential settlement, resulting in an economical design without compromising structural safety. In some design scenarios, the piles are allowed to undergo yielding under the applied design load. Even if the load capacity of the piles is exceeded, the piled raft foundation can still support additional loads with manageable settlements. Therefore, accurately determining the foundation’s settlement behavior is crucial. Designers must consider the combined contributions of both the raft and piles, along with their interactions within the foundation system.

The piled raft model includes a solid part representing the raft and five concrete piles, while the soil is modeled as a three-dimensional component using elastic-plastic material properties. The simulation involves three steps: a geostatic step, followed by two static steps. In the first step, the soil weight is applied; in the second step, the piled raft is introduced to the soil; and in the third step, a pressure load is applied to both the raft and piles. During the simulation, deformation, stress, and strain distributions can be observed.

Key Topics:

• Geometry Creation: Constructing the pile raft and accurately representing the surrounding soil properties.
• Interaction Effects: Understanding how the loads are shared between the raft and piles to optimize design.
• Advanced Analysis Techniques: Handling non-linear behaviors and analyzing complex load scenarios.
• Interpretation of Results: Guidance on how to read and understand output data for real-world applications.