INNOVATIVE CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUE ANALYSED BY

FEM FOR SHALLLOW FOUNDATIONS ON REACTIVE SOILS

Mohamed Shahin: Curtin University, Perth, Australia

Mostafa Ismail: Advanced Geomechancis, Perth, Australia

DFIMEC 2012, March 14-15

OUTLINE

Introduction to Reactive Soils

Concept of Granular Pile Anchor Foundation (GPAF) System
Investigating Efficiency of GPAF by FEM
Analysis of Two-Storey Building on GPAF System
Conclusions

DFIMEC 2012, March 14-15

INTRODUCTION TO REACTIVE SOILS

Si
Al
Si
Si
Al
Si
Water

Si
Al
Si
Structure of Montmorillonite clay
(Activity Index 5)
DFIMEC 2012, March 14-15

Wet season
(Centre heave)

Dry Season
(Centre settlement)
3

INTRODUCTION TO REACTIVE SOILS (CONT.)

Facade cracks (Oman)

DFIMEC 2012, March 14-15

Wall cracks (Australia)

INTRODUCTION TO REACTIVE SOILS (CONT.)

Ceiling cracks (Australia)

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Floor cracks (Australia)

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CONSTRUCTION SOLUTIONS ON REACTIVE SOILS

Replacement of the Entire Reactive Material

Pile Foundations
Drilled (or Friction) Piers
Soil Stabilisation by Chemical Additives

Still, substantial financial losses are incurred every year in many

places around the world:
USA: the money spent in reactive soils related problems is
equivalent to that spent in hurricanes related problems
AUSTRALIA: 20% of surface soils are classified as reactive soils
DFIMEC 2012, March 14-15

CONCEPT OF GPAF SYSTEM

Resistance to uplift force by:

Self weight of pile
Interface strength
Induced normal stress

Pile Anchor

Footing

Heave Uplift Pressure

Pile Uplift
Resistance

Granular Pile

Expansive Soil
Anchor Plate

DFIMEC 2012, March 14-15

FEM ANALYSIS OF SINGLE GPAF SYSTEM

Purposes of Analysis:
Understand the behavior of the GPFA system
Determine the influence of pile geometry

Footing
Granular
Pile

10 m

Reactive Clay

3m

Sand

Modeling
Heave?
DFIMEC 2012, March 14-15

Single Pile analysis

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FEM ANALYSIS OF SINGLE GPAF SYSTEM (CONT.)

Footing

10 m
Reactive Clay

3m

Clay

Granular
Pile

18
Diam. = 250 mm
Diam. = 500 mm
Diam. = 750 mm
Diam. =1000 mm

16

Sand

Rotation of Principal Stresses

Footing Heave (%)

14

df

12
10

Lp

dp

8
6
4
2

Single Pile Analysis

DFIMEC 2012, March 14-15

0
0

10
15
20
Free Field Heave (%)

25

FEM ANALYSIS OF SINGLE GPAF SYSTEM (CONT.)

% =
100

Heave magnitude does not

influence the efficiency

Efficiency of GPFA System (%)

80
dp = Pile diameter

70

df = Footing diameter

60

df

50
dp

40
30
Surface heave = 2%
Surface heave = 5%
Surface heave = 10%
Surface heave = 20%

20
10
0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

dp/df

DFIMEC 2012, March 14-15

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IMPACT OF PILE GROUP

3D Model
Pad footing
0.5 m

2m

0.1 m
Granular pile

Pile anchor
2m

Pile Group
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ANALYSIS OF TWO-STOREY BUILDING ON GPAF

B2

B3

B4

5m

5m

5m

5m

3m

3m

B1

GS

0.5 m

Reactive clay

0.1
m
Granular
pile

2m

3m

1m

Pad footing
Footing

Foundation Level
Dense sand

2m

Pile
anchor

Ground beam

Heave/Shrinkage area

Footing

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DISCUSSION OF RESULTS
8
B3

B2

20% heave (6.7 mm deformation)

B4

3m

5m

5m

5m

3m

1m

GS

Footing
Reactive clay

Dense sand

5m

Beam deformation (mm)

3m

No GPAF
4
2

With GPAF

B1

Heave 20% - GPAF

Heave 20% - No GPAF
Shrinkage 10% - GPAF
Shrinkage 10% - No GPAF

Beam Initial Position

0
-2
-4

With GPAF
No GPAF
10% shrinkage (75% reduction in max settlement)

-6

-10

-5

10

Ditance from beam centerline (m)

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DISCUSSION OF RESULTS (CONT.)

B1

B3

B2

B4

3m

3m

Beam
Number
5m

5m

5m

5m

3m

1m

GS

Footing

B1

Reactive clay

B2

B3
Dense sand

B4

GPAF
No GPAF
GPAF
No GPAF
GPAF
No GPAF
GPAF
No GPAF

Angular
distortion
( 105)
0.6
50
0.2
59
2.8
64
1.8
51

Maximum
negative
moment
(kN.m)
44.6
81.2
59.8
130.2
58.0
132.4
44.0
79.7

Maximum
positive
moment
(kN.m)
23.0
29.3
26.0
25.3
28.0
28.6
25.0
29.6

Note: 20% Heave: Free field heave = 75 mm

20% heave (300 times reduction in angular distortion)

20% heave (45% reduction in maximum negative moment)
20% heave (21% reduction in maximum positive moment)

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CONCLUSIONS

GPAF is a promising foundation system for reactive soils

It can resist both heave and shrinkage, and can reduce
the superstructure damage induced by reactive soils
It can lead to immense saving on the cost of structural
repairs and ongoing maintenance
The system can be extended for road design
Field trials are required to confirm the FEM results

DFIMEC 2012, March 14-15

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