Pile-Soil Stress Ratio and Settlement of Composite Foundation Bidirectionally Reinforced by Piles and Geosynthetics under Embankment Load

Abstract

The settlement calculation of composite foundation bidirectionally reinforced by piles and geosynthetics is always a difficult problem. The key to its accuracy lies in the determination of pile-soil stress ratio. Based on the theory of double parameters of the elastic foundation plate, the horizontal geosynthetics of composite foundation are regarded as the elastic thin plate, and the vertical piles and surrounding soil are regarded as a series of springs with different stiffness. The deflection equation of horizontal geosynthetics considering its bending and pulling action is obtained according to the static equilibrium conditions. The equation is solved by using Bessel function of complex variable, and the corresponding deflection function of horizontal geosynthetics is deduced. Then, the calculation formula of pile-soil stress ratio and settlement of composite foundation is derived by considering the deformation coordination of pile and soil. The results of engineering case analysis show that the theoretical calculation results are in good agreement with the measured values, which indicates that the proposed method is feasible and the calculation accuracy is good. Finally, the influence of composite modulus of horizontal geosynthetics, tensile force of geosynthetics, and pile-soil stiffness ratio on pile-soil stress ratio and settlement is further analyzed. The results show that the pile-soil stress ratio increases with the increase of the composite modulus of the horizontal geosynthetics, the tensile force of geosynthetics, and the pile-soil stiffness ratio, and the settlement decreases with the increase of the composite modulus of the horizontal geosynthetics, the tensile force of geosynthetics, and the pile-soil stiffness ratio. When the flexural stiffness of the horizontal geosynthetics is small, the influence of the tensile action of the geosynthetics on the pile-soil stress ratio and settlement of the composite foundation cannot be ignored.