Numerical simulation of pile installation processes in dry and saturated granular soils

J. Grabe, T. Pucker, T. Hamann

Abstract

The installation process of piles influences the surrounding soil and vice versa. Thereby, the pile capacity depends on the installation process. In the past the installation processes of jacked, driven and vibratory driven piles in granular soils have been investigated numerically by several researchers. Nowadays, the use of modern numerical methods makes the simulation of pile drilling possible. Hence, numerical simulations of the drilling process are presented. The influence on the surrounding soil is investigated and compared to field measurements. The drilling parameters, such as penetration velocity and rotational speed are varied to study their effect on the installation process. Considering fully saturated soil, the mechanical behaviour of the soil is influenced by the excess pore pressures depending on the permeability of the soil. The numerical simulation of two phase materials, e.g. water and soil, in dynamic analyses is necessary to simulate pile installation processes in saturated soils considering partially drained conditions. The numerical modeling of fully saturated soil within dynamic analyses is still subject of research, e.g. Al-Kafaji (2013). Hence, a method is introduced to provide such calculations. Pile installation process simulations in saturated granular soils are presented and the influence of the water is investigated. The results are compared to pile installation simulations in dry sand to show the main differences. The numerical simulations are performed using a Lagrangian approach and a coupled Eulerian- Lagrangian Method (CEL), in which the simulation of large deformations is possible without problems due to mesh distortion. The method is shortly introduced. The granular soil is modelled using a hypoplastic constitutive model, thus reproducing soil effects like dilatancy, contractancy, pressure and void ratio dependent stiffness, pressure and void ratio dependent strength, different stiffness for loading, unloading and reloading paths.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationNumerical Methods in Geotechnical Engineering - Proceedings of the 8th European Conference on Numerical Methods in Geotechnical Engineering, NUMGE 2014
Pages663-668
Number of pages6
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2014
Externally publishedYes
Event8th European Conference on Numerical Methods in Geotechnical Engineering, NUMGE 2014 - Delft, Netherlands
Duration: 18 Jun 201420 Jun 2014

Publication series

NameNumerical Methods in Geotechnical Engineering - Proceedings of the 8th European Conference on Numerical Methods in Geotechnical Engineering, NUMGE 2014
Volume1

Conference

Conference8th European Conference on Numerical Methods in Geotechnical Engineering, NUMGE 2014
Country/TerritoryNetherlands
CityDelft
Period18/06/1420/06/14

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