PARAMETRIC ANALYSIS OF PILED RAFT FOUNDATION USING MIDAS GTS NX

Abstract

The project presents parametric study of a vertically loaded piled raft foundation using a finite element modeling in Midas GTS NX. The results obtained are validated by the results available in specialized literatures. Various graphs are plotted between settlement and parameters such as pile configuration, raft thickness, cohesion of soil and pile length to analyze and estimate their effect on piled raft settlement. The results are used for analyzing model from safety as well as economical point of view. All the data for analysis are referred from Piled Raft Foundations: design and applications: H.G Poulos (2001). The study concluded that increase in raft thickness led to a decrease in settlement but with further increase the decrease became insignificantly small, increase in pile length led to a marked decrease in settlement. The study also showed that increasing the number of piles does not always give best results, rather small number of piles placed strategically can prove to be really helpful in obtaining a safe and economical foundation.