Sharif Digital Repository

It has been realized that the raft (mat) foundations are capable of bearing very large loads when they are assisted with a pile group. The contribution of both raft and piles to carry the surcharge loads is taken into account, considering the stiffness and strength of involved elements in the system, i.e. piles, raft and surrounding soil. Piles are usually required to ensure the stability of the foundation and to act as settlement reducers especially for high rise buildings. The present study focuses on both kinematic and inertial effects of piled foundations and piled raft foundations under earthquake loading. The Finite Element Method (FEM) via ABAQUS will be used as an appropriate tool to... 

A large number of structures and substructures, such as piles, have damaged or even yielded the entire structure during seismic loading. The kinematic interaction of piles under seismic loading has been widely studied from analytical, experimental, and numerical perspectives. In numerical modeling, most existing literature relies on simplified approaches to describe the soil-pile interaction, which leads to the need for more reliable and comprehensive research. In this research, the seismic response of the soil-pile system was investigated through a fully nonlinear three-dimensional numerical analysis in the time domain using the FLAC3D program. This model simulates the dependence of soil... 

Energy piles couple the structural support role of conventional piles to the heat exchanger role of shallow geothermal systems for any built environment. So, they are subjected to both mechanical and thermal loads. The use of these piles can be useful in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and reducing fossil fuel consumption. With this in mind, this study is conducted to evaluate the thermomechanical behavior of heat exchanges group piles. For this porpuse, a physical model has been constructed in the Advanced Soil Mechanics Laboratory of the Civil Engineering Department at Sharif University of Technology. In this physical model, four closed-end aluminum pipes with a diameter of 20 mm and a... 

Lateral spreading is defined as finite lateral displacement of mildly sloping grounds or those ending in free faces induced by liquefaction. The phenomenon of lateral spreading caused by liquefaction in coastal areas and mildly sloping grounds has caused significant damage to deep foundations of engineering structures such as bridge and buildings in severe earthquakes. Since earthquake is unavoidable, therefore, it is necessary to provide appropriate solution to reduce the effects of liquefaction induced lateral spreading. Despite conducting various laboratory and field studies by previous researchers, there is still no comprehensive approach to evaluate the effects of lateral spreading on... 

Liquefaction-induced lateral spreading is one of the most challenging problems in geotechnical earthquake engineering. This phenomenon may impose severe damages on deep foundations in large earthquakes. In this study, six physical modeling are designed, built and tested to investigate the effects of lateral spreading on deep foundations and also assess one mitigation method. The experiments were conducted using 1g shake table of Sharif university of technology. In this respect, a large laminar shear box with outer dimensions of 420, 240 and 180 cm was designed and constructed. The laminar shear box consisted of 23 steel laminates with inner dimensions of 306×172 cm. Four experiments were... 

A physical model has been developed in the advanced soil mechanic lab of the sharif university of technology. This model has been used to investigate the thermo-hydro-mechanical behavior of the group energy pile, which was embedded in the unsaturated silty sand soil. This model contains a steel soil box, 4 aluminum piles, strain gauges, the total pressure cells, the thermocouples, and the mechanical load. Three sets of tests were conducted on these piles. In the first the thermal cycles were applied on 1 pile and in the second and third tests, the number of the energy piles was 2 and 3, respectively. The result has shown there was a permanent settlement at the end of the thermal cycles.... 

Considering the environmental pollution caused by the consumption of fossil fuels, replacing clean and renewable energies instead of fossil fuels has become one of the most critical issues across the world. The use of energy geostructures, especially energy piles, to exchange the heat between the superstructures and the ground is one of the approaches for taking advantage of clean energy. In order to maintain the safety and the serviceability of structures built on energy piles, it is necessary to study the effects of heat exchange between energy piles and the ground on the mechanical behavior of energy piles, as well as the effects of various parameters on the interaction between energy... 

Lateral spreading is the downstream movement of mild slopes or free fronts occurring due to soil liquefaction during a dynamic loading such as an earthquake. The magnitude of this movement can be from a few centimeters to tens of meters depending on parameters such as slope length, soil type, cyclic loading intensity, etc. Large displacements caused by this phenomenon can cause severe damage to some structures and infrastructures located in the direction of their movement. Numerous articles and reports of damage caused by the lateral spreading of soil have been presented during several earthquakes. Understanding this phenomenon and observing and testing its effective parameters can help... 

There is an increasing interest and use of energy foundations worldwide. Heat transfer from/to energy piles may cause plastic contraction of soft clay with a low overconsolidation ratio (OCR) during heating and cooling. This can influence pile-soil interaction due to thermally induced excess pore water pressure and changes of lateral stress acting on the pile.These thermally induced phenomena cause additional plastic settlement of the soil and pile. The irreversible settlement may cause serviceability or even ultimate limit state problems for floating energy piles whose capacity is mainly derived from shaft resistance. Due to intended operational needs or by accident, cyclic non-symmetrical... 

This study highlights an important distinction between heat transfer mechanism in dry and saturated soil. Soil temperature data recorded during model tests, soil thermal response predicted using finite difference and analytical methods are compared with finite element models. In recent years, due to the industrial development of human societies, the energy consumption has been increased worldwide. On the other hand, the most commonly used energy resources are non-renewable energies. Therefore, governments and industries aimed to develop a technology which provides economical use of renewable energy sources. One of the renewable energy sources is the geothermal energy of the Earth. In this... 

The phenomenon of lateral spreading occurs as a consequence of earthquakes induced liquefaction in grounds with mild slopes or ending to an opening. This phenomenon has caused many damages to deep foundations and associated structures. Therefore, it is necessary to study and estimate the forces which may be induced by lateral spreading to these structures. Due to the complex mechanism of the effect of lateral spreading on the piles, various tests have been carried out in the form of shaking table as well as centrifuge tests. According to the results of these tests, the forces applied to the piles are significant and can cause crucial damages to deep foundations. On the other hand, because... 

The phenomenon of soil liquefaction has caused significant damage to deep foundations of engineering structures such as bridges and buildings in past earthquakes. In recent years, many researchers have studied the effects of soil liquefaction on the pile response, but there are still many unknowns that require further research and study. The present study is part of a comprehensive research that involves several Ph.D. and master students at Sharif University of Technology (SUT). In this study, the effects of soil liquefaction on two pile 2×2 groups (one with a lumped mass and another without) in a level ground with a sloping bed were investigated. A surface non-liquefied layer was also... 

A heat exchanger pile is a pile that is equipped with absorber pipes so that it can exchange heat with the surrounding soil. These piles couple the structural support role of conventional piles to the heat exchanger role of shallow geothermal systems for any built environment. So They are subjected to both mechanical and thermal loads. The use of these piles can be useful in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and reducing fossil fuel consumption. In order to study the thermomechanical behavior of heat exchanger piles, a physical model has been constructed in the Advanced Soil Mechanics Laboratory of the School of Civil Engineering at Sharif University of Technology. In this physical model,... 

In recent years, growth of industries has led to consistent increase in energy consumption around the globe. On the other hand, non-renewable energy sources are the most consumed ones in the world. Therefore, governments and companies have tried to introduce budgets to facilitate the use of renewable energy sources and make their use cheaper. One of the renewable energy sources is geothermal energy which one economical way to havest it is thermal energy exchange between the building foundation and the ground. Therfore, thermal piles , by the use of a heat exchanger fluid, transfer the heat on the surface to the ground in warmer seasons and in cold seasons, they transfer the heat from the... 

In recent years, due to the development of cities and population growth, the number of underground floors and the depth of excavations have increased. Sustainability of excavation and control of deformation due to excavation process has always been considered as one of the important issues in geotechnical engineering. One of the most commonly used systems for deep excavation, especially in urban areas, is the soldier pile wall with tiebacks. This system consists of anchoring on soldier piles that are performed at horizontal distances around the excavation range. The cables have two parts. Unbond and bond length that, when pretensioned, have the task of transfering load out of the wedge of... 

Lateral spreading is defined as finite lateral displacement of mildly sloping grounds or those ending in free faces induced by liquefaction. Severe damages of pile groups due to lateral spreading in past earthquakes has been reported. Since earthquake is unavoidable, it is necessary to study the response of piles, especially pile groups, to liquefaction induced lateral spreading. Until now, a number of methods have been developed by researchers for design of deep foundations against lateral spreading, but reported failure of piles in last earthquakes indicates that these methods are associated with high uncertainties. This is due to the lack of laboratory and experimental data to evaluate... 

Heat exchanger piles are innovative technologies used to harvest heat from shallow ground. Heat exchanger pile, also known as energy pile, transfers mechanical (structural) loads to the ground while acting as a heat exchanger. Heat extraction in winter and heat rejection during summer changes the pile, pile-soil interaction and the surrounding soil temperature. Therefore, pile temperature increments have been recognized as a new factor of controlling the behavior of energy piles in recent decades. Besides, thermal cyclic loadings may affect the serviceability and geotechnical performance of heat exchanger piles. Physical models provide an affordable experimental medium through which new... 

In recent earthquakes piles have been severely damaged due to liquefaction-induced lateral spreading. Liquefaction causes lateral spreading in gently sloped saturated soft granular soils, leading to significant damage in structures and deep foundations. Although in recent years many studies have focused on different aspects of this phenomenon, the complex nature of the dynamic interaction between piles and liquefied soil is not yet fully understood. This potential damages are of high degree of importance in southern and northern coastal areas of Iran where several ports and critical facilities are located. The present study focuses on the behavior of a 2x2 pile group against lateral loads... 

Investigating the behavior of piled-raft foundations is a three-dimensional problem. The shape and location of the piles in the raft as well as the complex interaction of the soil-structure in these foundations should be analyzed in a three-dimensional fashion to indicate the real behavior of this type of foundations. The soil must also be analyzed in a nonlinear state to achieve the correct bearing capacity of these foundations. In this research, a nonlinear 3D analysis was performed using FLAC3D to investigate the behavior of piled-raft foundations, and the effect of various factors such as the length, arrangement and number of the piles, the loading level and the thickness of the raft, on... 

Liquefaction is an important phenomenon in geotechnical engineering which can cause severe damages to structures. Liquefaction-induced lateral spreading is defined as the lateral displacement in mild slopes or level grounds ending in free faces (such as quay walls) triggered by liquefaction in subsurface soil layers. During recent years, extensive studies have been conducted around the world documenting liquefaction induced lateral spreading and its effects on deep foundations. In the present study, a series of shaking table experiments which were previously conducted at Sharif University of Technology are numerically simulated using the three dimensional finite difference based program,...