Field Testing and Numerical Simulation of Square Footings Reinforced with Micropiles in Undrained Soft Clays
摘要
This paper evaluates the performance of footing with micropiles using prestressed concrete and gelam wood in undrained soft clays by conducting field testing and three-dimensional finite element methods using different soil constitutive models. According to the calibration of numerical results through the field measurement from the field test in organic soft clays located in South Kalimantan, Indonesia, a value of Eu/su = 100 is recommended for the Mohr–Coulomb soil model, a range of Eoed,ref = 0.7–1.0E50,ref should be adopted for the hardening soil model, and a ratio of λ/κ = 3 can be used for the soft soil model. Furthermore, the micropiles with gelam wood could be considered to effectively increase the bearing capacity of the footing, whereas the prestressed concrete pile should be considered if a larger bearing capacity is required for a more stable footing. Implementing Gelam wood can enhance the bearing capacity of footings by two to four times, whereas using prestressed concrete can increase it by up to eight times. In addition, according to the load-carrying behavior of footing with micropiles, the side friction of micropiles is initially mobilized, followed by the mobilization of tip resistance, in which the footing was observed to initiate mobilization once the side and tip resistance of micropiles are fully mobilized.