Interaction analysis of two floating granular piled raft units

The pile-soil-raft interactions remain a daunting problem in the study of piled-raft foundations. A simple analytical continuum approach is implemented in the present research to analyse the interaction between two granular floating piled-rafts. The formulation uses the equations of Mindlin and Boussinesq for the estimation of the displacements for forces in the interior and on the surface of the continuum. Settlement influence factor, interaction factor, the normalised shear stresses along the granular pile (GP)-soil interface, the percentage load shared by GP, the percentage load transferred to the GP base, and the normalised contact pressure distribution underneath the raft are evaluated and presented for design.