Numerical analysis of the behavior of piled rafts and pile groups in the presence of pile defects

This article aims to evaluate the behavior of piled rafts and pile groups subject to the presence of defective piles. To simulate the defect, it was considered that a foundation pile is shorter than projected. Seven static load tests performed in 2011 in the city of João Pessoa, in north-east Brazil, were used as the basis of analysis. These load tests were performed on an isolated raft, in 3 piled rafts and in 3 pile groups. In this study, the ELPLA® software, based on a hyperbolic iterative model, was used. Initially, modeling was performed for the original situations with intact foundations, and the results were compared with previous experimental results. Afterwards, numerical modeling was performed considering four defect levels, which correspond to a decrease in the pile length. According to the results obtained, it could be observed that, due to the presence of the defect, there was a reduction in the stiffness and load capacities of all the foundations analyzed, the occurrence of differential settlements in the foundations, and an increase in the load absorbed by the raft in the piled rafts.