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Pile Model

This document discusses three different Staad Pro modeling conditions for modeling an octagonal pile cap with piles: 1) Piles modeled with fixed supports at the bottom, at the length of pile fixity. 2) Piles modeled with fixed supports at the bottom and moment release at the top, questioning if this properly models the pile reinforcement anchorage. 3) Pile cap modeled without piles, with moment release spring supports provided at pile locations. The responses indicate that none of these conditions accurately model the actual behavior. Condition 3 is better than 1 and 2 but the best approach is to model varying subgrade spring supports along the pile depth based on soil properties.

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Parameswaran Ganesan
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158 views

Pile Model

This document discusses three different Staad Pro modeling conditions for modeling an octagonal pile cap with piles: 1) Piles modeled with fixed supports at the bottom, at the length of pile fixity. 2) Piles modeled with fixed supports at the bottom and moment release at the top, questioning if this properly models the pile reinforcement anchorage. 3) Pile cap modeled without piles, with moment release spring supports provided at pile locations. The responses indicate that none of these conditions accurately model the actual behavior. Condition 3 is better than 1 and 2 but the best approach is to model varying subgrade spring supports along the pile depth based on soil properties.

Uploaded by

Parameswaran Ganesan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Staad Pro Modeling query for pile cap

Offline Manish Chhugani over 2 years ago

Hi,

We are using Staad Pro for modeling octagonal pile cap with 4.97m sides and having octagonal cutout of 1.66m
sides at the center

Reinforcement of piles will have development length inside the pile cap for carrying uplift/tension, compression,
shear and bending moment at connection between pile to pile cap. Please see the attached picture of reinforcement
detail of connection between pile and pile cap. 

We have query related to below given 3 conditions, out of these which will be reflecting actual behavior in the Staad
Pro model? 

Condition 1 – Pile cap is modeled with piles, with fixed supports at the bottom of pile. Length of pile is equal to
length of fixity, in our case it is 3.5m.  Please see the attached picture of the Staad Pro model.

 
Condition 2 – Pile cap is modeled with piles, with fixed supports at the bottom of pile and piles are having moment
release at the top of the members. Is it appropriate to model pin connection seeing anchorage of pile reinforcement
in pile cap (refer figure of "pile connected to pile cap", as above)

Length of pile is equal to length of fixity, in our case it is 3.5m.  Please see the attached picture of the Staad Pro
model.

Condition 3 – Pile cap is modeled without piles, with supports provided at pile locations at pile cap level. Support
conditions are moment release with spring constant in three direction of displacement viz. X, Y and Z.  Please see
the below given picture of the Staad Pro model with description of support condition.

PS : In attached pictures of Staad Pro model, the vertical members seen like columns are concrete pedestals for
supporting the structure.

Could you please reply, at the earliest possible.  

Regards,

Manish Chhugani

Offline HE over 2 years ago


Hi Manish,
None of the above model will reflect the actual behavior, but if I had to compare out of the three i would say
condition 3 is better because both condition 1 & 2 assume rigid fixed support below pile foundation which
is a poor choice.

To model it correctly, you have to account for both vertical and horizontal modulus of subgrade-reaction
(ks) of the pile. I don't know to what code you are designing, but ACI recommend to use range figure of ks
from one-half the computed value to five or ten times the computed value, because it is so difficult to
develop accurate ks values.

Offline AndrejLogunov over 2 years ago

Manish,

I have sent you the following answer through Service Request:

The supports for the pile come in 2 varieties - skin friction and end bearing. Skin friction action can be
accounted for by modeling each pile as several collinear members and specifying a support at each of
those common nodes. End bearing action can be modeled using fixed or pinned supports. The supports
for the model are going to be the resistance (based on subgrade modulus) offered by the soil, which
may be modeled as springs. The support spring stiffness is obtained by multiplying the soil subgrade
reaction by the influence area of the associated support node. A standard text book on pile analysis
should be a great source of information on obtaining the spring constant of the supports.
Please try to approach the pile modeling by introducing a number of supported nodes along the pile
depth, the supports will have varying spring stiffness, depending on soil subgrade modulus. This will
give the most accurate/expected results comparing to the three models you have presented.
I hope this helps. Let me know if there are any further questions.

Regards,

Andrej Logunov

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