In recent years there have been an increasing number of urban developments involving deep excavations. These are frequently constructed using diaphragm walls to support the ground adjacent to existing structures. Research is being carried out at Cambridge University to study the effects of diaphragm wall installation on adjacent piled foundations using the geotechnical centrifuge to model the complex three-dimensional nature of the problem. The installation effects of a diaphragm wall on a nearby piled foundation in dry dense fine sand are being studied. This paper describes the centrifuge model and presents results from a parametric study where the model pile is installed at several positions relative to the diaphragm wall. The support fluid level inside the trench is varied to study its effect on the soil, trench and pile responses during excavation.
展开▼
