A blind prediction of the load-settlement response of an axially loaded drilled shaft in Santa Catarina, Brazil, was carried out in June of 2015. The original results were developed using "best-estimate" soil properties within a t-z analysis framework developed by Norris (1986) and modified by Ashour et al. (1998). However, this approach relies heavily on the estimation of the axial strain at 50% of maximum deviatoric stress, termed 850. Thus, a thorough literature review was carried out on published ε_(50) values and empirical relationships. The original estimates of 850 were also varied in this study to explore how sensitive the prediction results are in this regard. It was found the average root mean squared error between the predicted and measured results were significantly affected by changes in 850 and that the t-z style predictions were substantially influenced by the estimates of ε_(50), highlighting the need for proper and careful estimation of this important parameter.
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