Coupled geotechnical-climatic design procedure for drilled shaft subjected to axial load

摘要

In this paper, a novel procedure is proposed to incorporate the site-specific hydrological/climatic parameters into the geotechnical design of drilled shaft with sample applications in Riverside, CA and Salt Lake City, UT. The variation of degree of the saturation and/or manic suction due to the hydrological/climatic events was modeled using the one-dimensional Richards' equation considering historical resultant infiltration rate and water table depth as the upper and lower boundary conditions, respectively. The historical rainfall, evapotranspiration, and water table depth were considered in a probabilistic manner to estimate a representative degree of saturation and/or matric suction in the subsurface soil that support the drilled shaft. The results indicate that the ultimate axial capacity of the drilled shaft increases by as much as 40% of the conventional fully saturated method in Salt Lake City, while this is almost 56% for Riverside, CA. In case of the settlement, the total elastic settlement of the drilled shaft decreases by almost 34% and 30% at Salt Lake City and Riverside, respectively. Also, it is observed that the water table depth, intensity, and duration of the rainfall have noticeable impacts on the design parameters of the drilled shaft.