ABSTRACT
The ‘hybrid method’, a simplified prediction technique for foundation settlement in which piles are modeled using finite elements, springs representing the non-linear properties of the soil around the piles are attached to the nodes, and elastic interactions through the soil between each element are considered, has been used to predict the settlement of several large-scale buildings with bell piles or diaphragm walls. However, the accuracy of settlement behavior predictions for multi-belled cast-in-place piles has not been sufficiently clarified. In this paper, a soil spring is proposed for an intermediate bell as a modification of the spring recommended for a pile tip. The results of simulating three full-scale load tests using the modified spring, which closely match the actual measurements, demonstrate the validity of the proposed spring.
