ABSTRACT

Due to increase of civilization in recent decades there is a rapid increase in number and
height of buildings .The demand of land for construction purpose has increased exponentially
and most of the time the site available consists of weak subsoil conditions. Piled raft
foundation is an innovative design concept with its efficiency of carrying high vertical loads
by reducing settlements and differential settlements caused by these concentrated building
loads and load eccentricities. Piled-raft foundations for high-rise buildings have proved to be
a valuable alternative to conventional pile foundations or mat foundations. The combined
piled raft foundation system provides a skilful geotechnical concept wherein the applied load
is transferred by means of a load sharing mechanism which is generated through a process of
interaction between the pile, soil and the raft.

INTRODUCTION
It is common in foundation design to consider initially the use of a shallow foundation such
as raft to support a structure and then if this is not dequate to design a fully piled foundation
in which the entire design loads are resisted by the piles.In the past few years there has been
an increasing recognition that the use of piles to reduce raft settlements and differential
settlements can lead to considerable economy without compromising the safety and
performance of foundation. Piled raft foundation is a new concept in which the total load
coming from the superstructure is partly shared by the raft through contact with soil and the
remaining load is shared by piles through skin friction.
Concept of using piles as settlement reducers was first proposed by
Burland et al. 1977.Thereafter this was described by several researchers including Poulos,
Randolph,Russo and Viggiani,Mandolini and many more.

FOUNDATION
FUNCTIONS
Distributes loads of super structure to large portion of soil so as to bring the intensity of load
with in the safe bearing capacity of soil.
It provides stability against sliding and overturning
Provides safety against undermining.
Provides level surface for building operations
Minimize distress against soil movements

RAFT FOUNDATION
Raft foundation is a thick concrete slab reinforced with steel which covers the entire contact
area of structure like a thick floor.
Used on soils of low bearing capacity
Used in places where foundation soils are of varying compressibility.
When individual footings cover more than half the building area .
Total and differential settlements are too high.

PILE FOUNDATION
Pile foundation can be defined as series of columns constructed or inserted in to ground to
transmit loads of a structure to a lower level of subsoil. These are special kind of deep
foundation where depth of foundation is much greater its width and super imposed loads are
transmitted either through end bearing and side friction .
Used where soil is incompressible
Where soil is waterlogged
When stratum of required bearing capacity isat greater depths
When horizontal ,inclined , uplift and heavy loads are to be resisted for which shallow
foundation is uneconomical.

COMBINED PILED RAFT FOUNDATION (CPRF)

Foundation which make use of raft and piles to reduce settlements leading to
considerable economy are referred as pile enhanced or piled raft foundation. Soil structure
Interaction influences, the number and length of piles ,the pile load share ,the total bearing
capacity of piled raft and the settlement behaviour are the main aspects that should be
investigated during feasibility study of Piled Raft.

PRINCIPLE Of PILED RAFT

The behaviour of piled raft foundation is influenced by the interaction between structure
,piles ,raft and soil which is termed as Soil Structure Interaction.
For instance a beam supported by three columns with isolated footing may be considered as
shown in figure .Due to higher concentration of load over the central support soil below it
tends to move.On the other hand the framing action induced by the beam will cause a load
transfer to the end column as soon as the central column tends to settle down.Hence force
quantities and the settlement at the finally adjusted condition can only be obtained through
interactive analysis of soil structure interaction.
Soil structure Interaction.
Figure demonstrates various interactions that govern the behaviour of piled raft .
Raft Soil Interaction
Pile Soil Interaction
Pile Raft Interaction
PilePile Interaction
The superimposed load of the raft on the soil produces confinement of the soil by affecting
the reaction of soil on the pile .The pressure applied from raft on to soil can increase lateral
stress between the underlying piles and the soil .As a result of the contact pressure of raft on
soil causes an increase in the skin friction of piles which inturn increases the ultimate load
capacity of piled raft system..While the spacing of the pile affects its behaviour depending on
whether the pile will fail individually or by block failure.Stresses coming from the piles in the

soil mass overlaps when the piles are to close each other.The load bearing capacity of each
pile will then be reduced.These effects of the interaction between various elements of the
system has to be taken care in the design of Piled Raft Foundation. At closer pile
spacing, the overlapping of
the stress-bulb and pile interference among themselves become
responsible for the reduction
in the carrying capacity while at very large pile spacing, it was contributed
mainly by the
Load Settlement Behaviour
The general concept of piled raft using settlement reducing piles are illustrated in fig.The
method is proposed by Burland et.al. For idealised condition of uniform loading the
settlement profile of raft foundation is bowl shaped where settlement is large at centre and
small at edge.Settlement reducing piles are therefore introduced at centre of raft to reduce
settlement at centre and thus reduce differential settlements.
A simplified method for estimating the load settlement behaviour is described by H.G .Poulos
which is an extension of the approach of Randolph.
Figure shows the Load settlement curve

Main design concepts for the conventional pile method would be explained that all the load
is supported by the piles.
So, the capacity of raft does not considered in the design.
To increase the capacity of pile foundation, we have to increase the number or length of
piles.
Because all the load was carried by piles, the allowable settlement was very small and strict.
Design concepts of piled raft are as follows;
The main role of piles in piled raft foundation are for settlement reduction.
So the capacity of pile should be fully mobilized to satisfy the purpose and exact settlement
should be calculated.
To analyze the piled raft behavior, complex soil-structure interaction should be considered.
Consideration of the optimal location of piles to decrease the differential settlement and
bending moment of raft are needed

Curve 0 shows the behavior of the raft only. In this case, settlement is excessive at the
design load.
Curve 1 represents the conventional design philosophy. The behavior is governed by pile
group behavior and largely linear at the design load. In this case, the piles carry almost load.
Curve 2 represents the raft with piles designed for lower safety factor. In this case, the raft
carries more load than Curve 1.
Curve 3 illustrates raft with piles designed for fully utilization of capacity as settlement
reducers
So, this design method is more economical than other methods.

A tri-linear load settlement load settlement curve of the piled raft system is developed by
Poulos which is shown in figure.The stiffness of the piled raft foundation is computed for
number of piles being considered . This stiffness is operative until the pile capacity is fully
mobilized.Beyond that point (Point A of figure) the stiffness of the foundation system is that
of the raft alone and this holds good until the ultimate load capacity of piled raft system is
reached( Point B of fig) thereafter the load settlement relationship becomes horizontal.
Factors affecting the performance of piled raft foundation
Number Of Piles

The addition of piles has a significant effect in reducing the settlement of the
raft, but beyond a limit the additional reduction in settlement is very small. The scope for
economy in foundation design is by carrying out analyses to assess the minimum number of
piles to achieve the required settlement performance.
Effect Of Raft Thickness
Maximum settlement is not greatly affected by raft thickness, whereas the
differential settlement decreases significantly .No effect on load sharing was
found on increasing the raft thickness but is beneficial in resisting the punching
shear.

.Contribution of piles in this system is a function of its aspect ratio and s/d ratio.

Length-Diameter Ratio (l/d)

For a given number of piles,as l/d increases load carrying capacity of system increases as the
proportion of load carried by the piles increases and the relative settlement is reduced .
Effective design strategy is to increase the length of the piles than increasing the number of
piles.

Spacing-Diameter Ratio (s/d)

Spacing/Diameter ratio will indicate the number of piles that a raft of limited width could
accommodate.At closer pile spacing, the overlapping of the stress-bulb and pile interference
among themselves become responsible for the reduction in the carrying capacity.It is
therefore, recommended to choose pile spacing between 3 to 5 times the pile diameter to get
the maximum benefit from the composite action.

PROS AND CONS OF PILED RAFT

As per the studies carried out in the performance of piled rafts the pros and cons of this
system can be summarised.
ADVANTAGES
A reduction in settlement of the foundation system.
For buildings with varying loads on the foundations and consequent eccentricities the
provision of piles under heavy loads can reduce eccentricity on foundation.
It ensures increase in overall stability . If there are one or more defective or weaker piles the
presence of raft allows some measure of redistribution of the load from affected piles to those
that are not affected ,this reduces the potential influence of pile weakness on foundation
performance.
A reduction in bending moment for the raft
General economy by reduction in number or length of piles.
Disadvantages
Based on large variety of parameteric studies and extensive experience gained by long term
monitoring of foundation behaviour, a guideline for CPRF was developed by Hanish .
et.al.The CPRF guidelines provides guidance on several aspects regarding design ,safety
concept ,limits of application ,the use of observational method and construction of CPRFS.
Other than the guideline no standards and no definite design rules or codes are available
.Hence additional research based on measurements ,model tests and numerical computer
simulations are necessary.

CONCLUSION
The Combined piled raft foundation could be a good economic decision for heavy high
buildings as both the capacity of piles and rafts are utilised. This system has recently been
widely used in many countries to support different types of structures like bridges, buildings
and industrial plants in different types of soil. Various studies in this area concludes that
nearly any kind of eccentric construction can be safely founded on soft soil to stiff clay as

well as on medium to dense sand and even on highly weathered rock formations by
appropriate distribution of piles ,staggering pile length and by selecting suitable pile
diameters which opens almost unlimited possibilities for the construction of foundations.