Study of the Effects of Loose Clay Layer Existence on Sheet Piling Excavation Method

Usually construction of a new multi-story buildings require deep supported excavation. Steel sheet pile walls are being widely used in civil engineering projects for excavation support systems. Soil is not uniform in depth, sometimes may be loose soil layer in various depth and situations exist. This issue can cause different effects on ground surface displacements, forces and moments acting on sheet pile and struts during excavation procedure, compared with status that soil is uniform in depth that must be considered in design of sheet piles and struts. In this paper a deep excavation project defined and using finite element method is modelled. Excavation’s depth is divided to three clayey layers. One of three layers is loose clay layer that its positions is modelled in three different situations such as in top, middle and bottom layer separately. Obtained results are compared with excavation without loose layer. Results show that existence of loose clay layer in top has more effects on vertical displacements of ground surface and sheet piles. Also, existence of loose clay layer increase shear forces and bending moments acting on sheet piles.

Keywords:

Sheet Pile , Clay Loose Layer , Excavation , Strut