Study on the earth pressure of a foundation pit adjacent to a composite foundation with rigid-flexible and long-short piles

Model tests were performed to investigate the lateral earth pressure acting on the retaining structure adjacent to both natural ground (NG) and composite foundation (CFRLP), which were supported with rigid-flexible and long-short piles. Two testing procedures, namely, applying a load to the foundation and rotating the retaining structure along its toe, were considered. The results indicate that the additional lateral earth pressure acting on the retaining structure adjacent to the CFRLP is less than that of the NG in the depth of the reinforcement area strengthened by flexible piles. Compared with NG, the CFRLP yielded a smaller normalized height of application of the lateral earth pressure, suggesting that the CFRLP blocked the horizontal diffusion of the load and had a strong ability to transfer the surcharge load to the deep soil. When rotating the retaining structure, the lateral earth pressure acting on the upper part of the retaining structure experienced limited reduction once the displacement at the top of the retaining structure was greater than 8 mm, whereas the pressure acting on the lower part of the retaining structure continued to decrease with increasing displacement. In addition, a three-dimensional finite element model (FEM) was used to investigate the influence of the pile parameter and the wall-soil friction angle on the additional lateral earth pressure.