Study of soil interaction in a model building frame with plinth beam supported by pile group

This paper presents the results of static vertical load tests carried out on a model building frame with plinth beam supported by pile groups embedded in cohesionless soil (sand). The effect of soil interaction on displacements and rotation at the column base and also the shears and bending moments in the building frame were investigated. The experimental results have been compared with those obtained from the finite element analysis and conventional method of analysis. Soil nonlinearity in the axial direction is characterized by nonlinear vertical springs along the length of the pile (?-z curves) and at the tip of the pile (Q-z curves) and in the lateral direction by the p-y curves. The results reveal that the conventional method gives the shear force in the column by about 20%, the bending moment at the column top about 10%, and at the column base about 20% to 30%, more than those from the experimental results. The response of the frame from the experimental results is in good agreement with that obtained by the nonlinear finite element analysis.