Vertical response of pile raft foundations subjected to tunneling‐induced ground movements in layered soil

A simplified analysis method has been developed to estimate the vertical movement and load distribution of pile raft foundations subjected to ground movements induced by tunneling based on a two‐stage method. In this method, the Loganathan–Polous analytical solution is used to estimate the free soil movement induced by tunneling in the first stage. In the second stage, composing the soil movement to the pile, the governing equilibrium equations of piles are solved by the finite difference method. The interactions between structural members (such as pile–soil, pile–raft, raft–soil, and pile–pile) are modeled based on the elastic theory method of a layered half‐space. The validity of the proposed method is verified through comparisons with some published solutions for single piles, pile groups, and pile rafts subjected to ground movements induced by tunneling. Good agreements between these solutions are demonstrated. The method is also used for a parametric study to develop a better understanding of the behavior of pile rafts influenced by tunneling operation in layered soil foundations. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.