Side Load-Transfer Mechanisms in Drilled Shafts in Soft Argillaceous Rock

Abstract

Elastic-plastic axisymmetric finite-element analyses were performed to investigate the side load-transfer mechanism of drilled shafts socketed into cohesive intermediate geomaterials (very hard clays/very soft rocks). The roughness of the concrete-geomaterial interface was modeled explicitly by assuming sinusoidal undulations along a discontinuous surface. Smooth interfaces were also modeled. The results of the analyses indicated that the elastic response of rough sockets extends as the initial normal interface stress, σ