Piled raft is the most desirable foundation option in the recent era for offshore and onshore structures which are often exposed to combined vertical and lateral (V-L) loads. Due to the scarcity of literature, this study aims to comprehend the response of the piled raft foundation (PRF) under combined vertical and lateral loads. A series of laboratory experiments and finite element analysis has been executed on a two layered soil profile. The lateral response of PRF and the piles attached to PRF are evaluated under combined V-L loading action and the consequences of the pile positioning on lateral load capacity are observed. From the structural point of view, bending moment and shear force are also estimated and the lateral load sharing between the raft and the piles are evaluated. The results attained from the tests indicate that the presence of vertical load has both positive and negative impact on the lateral load capacity of PRF depending up on the soil profile. A nonlinear multiple regression (NMR) analysis is also performed for the lateral load sharing behaviour and some empirical formulae are proposed to identify the lateral load sharing ratio which will enhance the design of PRF under combined V-L loading.

Piled raft foundation (PRF) is a cost effective and sustainable foundation option which can reduce the total and differential settlement, and improve the bearing capacity of the foundation in case of high-rise superstructures or marine structures. This study mainly focuses on a parametric analysis of PRF and also checks the impact of various design parameters on the structural and geotechnical aspects of PRF including the settlement of PRF and its components, raft-soil contact behaviour, bending moment, axial stress on pile, soil stress and settlement in different directions etc. To understand the contribution of piles in PRF, two factors such as relative improvement in the stiffness and settlement ratio are also evaluated. The results of the present study indicate that the differential and reference settlement can be controlled by the addition of piles under the raft, whereas the value of normalized differential settlement remains increasing with an increase in the pile spacing to diameter (s/d) ratio. In case of raft-soil contact behaviour, the contact pressure increases if the raft width is increased, but the rate of increment is prominent in case of a higher number of piles. The raft is showing both the sagging and hogging bending moment and as s/d ratio increases, bending moment also tends to increase. Graphical abstract

The shortage of natural aggregates has compelled the developers to devote their efforts to finding alternative aggregates. On the other hand, demolition waste from old constructions creates huge land acquisition problems and environmental pollution. Both these problems can be solved by recycling waste materials. The current study aims to use recycled brick aggregates (RBA) to develop eco-friendly pervious concrete (PC) and investigate the new concrete’s structural performance and pore structure distributions. Through laboratory testing and image processing techniques, the effects of replacement ratio (0%, 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100%) and particle size (4.75 mm, 9.5 mm, and 12.5 mm) on both structural performance and pore feature were analyzed. The obtained results showed that the smallest aggregate size (size = 4.75 mm) provides the best strength compared to the large sizes. The image analysis method has shown the average pore sizes of PC mixes made with smaller aggregates (size = 4.75 mm) as 1.8–2 mm, whereas the mixes prepared with an aggregate size of 9.5 mm and 12.5 mm can provide pore sizes of 2.9–3.1 mm and 3.7–4.2 mm, respectively. In summary, the results confirmed that 40–60% of the natural aggregates could be replaced with RBA without influencing both strength and pore features.