Consolidation and collapse settlements are common threats to existing highways and buildings around the world. With the emergence of various ground improvement technologies, lightweight materials are alternative solutions for filling embankment settlement, ground repair and resolving settlement issues of roadways and building structures. This alternative solution has become effective and rapid in terms of performance and time. In the polyurethane resin (PUR) injection method, the liquids, polyol and isocyanate, are injected in small drilled holes without the need for excavation. This method is fast and provides additional strength to the ground with reduction in the void ratio, hence reducing the compressibility of the soil. In fact, its lightweight and impermeable characteristics are advantageous to ground experiencing inundation and groundwater table fluctuation where it triggers the buoyancy effect. This paper presents the chemistry of PUR, the concept of PUR grouting, the properties of PUR and case studies conducted in Malaysia for rapid ground remediation.

For the design of a deep foundation, piles are presumed to transfer the axial and lateral loads into the ground. However, the effects of the combined loads are generally ignored in engineering practice since there are uncertainties to the precise definition of soil–pile interactions. Hence, for technical discussions of the soil–pile interactions due to dynamic loads, a three-dimensional finite element model was developed to evaluate the soil pile performance based on the 1 g shaking table test. The static loads consisted of 50% of the allowable vertical pile capacity and 50% of the allowable lateral pile capacity. The dynamic loads were taken from the recorded data of the Kobe earthquake. The current numerical model takes into account the material non-linearity and the non-linearity of pile-to-surrounded soil contact surfaces. A lateral ground acceleration was adapted to simulate the seismic effects. This research emphasizes modeling the 1 g model by adapting MIDAS GTS NX software. This will, in turn, present the main findings from a single pile model under a combined static and dynamic load. Consequently, the main results were first validated and then used for further deep investigations. The numerical results predicted a slightly higher displacement in the horizontal and vertical directions than the 1 g shaking table. The shear stress–shear strain relationship was predicted. Positive frictional resistance for the closed-ended pile was captured during the first 5 s when low values of acceleration were applied and, consequently, the pile resistance decreased and became negative. Internal and external frictional resistance was captured for the open-ended pipe pile. Overall, frictional resistance values were decreased with time until they reached the last time step with a minimum value. As a result, the evaluation of the current study can be used as a guide for analysis and preliminary design in engineering practice.

Although the axial aptitude and pile load transfer under static loading have been extensively documented, the dynamic axial reaction, on the other hand, requires further investigation. During a seismic event, the pile load applied may increase, while the soil load carrying capacity may decrease due to the shaking, resulting in additional settlement. The researchers concentrated their efforts on determining the cause of extensive damage to the piles after the seismic event. Such failures were linked to discontinuities in the subsoil due to abrupt differences in soil stiffness, and so actions were called kinematic impact of the earthquake on piles depending on the outcomes of laboratory tests and other numerical analyses. In this research, numerical modeling is used to explore the kinematic forces created in a single pile erected in two sand layers under two different conditions (dry and saturated states). Based on the obtained results from the physical model, the maximum bending moment was observed at a depth around 200 mm below the ground surface in the loose sand layer, then these values gradually reduced until it becomes negative in the dense sand layer. It has been demonstrated that this modeling may be used to predict how a pile foundation would respond to “kinematic” loading generated by ground movements during a seismic event. Consequently, the current findings could be used in the design and construction of bored aluminum or steel piles in Al-Karbala soil.

This study presents the findings of a 3D finite element modeling on the performance of a single pile under various slenderness ratios (25, 50, 75, 100). These percentages were assigned to cover the most commonly configuration used in such kind of piles. The effect of the soil condition (dry and saturated) on the pile response was also investigated. The pile was modeled as a linear elastic, the surrounded dry soil layers were simulated by adopting a modified Mohr-Coulomb model, and the saturated soil layers were simulated by the modified UBCSAND model. The soil-pile interaction was represented by interface elements with a reduction factor (R) of 0.6 in the loose sand layer and 0.7 in the dense sand layer. The study was compared with the findings of 1g shaking table tests which were performed with a slenderness ratio of 25. In the validation case, there was a clear correlation between the laboratory findings and the numerical analyses. It was observed that the failure mechanism is influenced by the soil condition and the slenderness ratio to some extent. Under the dry soil condition, no base pile deformation was observed; However, tip pile movement was observed under the saturated soil condition with pile slenderness ratios of 25 and 50. The findings of this study are also aimed to include an approximation of the long-term deformations at the ground surface which has experienced shaking.