Fundamentals of pile design in liquefiable and expansive soils - online

This course will help designers from different backgrounds to gain a wider and deeper understanding of the most important aspects of pile design and analysis of piles in liquefiable ground and in expansive soil conditions.

An overview of the fundamentals of the effects of soil liquefaction on foundation piles with respect to the lateral and the axial pile performance will be provided. The assessment of the reduced soil stiffness due to liquefaction and the influence on lateral pile displacements in liquefiable soils are discussed.

In addition, the principles of pile design in expansive soil conditions are introduced. Some cohesive soils may undergo considerable volume changes due to changes in their soil moisture content, resulting in substantial uplift forces during soil swelling. Such additional forces must be assessed and considered in the pile design in expansive ground conditions.

Even though these two cases of ground movements are usually unrelated to each other, their general influence on the lateral and axial pile design can be significant and must be adequately addressed in the pile design and analysis.

The final third of the scheduled time will involve working through examples and case studies to practice applying the principles explored in the course.

Learning outcomes

After completion of the course, participants will be able to:

• explain and apply the principles of pile design in liquefiable ground conditions and how the loss of soil strength of the liquefied soil in combination with large ground movements affects the pile performance (single piles)
• explain and apply the basic pile design principles applied in expansive soil conditions (single piles)
• describe the minimum requirements of geotechnical site investigation and testing which are required for the relevant design tasks described above,
• assess the general behaviour of piles during soil liquefaction and/ or soil shrinking/ swelling and the relevant geotechnical parameters which influence their performance
• describe the effects of different pile head connection details on the performance of the piles in liquefiable and expansive soils, and considerations that should be given to this.

Target audience

The course is designed for engineers and construction professional interested in the fundamentals of pile design in liquefiable and expansive ground conditions. Course participants should be familiar with fundamental geotechnical and structural design principles and some experience in the fundamentals of axial and lateral pile design is required to enhance the learning outcome.

The course is suitable as a ‘refresher’ for more experienced pile design engineers or as an introduction to participants with limited or no experience in piling design in liquefiable and/ or expansive soils.

Design engineers (structural, civil or geotechnical) from junior to senior level, researchers as well as technical/ engineering professionals from contracting firms, asset owners and/ or government agencies may find the course content relevant for their specific fields.

Format

During this course we will cover the most relevant aspects of pile design in liquefiable soils and expansive (shrink/ swell) soil formations. We will also discuss and work through some example calculations and case studies to demonstrate selected applications of the course content.

Presenter information 

Dr Martin Larisch is a Technical Leader for Ground Engineering at Jacobs New Zealand. He has been involved in piling and deep foundations for almost 25 years, holding various technical and operational positions for some of the leading geotechnical contracting and consultancy firms in New Zealand, Australia and Europe.

Throughout his professional career (which he started as a carpenter in Germany) he gained in-depth understanding and a holistic perspective of the different life cycle requirements and the risk profile of various piling and deep foundation systems from feasibility stage to project delivery and verification.

Martin has been involved in the design and delivery of a large number and variety of piling projects across New Zealand, Australia and Germany, ranging from the foundation of large landmark infrastructure projects, high-rise buildings to wind turbines, solar farms and residential foundations.

Martin has published more than 25 technical papers for international journals and conferences, and he has been involved in the review and development of various best industry guidelines for piles and deep foundations in Australia, Europe, North America and New Zealand.

He was appointed Associate A/Professor at the University of Queensland (Brisbane) from 2014 to 2021 and has facilitated various lectures and seminars related to pile design and ground improvement techniques.

Martin is currently representing the New Zealand Geotechnical Society (NZGS) in Technical Committee TC212 ‘Deep Foundations’ at the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical engineering (ISSMGE).