Soil arching analysis of pile-supported embankment with geosynthetics and verification by centrifuge tests

Pile-supported earth platforms provide an economical and effective solution for embankments constructed on soft soils, particularly during their rapid construction or when strict control over their deformation is necessary. Based on a three-dimensional assumption of soil arching, an analytical approach is developed to explore the soil arching of the pile-supported earth platform with geosynthetics under the embankment load and uniform pressure. Further, the expression of stress concentration ratio in the pile-supported earth platform with geosynthetics is improved through the analysis of the two regions on top of the pile caps. The results from the in-situ and centrifuge tests are compared with those from the analytical method.