NHERI

SimCenter - PILE GOUP TOOL

Design of Release Version #1

Authors: Peter Mackenzie-Helnwein1 and Pedro Arduino2

Tool Name: SimCenter/ (Pile Group) Application

Tool Audience (Users):

1) Students taking courses in geotechnical engineering and/or foundation
design, as well as students in structural engineering with focus on bridges and
bridge foundations.
2) Researchers/Practitioners trying to understand the effect of soil layering
and soil properties on the structural response of a pile group.

Tool Purpose:

Short version: This educational application allows the user to interactively explore
the nonlinear effects of soil parameters, soil layering, ground water table, pile
geometry (length and diameter) and number of piles.

Long version: The SimCenter Pile Group Tool, shown in Figure 2, provides a live
interface to study the behavior of a pile or pile group in layered soil. It allows the
user to interactively (and nearly instantly) observe the system's response to
changes of the following parameters:

● soil structure (up to 3 layers of variable thickness), soil properties,
● position of the ground water table,
● pile stiffness, embedment length, connection type to the pile cap,
● number of piles in the group (one to three piles), and
● the applied horizontal force at the pile cap (push-over analysis).

Presented results include

● lateral displacement of all piles,
● moment and shear diagrams for each pile,
● vertical soil stresses
● ultimate strength and stiffness parameters for the employed p-y springs.

1 Research Associate Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of
Washington, Seattle, WA
2 Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle,
WA

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Workflow:

The Pile Group Tool is an educational tool designed to interactively explore pile
group analysis without the need for the traditional explicit steps of converting a
design to a finite element program input, running the software, extracting and
visualizing results. Instead, it responds automatically to any changes provided by
the user. This is achieved by allowing various workflows to occur in random
sequencing, each one or multiple times.

Figure 1 shows the main workflow used to launch the application, as well as the
main workflow loop. All sub workflows, marked in red, are accompanied by a
respective tab in the main window (shown in Figure 2).

Figure 3, Figure 4, Figure 5 and Figure 6 show the possible sub workflow diagrams
that can be initiated from the main workflow loop (Figure 1).

Figure 1 Main workflow for the Pile Group tool.

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Figure 2 Appearance of the Release Version 1.0 of the SimCenter Pile Group Tool.

Figure 3 Pile configuration sub workflow: add/remove piles and adjust pile properties

3

Figure 4 Soil configuration sub workflow: Adjust layer properties and groundwater table

Figure 5 Load Control sub workflow: adjust applied load through slider and/or numeric control

Figure 6 Results sub workflow: elect and interact with result plots

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Technical background:

The soil-structure system is modeled using the OpenSees finite element
platform [1]. The employed model follows closely the example provided on the
OpenSees website [6], though extends the problem to multiple piles, all connected
by a pile cap. The Pile Group Tool provides a UI to allow an inexperienced, even
novice, user to utilize the powerful non-linear simulation tool in order to gain
insight in system behavior, as well as quickly explore the effect each parameter has
on the system.

The pile group is represented as multiple displacement-based elastic beams,
connected by a semi-rigid pile cap. The connection between piles and pile cap can
be modeled as flexible (hinged) or moment bearing (equal DOF constraint).

Soil-structure interaction is represented by appropriate nonlinear p-y spring (t-z
spring) elements for lateral (axial) movement. Spring properties are computed
using Hansen's method [2] and recommendations by the American Petroleum
Institute (API) [3]. A toe resistance can be added using an isolated T-z spring at the
toe of each pile.

The Pile Group Tool constructs a structurally and numerically appropriate finite
element mesh, computes spring properties from soil properties, and places spring
elements accordingly. The actual simulation employs a Newton-Raphson iterative
procedure to solve the governing nonlinear system of equations.

The user can quickly explore the effect of changing pile and soil properties to lateral
pile deformation, internal pile moment and shear distributions, overburden stress in
the soil, and spring parameters as obtained through Hansen [2] and API [3]
procedures. Moreover, the user can easily add and remove piles by the click of a
button to observe the effect of a pile group versus a single pile foundation.


Requirements:

In order to achieve the proposed functionality and educational as well as
engineering goals, the following are the mandatory functional requirements
identified by the group:

1. User able to modify properties soil layers and see effect on response:
a. specific weight (dry and wet)
b. internal friction angle
c. shear strength/stiffness
d. effect of the ground water table
2. User able to modify number and properties of piles and see effect on
response:
a. Pile diameter

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 b. Embedded length
c. Length above ground (one value for the entire pile group)
d. Stiffness (Young’s modulus)
3. User able to turn on/off the free/clamped pile head conditions
4. User to control applied lateral force and observe system response to a change
in force.
5. Display deformed shape for each pile
6. Display moment diagram for each pile
7. Display Shear diagram for each pile

After group members were exposed to the first working prototype version, further
items were identified as being desirable requirements in a release version (or future
advanced versions):

8. A dynamic system plot that displays the actual configuration as identified by
user parameters.
9. Availability of slider and numeric field for force selection.
10. Display of ultimate soil pressure as computed for the user-specified
configuration
11. Display of the y50 parameter as computed for the user-specified configuration
12. Display of the vertical stress profile for the layered soil.
13. More complex loading scenarios including vertical force and moment.
14. Additional Display options for pull-out simulations.
15. Switching between alternative methods for the identification of spring
parameters.
16. Export of an input file for OpenSees to enable students a quicker learning
experience for more advanced modelling.
17. Save and Load features for user settings, preferably in JSON format. (On
review, this was upgraded to a mandatory requirement for the tool and to be
implemented in Version 1.1)

Items 8-12 were included in the requirements list for release version 1.0.
Items 13-17 were deferred to later releases.

System Specification:

The Pile Group Tool is designed to work on Windows Computers (windows 7,
Windows 8, and Windows 10), Apple computer (MacOS Sierra and newer; iMac,
MacBook Air, MacBook Pro 13” and 15”), and all common Linux desktop
distributions.

The Pile Group Tool is not designed to work on mobile devices (iOS or Android) or
tablets (iPad). It will run on the Microsoft Surface Tablet.

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Schedule:
Version Release Requirements

0.1 Jan 2017* 1.a, 1.b, 1.c, 1.d, 2.a, 2.b, 2.c,
2.d, 4, 5, 6, 7

1.0 Sept 2017 1.a, 1.b, 1.c, 1.d, 2.a, 2.b, 2.c, 2.d,
3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

1.1 Dec 2017 1.a, 1.b, 1.c, 1.d, 2.a, 2.b, 2.c, 2.d,
3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13,
17

2.0 June 2018** 1.a, 1.b, 1.c, 1.d, 2.a, 2.b, 2.c, 2.d,
3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13,
14, 15, 16
*) internal, limited release to selected group members and graduate students.
**) tentative date

Milestones:

● January 2017, Prototype 1 released to leadership (ver 0.1)
● March 2017, code placed into Github. (ver 0.2)
● early June 2017, Prototype 2 (ver 0.3) released to selected leadership for
feedback.
● end of June 2017: Alpha version released to user group (ver 0.99)
● July 2017: pre-release of Version 1.0 released to user group and certain
NHERI Volunteer participants.
● end of September 2017: Public release of Version 1.0.

Communications among team members while tool under development:

1. Weekly meeting between Designer and Programmer while tool under active
development.
2. Weekly show and tell with other SimCenter programmers to elicit feedback
while tool under active development.
3. Bi-weekly discussion with selected geotechnical faculty and graduate
students at UW, Seattle.
4. Detail discussion with geotechnical faculty and graduate students on
particular functionality and usability features as needed, usually 1-2 sessions
per month.

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 5. Before release of tool, provide tool to user group members for testing and
additional feedback.

Staffing with Required Expertise:

Tool development requires user interface design, user interface programming, finite
element programming for earthquake simulation and computational fluid dynamics
for wind/water-structure coupling if necessary.

• UI Design ver 0.1 – Frank McKenna
• UI Design (ver 0.2 through 1.0) – Max Rutman, Peter Mackenzie-Helnwein
• UI Programming Prototype 1/FE Programming (ver 0.1) – Frank McKenna.
• UI Programming Prototype 2/FE Programming (ver 0.2/0.3)– Peter
Mackenzie-Helnwein, Alborz Ghofrani.
• UI Programming release version 1.0/FE Programming – Peter Mackenzie-
Helnwein.
• Tool Testing John Blowe, Pedro Arduino, Alborz Ghofrani, and User group
members
• V&V: Peter Mackenzie-Helnwein, Alborz Ghofrani, Pedro Arduino.

Documentation:

This document and further documentation in form of annotated screenshots (walk
through) and a matlab code for validation are available from tool website:
https://simcenter.designsafe-ci.org/learning-tools/pile-group-application/

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Verification:

Theory:
The static soil-pile interaction problem at hands is solved using a simplified, though
nonlinear approach commonly used in unidirectional and cyclic pushover analysis
of pile foundations. The pile is modeled as an elastic beam (allowing for flexural
deformation under load), while the soil response is modeled through a nonlinear
spring with empirically determined characteristics. A typical spring characteristic is
described by [4]
!
𝑐 𝑦!"
𝑝 = 𝑝!"# − (𝑝!"# − 𝑝! ) !
𝑐 𝑦!" + (𝑦! − 𝑦! )

where pult = the ultimate resistance of the p − y material in the current loading
direction, po = p at the start of the current plastic loading cycle, 𝑦!! = 𝑦! at the start
of the current plastic loading cycle, c = constant to control the tangent modulus at
the start of plastic yielding, and n = an exponent to control sharpness of the p−yp
curve [4]. For granular soil, which is a restriction for Version 1.0 of the Pile Group
Tool, these parameters can be identified from pult and y50 only.

The reader is referred to the OpenSees Manual, PySimple1 Material documentation
[5] for further details on the underlying theory.

Verification Examples:

Validation of the tool is difficult due to the nonlinear nature of the equations. Hence,
a multi-step approach was employed:

1. The underlying analysis engine for the Pile Group Tool is the Finite Element
platform OpenSees, developed by PEER and extensively tested by its
developers, collaborators, and a by now world-wide user community. We,
thus, consider OpenSees and in particular simulation results generated by
OpenSees as a valid reference solution.

This allowed us to use debug write-out of the generated finite element
objects to verify the equivalent OpenSees user input files, which passed mesh
verification, and p-y Spring parameter verification. (Parameter verification
given in Example 1)

This part of validation also verified proper recognition of user-provided
input parameters.

2. Moreover, three graphic options for displaying vertical soil stress (as used in
the calculation of spring parameters), as well as distribution of pult and y50

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 along each pile were added to the tool for easier verification of intermediate
computations. Our group of alpha and beta testers, as well as geotechnical
engineering faculty exposed to early versions of the Pile Group Tool deemed
these plots very useful for the educational target. Thus, these graphs
remained part of the release Version 1.0 despite of being introduced as
debug/validation aid.

3. The last portion of validation is looking at the proper import of simulation
results, and its accurate graphical representation. Spot verification can be
performed by comparing displayed peak displacement, moments, and shear
forces against an equivalent simulation using OpenSees directly, which the
tool passed.

4. An alternative validation can be obtained by a simplified analytical model to
obtain bounding values. An upper bound for load bearing capacity can be
obtained using a semi-rigid pile embedded in soil assumed to be at critical
capacity, i.e., the load on the pile reached pult. This upper bound validation is
provided as Example 2.

5. A laterally loaded single pile in homogeneous soil has been analyzed using a
matlab code developed by Alborz Ghofrani, currently a graduate student at
the University of Washington, Seattle. It independently demonstrates
nonlinear effects and can be used as validation for the intermediate state of
the system. Analysis parameters and settings for the Pile Group Tool are
provided in Example 3. Results from both tools are compared to demonstrate
excellent agreement.

Example 1: Verification of soil stress and p-y spring parameters.
Prior to creating the finite element model of the pile group, the Pile Group Tool
needs to analyze the overburden stress in the layered soil. That vertical stress and
the pile diameter-to-depth-ratio are the controlling parameters for computing
strength and stiffness parameters for the p-y-springs.

A three-layer soil model was used to verify accuracy of the Pile Group Tool. The
simplest validation is obtained by setting parameters for all soil layers to identical
values and verify that stress and parameter curves are smooth and match the
analytical definition(s). Figure 7 shows perfect agreement of the Pile Group Tool
with an independent computation using Mathematica. Similar plots can be
obtained for heterogeneous layering but are omitted in this documentation.

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Figure 7 Ultimate soil pressure, pult, computed with Mathematica (using Hansen’s equations [2]) on the
left, and from the Pile Group Tool on the right.

Example 2: Study of a very stiff pile loaded close to its ultimate state.
This example pushes the soil (represented by p-y springs) far into the plastic
regime, i.e., close to the limit of the nonlinear problem. No closed form solution
exists for that problem. Instead, a limit state model can be constructed as follows:

1. Assume the pile rotates rigidly around its toe.
2. Assume the soil reached the ultimate capacity, i.e., the load on the pile
reached pult.
3. Moment equilibrium demands sum of moments around the pile toe to be
zero. This yields an upper bound for the ultimate lateral force that the pile
can carry.
4. The lateral equilibrium of forces is satisfied by means of a concentrated
horizontal force at the toe.

Implementing these assumptions using Mathematica yields for a lateral force of
P=10,000 kN moment and shear as shown in Figure 8 and Figure 9.

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Figure 8 upper bound shear curve for 𝜸 = 𝟏𝟔 𝒌𝑵/𝒎𝟑, 𝝓 = 𝟑𝟓°, 𝒅 = 𝟏. 𝟎 𝒎, and 𝑳 = 𝟐𝟎. 𝟎 𝒎.

Figure 9 Upper bound moment curve for 𝜸 = 𝟏𝟔 𝒌𝑵/𝒎𝟑, 𝝓 = 𝟑𝟓°, 𝒅 = 𝟏. 𝟎 𝒎, and 𝑳 = 𝟐𝟎. 𝟎 𝒎.

A similar analysis using the Pile Group Tool with a single pile and using an elastic
modulus 𝐸 = 1,000 𝐺𝑃𝑎 for the pile yields:

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Figure 10 Shear (left) and moment (right) as obtained by the Pile Group Tool. All soil layer using
𝜸 = 𝟏𝟔 𝒌𝑵/𝒎𝟑, 𝝓 = 𝟑𝟓° and above ground water table conditions.

Results from the Pile Group Tool as shown in Figure 10 agree very well with the
limit states in

• The upper 2/3rds of the pile where the simplified assumptions represent the
nonlinear solution rather well.
• The location of zero shear at z approximately 9.2 m. This also marks the
location of maximum moment.
• The magnitude of maximum moment.

The lower 1/3rd of the pile differs since the nonlinear analysis allows for a
distributed resistance rather than the simplified concentrated reaction force at the
toe.

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Example 3: Single-pile foundation
The nonlinear features are validated using an independent matlab code which
models a single pile in homogeneous soil. The simulation is totally independent
from OpenSees, and thus, independent of any code library used in the Pile Group
Tool. The matlab code is provided on the Pile Group Tool page on DesignSafe-ci.

Figure 11 shows the soil and pile parameters used in the matlab verification code.
Note, that the pile length in this matlab code represents the sum of embedded length
plus free length as given in the Pile Group Tool.

% pile section properties
D = 1.0; % pile diameter
E = 3.0e7; % pile elastic modulus
L = 21.0; % pile length (overall)
L1 = 1.0; % length of pile above ground
% soil properties
gamma = 18.0; % soil unit weight
phi = 35*pi/180.0; % friction angle
% pile head loads
Q = 000.0; % axial force on the pile
P = 500.0; % lateral force on the pile
M = 0.0; % moment force on the pile
Figure 11 Parameter definition within the matlab validation code

Figure 12 shows the soil properties as used in the Pile Group Tool. A layered
structure was used with identical soil properties. This allowed us to verify that the
solution is independent of layer thickness, which it should be and also is.

Figure 12 Soil layer properties for all layers. Identical propertied to emulate homogeneous soil.

Figure 13 shows a view of the entire UI. This view, with the single pile selected,
shows the pile properties and the applied lateral load. Moreover, the resulting
lateral deflection is visible.

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Figure 13 Pile properties, System configuration, and computed lateral deflection.

Figure 14 and Figure 15 show deflection, moment, and shear diagrams as obtained
from the matlab validation code and from the Pile Group Tool, respectively.
Deflection and moment are in very good agreement. The shear force differs slightly,
with the Pile Group Tool missing the sharp transitions at depths of 4.6 m and 8 m.
The reason for the difference is in the way the p-y curves are modelled in the matlab
code versus OpenSees. The first uses cubic polynomials, while the latter uses a
atanh(y) function.

Overall, the two independent solutions are in very good agreement.

15

Figure 14 Graphs for deflection (left), moment (center), and shear (right) over pile length as obtained
by the independent matlab validation code.

Figure 15 Graphs for deflection (left), moment (center), and shear (right) over pile length as obtained
by the SimCenter Pile Group Tool.

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Implementation on DesignSafe-ci.

The tool is built as a stand-alone desktop application. It does not utilize DesignSafe-
ci resources.

References:
1. OpenSees. Home page: http://opensees.berkeley.edu/ (last lookup
September 25, 2017)
2. Brinch Hansen, J. (1961). “The ultimate resistance of rigid piles against
transversal forces.” Bulletin No. 12, Geoteknisk Institute, Copenhagen, 59.
3. American Petroleum Institute (API) (1987). Recommended Practice for
Planning, Designing and Constructing Fixed Offshore Platforms. API
Recommended Practice 2A(RP-2A), Washington D.C, 17th edition.
4. Boulanger, R. W., Curras, C. J., Kutter, B. L., Wilson, D. W., and Abghari, A.
(1999). "Seismic soil-pile-structure interaction experiments and analyses."
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, ASCE, 125(9):
750-759
5. PySimple1 Material model in OpenSees. Developed by Ross Boulanger, UC
Davis; http://opensees.berkeley.edu/wiki/index.php/PySimple1_Material
(last lookup September 25, 2017)

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Tool Iteration:

The following shows some of the design iterations that the tool has undergone from
initial sketch-up through the different releases.

Prototype 1 (version 0.1)

developed by F. McKenna

Tool Purpose: An educational tool to show effect of ground structure (homogeneous
soil), soil parameters, and pile parameters (diameter, length, stiffness) utilizing
OpenSee’s p-y-springs and beam models. Restricted to a single pile

Wireframe and functional requirements
developed by McKenna.

Functionality Specifications:

• User Start application
• Open with suitable set of parameters
• Allow user to change soil parameters and see near instant response
• Allow user to change pile parameters and see near instant response
• Allow user to change load and see near instant response of the nonlinear
system

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Wireframe & Prototype 1 (version 0.1):

Figure 16 Initial UI Mockup (screenshot from implemented prototype)

Table 1 Element specification for Figure 16

Element Element Description Category Action & Events Else

ID
1 Problem container
definition area
2 Parameter notebook
definition area
3 result notebook use instances of
visualization QCP
area

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Current Wireframe & Use Description & High Fidelity Mockup:

Figure 17 High-fidelity mockup for version 0.1 (including wish-list items)

20

Table 2 Functionality Specifications for wireframe shown in Figure 17.

Elemen Element Description Category Action & Events Else

t ID
1 Problem definition container
area
1a applied horizontal textinput store info and adjust plot in section 1
force
1b layer #1 thickness textinput store info and adjust plot in section 1
1c layer #2 thickness textinput store info and adjust plot in section 1
1d visualization/pile graphic double-click activates property section
2


2 Parameter notebook
definition area
2a specific weight textinput update property variable upon change
2b friction angle textinput update property variable upon change
2c shear modulus textinput update property variable upon change
2d pu (ultimate textinput update property variable upon change
pressure)
2e k-parameter textinput update property variable upon change
2f qround water table combo box: update property variable upon change defines
above|below whether we
deal with
saturated or
wet soil


3 result visualization notebook use instances
area of QCP
3a displacement graph visualize tab change page in notebook to show
selector computed respective result
displacements
3b moment graph tab change page in notebook to show
selector respective result
3c shear graph selector tab change page in notebook to show
respective result
3d pile position axis QCP allow to zoom in/out measured
from top
down
3e result value axis adjust to max QCP
value

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Prototype 2 (versions 0.2 and 0.3)
developed by P. Mackenzie-Helnwein and P. Arduino

Tool Purpose: An educational tool to show effect of ground structure (layers as
defined through a bore hole), soil parameters, and pile parameters (diameter,
length, stiffness) utilizing OpenSee’s p-y-springs and beam models.

Functionality of Prototype 1 expanded to three (3) soil layers, and one to three (1-3)
piles with connecting pile cap.

Version 0.2: incorporates functionality with minimalist visualization of results.
Static system sketch only.

Lead Programmer: Peter Mackenzie-Helnwein
Additional contribution Programmer: Alborz Ghofrani

Functionality Specifications:
• User Start application
• Open with suitable set of parameters
• Allow user to change soil parameters and see near instant response
o Soil parameters are entered in a layer by layer basis. The interface
appears in the shape of a table with one row per layer.
• Allow user to change pile parameters and see near instant response
o Pile parameters appear on a pile-per-pile basis.
o Can be implemented as either table
• Allow user to change load and see near instant response of the nonlinear
system

Version 0.3: improved quality result plots; dynamic system graphics reflecting user
configuration parameters.

Programmer: Peter Mackenzie-Helnwein

Functionality Specifications:
• User Start application
• Open with suitable set of parameters
• Allow user to change soil parameters and see near instant response
o Soil parameters are entered in a layer by layer basis.
o Offer layer selection (grouped radio buttons) and use stacked widgets
one per layer.
• Allow user to change pile parameters and see near instant response
o Pile parameters appear on a pile-per-pile basis.
o Can be implemented as table, one column per pile.
• Allow user to change load and see near instant response of the nonlinear
system

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 • User entry for number of piles (>=1, <=3)
• Add debug graphics for pult and y50.

Design Sketches (April 2017)

Figure 18 Design sketches for the transition from Prototype 1 (Version 0.1) to a Release Version 1.0.

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Wireframe & Prototype 2 (version 0.2):
Multiple options for moving from single pile in homogeneous soil toward multiple
piles in layered soil. One approach was to look into a modular concept as shown in
Figure 19 and Table 3. This approach was eventually morphed into an integrated UI
in order to keep the educational tool simpler and provide a more natural, less
confusing workflow for the inexperienced user.

Figure 19 Mock-up for a more modular implementation. Transition from version 0.2 to version 0.3.

24
 Table 3 Functional definition for proposed modular design shown in Figure 19

25
Alpha Release Version (version pre-1.0) and Release (Version (1.0)
developed by P. Mackenzie-Helnwein

DesignSafe-ci URL: https://simcenter.designsafe-ci.org/learning-tools/pile-group-application/

Source code repository: URL: https://github.com/NHERI-SimCenter/PileGroupTool

Lead Programmer: Peter Mackenzie-Helnwein

Functionality Specifications:

• User Start application
• Open with suitable set of parameters
• Allow user to change soil parameters and see near instant response
o Soil parameters are entered in a layer by layer basis.
• Allow user to change pile parameters and see near instant response
o Pile parameters appear on a pile-per-pile basis.
o Table doesn’t work – too busy;
o Use stacks of input widgets, one tab per pile.
• Allow user to change load and see near instant response of the nonlinear
system
• A button to add/clone the active pile.
• A button to delete the active pile.
• Add slider for easier control of lateral load.
• Add fully dynamic system plot to reflect user input.
• Add preferences dialog to enable additional graphic views.

Wireframe & Functions Specifications:

Figure 20 shows the wireframe for the Release Version 1.0. This wireframe show
the final attempt to create an intuitive, relatively simple UI that integrates pile
configuration, pile parameters for an active pile only, soil configuration, and soil
properties, again, for a selected soil layer only.

Table 4 presents the initial function specification for the wireframe. Several features
were added during implementation and, especially in response to test user
feedback. The key feature is likely the visual selection of soil layers and/or piles
when selected in the parameter tab, as well as switching to the respective tab if a
pile or soil layer gets selected by the user.

26

Figure 20 Wireframe for the release version 1.0 (applies to versions pre-1.0 and 1.0).

Table 4 Function specification for the wireframe (Release Version 1.0) as shown in Figure 20.

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Ideas for Release Version 2.0 (year 2; release summer 2018)
Lead developer: Peter Mackenzie-Helnwein

Requirements:
● User able to define and select from previously stored soil profiles (bore holes)
o Layer thickness
● User able to define and select from previously stored soil properties, one
selection per layer
o Layer material type
o Dry density/specific weight
o Saturated density/specific weight
o Internal friction angle (strength 1)
o Shear stiffness
o Porosity (reserved for version 2.0, year 2)
o Saturation (reserved for version 2.0, year 2)
o Cohesion (strength 2) (reserved for version 2.0, year 2)
● User able to add piles at various locations
o 2D placement = x-coordinate/offset
o Total length
o Height above surface
● User able to modify pile properties:
o Diameter
o MOE for pile material (concrete or steel)
o Future: incorporate fiber sections to account for reinforcement patterns.
● User able to define loads on the pile cap:
o Horizontal load
o Vertical load
o Moment
● User able to save and load models and current layer and soil properties.
● User able to view pile response for any selected pile in pile group:
o Displacement along the pile (horizontal AND vertical)
o Moment diagram along the pile
o Shear diagram along the pile

Risks:
● No one with expertize to implement tool. (very low risk)
● Complexity of integration of bore hole tool and soil tool which are desired to live
as stand alone tools as well as integrated in the educational tool. Building those
for the general (future) use cases adds extra development effort up front.

Verification Examples (test functionality):

1. User can create material data set in soil properties widget.
2. User can store and load previously stored soil property data.

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3. User can generate a layered soil model – single layer, two layers, up to three
layers
4. User can assign soil properties to layer model using the soil property tables.
5. User can store and load previously stored layer models (bore holes)
6. User can add and remove piles, one at a time, to the layer model.
7. User can assign pile properties to each pile.
8. User can assign forces (vertical and/or horizontal) and a moment to the pile
head.
9. User can store and load previously stored models.
10. User can analyze and visualize pile deformation, moment, and shear diagrams
for each pile individually.


Design Proposal for Version 2.0: modular design

Fundamental concept changes:

1. Soil specification module: allow for collection of test data from labs, with a
future extension to allow collection of information from various databases.
a. INPUT: user-provided soil data for various soils. To be stored in JSON.
b. OUTPUT: information of user-selected single soil wrapped into
standardized JSON structure.

2. Borehole specification module: allow for user-provided borehole data/soil
layer structure.
a. USER INPUT: user-provided layer thickness, soil classification
b. INPUT through SimCenter::Connector: information about single soil
layer provided through the Soil specification module (in form of
standardized JSON structure)
c. OUTPUT: complete borehole information including layer structure,
soil properties, location data, all wrapped into a standardized JSON
structure

3. Pile Group Analysis & Design tool: Graphic UI for
a. The design of a site specific soil structure and pile group.
b. Graphic representation of results (displacements, moments, and shear
diagrams per pile)

Major differences from Release Version 1.0:

1. Soil specification module can be operated independently from any tool.
a. This will allow to create user-specific collections of soil properties, but
also to connect to and share with various online databases.
b. Information provided will be available to other software modules
such as OpenSees or other Finite Element packages through a

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 SimCenter::Connector object.

2. Borehole specification module can be operated independently from any
tool.
a. This will allow to create user-specific collections of borehole
specifications for multiple sites, but also to connect to and share with
various online databases.
b. Information provided will be available to other software modules
such as OpenSees or other Finite Element packages through a
SimCenter::Connector object.
c. Commercial software such as Plaxis is utilizing a borehole model and
thus, a connector to and from Plaxis is thinkable for future expansion.

3. Pile Group Analysis & Design tool: this tool maintains its educational
functionality but will benefit from the ability to connect to the Borehole
specification tool and thus share information with other students,
researches, or professionals.

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