Influences of stiffness of piles on failure modes of embankment of composite foundation

The post-failure simulations of ideal elastic-plastic and brittle cracks are adopted to analyze the bearing capacities of piles based on the existing researches. The weakening of flexural and shear capacities when cracks are generated can be better reflected by the brittle crack model. A finite difference method is adopted to analyze the stability of pile-supported embankment. The analysis reveals the failure modes of piles are different under different elastic moduli of materials and embankment loads. When the stiffness and strength of piles reach a certain value, bending-tensile failure happens. The brittle crack model should be used to describe the weakening of the flexural and shear capacities of piles as well as the progressive failure of different piles.