Contribuição ao estudo da influência de escavações nos recalques superficiais de construções vizinhas

Abstract

The present thesis aims at contributing to the study of the influence of excavations on settlements of nearby structures. This is a theme of major interest in urban areas where a concentration of tall buildings is very common. A detailed analysis of the main available empirical methods is presented dealing with the settlement prediction caused by nearby excavations. Some aspects of the numerical tools employed in the analysis are also detailed. The validation of the numerical analysis is made through a comparison of its results for a strutted excavation with the results of the same application using a well estabilished method, adopted in design, based on plastic equilibrium equations. A case history extensively documented in previous research was chosen for a comparative analysis confronting the prediction of ground surface settlement during excavation based on empirical methods and also by means of the numerical approach. The results are then compared with the experimental data. The present research has shown that the empirical method proposed by Hsieh and Ou (1998) best reproduced the experimental behavior. Not only has the method been able to predict the maximum settlement but it has also shown ability to predict the ground settlement profile. The numerical analysis of the selected case history confirmed the observations of some authors that the finite element analysis is able to predict horizontal displacements of the excavation wall but less accurately predict ground surface settlements.