Deep excavations in soft soil

A major problem in the analysis of deep excavations employing classical limit equilibrium methods is the prediction of lateral deflections and adjacent ground movements around the excavation. This is one of the reasons why numerical methods are increasingly employed. Parametric studies are performed to investigate the influence of different in situ lateral stress levels as well as interface element properties on the interaction between soil layers and diaphragm wall and on the deformation behaviour. The effect of the constitutive law on the deformation behaviour is shown by comparing results obtained from different soil models. In addition the influence of applying associated and non-associated flow rules are investigated. Different numerical codes are compared. The main goal is to optimize the staged sequence of construction as well as the levels and the required load capacity of the struts.