Numerical study on oblique-straight alternate piles for active support of excavations

With the increasing emphasis on the sustainable development in geotechnical engineering, the support technology without horizontal support has been vigorously developed. A new type of active controllable support technology without horizontal support that can effectively control the deformation of soils is put forward. The finite difference software FLAC^3D is used to create 3D models, in which, the influences of factors such as jack position, expansion displacement, and inclination angle of active piles are studied and analyzed. The results show that the active control technology can be well applied to oblique-straight alternate pile support technology. At the same time, it is found that the hydraulic jack is better to be placed on the inclined pile top. In addition, the increases of expansion displacement and inclination angle of the active control piles are beneficial to the enhancement of the active control performance. Some reasonable suggestions are also proposed for different engineering situations.