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Volume 45 Issue 3
Jun.  2026
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Article Navigation >  CARSOLOGICA SINICA  > 2026  >  45(3): 603-614
YANG Bai, XIAO Kang, PAN Zongyuan, QIN Chao, HUANG Xiang. Study on vertical bearing behavior of pile foundations overlying karst cavities[J]. CARSOLOGICA SINICA, 2026, 45(3): 603-614. doi: 10.11932/karst2025y027
Citation: YANG Bai, XIAO Kang, PAN Zongyuan, QIN Chao, HUANG Xiang. Study on vertical bearing behavior of pile foundations overlying karst cavities[J]. CARSOLOGICA SINICA, 2026, 45(3): 603-614. doi: 10.11932/karst2025y027
shu

Study on vertical bearing behavior of pile foundations overlying karst cavities

doi: 10.11932/karst2025y027
  • 1.

    School of Architecture and Transportation Engineering, Guilin University of Electronic Technology, Guilin, Guangxi 541004, China

  • 2.

    Faculty of Geosciences and Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, Sichuan 611756, China

  • 3.

    Institute of Karst Geology, CAGS/ Key Laboratory of Karst Dynamics, MNR & GZAR/ Key Laboratory of Karst Collapse Prevention,CGS, Guilin, Guangxi 541004, China

  • 4.

    School of Civil Engineering, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin, Guangxi 541006, China

  • Received Date: 2025-04-15
  • Accepted Date: 2025-11-12
  • Rev Recd Date: 2025-10-09
    Abstract
  • Karst regions are extensively distributed acorss China, where rock-socketed pile foundations are widely adopted in the construction of bridges, buildings, and other infrastructure owing to their high bearing capacity, minimal settlement, and favorable deformation control performance. However, when a karst cave exists beneath the pile tip, its load transfer mechanism, failure mode, and ultimate bearing capacity may deviate markedly from those of conventional pile foundations. Consequently, the stability of the cave roof and the interactions among the pile, overlying soil, bedrock, and underlying cavity constitute critical determinants of foundation safety. To investigate the vertical bearing behavior of pile foundations with underlying karst caves, this study integrates physical model tests with three-dimensional numerical simulations to examine the effects of cave roof thickness and rock-socketed ratio on failure characteristics, load–displacement response, axial force transfer, lateral resistance distribution, and ultimate bearing capacity.The physical model tests were designed based on the geological conditions of a karst site in Jiangnan District, Nanning, Guangxi, where the overlying layer is mainly red clay and the bedrock is moderately weathered dolomite. With a geometric similarity ratio of 30 and a volumetric weight similarity ratio of 1.2, nine model piles were fabricated in total. In the cave-roof-thickness test series, five piles shared a constant rock-socketed ratio of 0.5 while the cave roof thicknesses varied from 1D to 5D. In the rock-socketed-ratio test series, five piles maintained a uniform cave roof thickness of 3D with rock-socketed ratios ranging from 0.2 to 0.6; one specimen was shared between the two test series. The slow maintained load procedure was adopted to obtain the load–displacement curves at the pile top and the internal force responses along the pile shaft. Concurrently, a corresponding full-scale (1∶1) numerical model was developed using PLAXIS 3D. The Mohr–Coulomb constitutive model was assigned to both soil and rock masses, whereas the pile body was simulated as a linear elastic material. Interface elements were embedded at the pile shaft and pile tip to characterize the pile–soil and pile–rock contact behaviors. The interface strength reduction factors were determined via direct shear tests, yielding values of 0.5 for the pile–soil interface and 0.8 for the pile-rock interface.The results indicate that pile foundation with underlying karst caves exhibit a composite failure mode: columnar shear failure occurs along the pile shaft within the surrounding soil and rock mass, accompanied by trumpet-shaped punching failure of the cave roof beneath the pile tip. The displacement contour plots derived from numerical simulations are generally consistent with the failure morphology observed in the physical model tests, demonstrating that the established numerical model can effectively reproduce the failure mechanism of the pile-rock–cavity system. As the cave roof thickness increases, both the height and the scope of influence of the failure zone expand; conversely, these dimensions diminish with increasing rock-socketed ratio. These findings reveal that the roof thickness and the socketing condition collectively govern the diffusion of pile-tip loads within the rock mass and the subsequent punching failure process of the cave roof.The load-displacement curves of pile foundations with underlying karst caves exhibit distinct abrupt-failure characteristics. During the initial loading stage, the pile-head displacement increases approximately linearly with the applied load.Upon reaching the ultimate bearing capacity, any further load increment triggers a sharp surge in displacement, indicating sudden punching failure or instability of the cave roof. In contrast, piles without underlying cavities display a gradual load-displacement response without any pronounced inflection point. This discrepancy reflects the competitive relationship between the shaft resistance mobilized along the pile-soil/rock interface and the punching resistance offered by the cave roof. When the cave roof is relatively thin, the stress-affected zone beneath the pile tip readily penetrates the roof, rendering punching failure the dominant failure mechanism. Conversely, when the roof thickness is sufficient, the pile-tip load diffuses more effectively within the rock mass, leading to stable bearing behavior of the pile foundation.The axial force and shaft resistance profiles further elucidate the load transfer mechanism of pile foundation with underlying karst caves.At various load levels, the axial force along the pile shaft decreases progressively with depth, exhibiting a notably higher attenuation rate within the rock mass than within the overlying soil layer. Piles with underlying cavities predominantly behave as end-bearing piles. The distribution of shaft resistance displays a characteristic L-shaped pattern. Owing to the relatively low cohesion and internal friction angle of the red clay, the shaft resistance in the soil layer remains modest and mobilizes rapidly with increasing vertical load. In contrast, the rock mass possesses superior strength parameters; once relative shear displacement occurs at the pile-rock interface, the rock shaft resistance increases substantially, forming a distinct inflection point near the soil-rock interface. Both the rock shaft resistance and the pile tip resistance escalate continuously with rising vertical load, indicating that the bearing capacity of such piles is collectively governed by the rock shaft resistance, the pile tip resistance, and the stability of the underlying cave roof.The numerical results show good agreement with the physical model tests, with relative errors in ultimate bearing capacity ranging from −22.2% to 15.8%. Upon validating the reliability of the numerical model, parametric analyses were further extended to cover cave roof thicknesses from 1D to 10D and rock-socketed ratios from 0.2 to 1.0. The results indicate that the ultimate bearing capacity increases with cave roof thickness, exhibiting an approximately linear growth trend within the 1D–6D range; beyond 6D, the increase gradually plateaus. Conversely, the ultimate bearing capacity decreases with increasing rock-socketed ratio, showing an approximately linear decline as the ratio rises from 0.2 to 0.6; when the ratio exceeds 0.6, the rate of decrease diminishes markedly. These findings provide valuable references for evaluating the bearing behavior of rock-socketed piles in karst regions, determining rational design parameters, and implementing effective safety control measures.

     

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