General definition

By selecting "Reinforced concrete pile" in the pile cap entry or editing window, it is possible to specify the characteristics of each pile, in addition to the ground data and other calculation parameters.

This option can analyse, verify and design piles as reinforced concrete elements, in addition to the analysis of the pile cap.

• From the "Pile" drop-down menu, pile types are created and selected with data on their geometry, material, section and reinforcement.
• The "Length (Lt)" refers to the length of the pile under the pile cap.
• "Penetration (Lp)" indicates the length of the pile that penetrates the pile cap. It is recommended to enter a value between 10 and 15 centimetres.
• Next, you must configure the "Terrain", which you can create, edit and save in a list of terrains using the tools on the right.
• The "Terrain elevations" option allows you to define the "Elevation of the natural terrain surface", the "Excavation depth" based on the previous one, and the elevation of the "Water table".
• Finally, by ticking the corresponding boxes, you can indicate the "Eccentricity for minimum moment", the "Minimum axial force" (based on a coefficient that multiplies its "Axial force") and the "Buckling coefficient".
• Where applicable, the "Spacing between pile axes" is also indicated and, if rectangular or linear pile caps have been selected, the "Number of piles".
• The "Pile displacement" option appears in some types of pile caps and allows you to apply an "X displacement" and a "Y displacement" to each of the piles in order to make small adjustments to their position.

Pile selection

In the "Pile" drop-down menu, when you click on "New" or "Edit selected type", you define:

• the "Reference" of the pile;
• the "Type" of pile ("Prefabricated driven" or "Cast in situ");
• its "Section" ("Circular" or "Square");
• its "Diameter" or "Width", depending on whether the pile section is circular or square;
• the "Materials" of the pile, including the "Concrete" and "Steel" of its reinforcement;
• its "Longitudinal reinforcement", which can be defined in "Corners" and for "Face X / Face Y") in square section piles;
• its "Transverse reinforcement" throughout the pile by default, with the option to define "Additional abutment sections" by clicking on the button on the right:
  • each additional abutment section indicates the "Length" and "Transverse reinforcement" arranged in that section, which will replace the default transverse reinforcement; the additional transverse reinforcement sections defined will be arranged with respect to the pile head and will be represented in the plans of the foundation element, both in the pile section and in the attached information table;
• the concrete "Cover" over the reinforcement;
• and the symbol used for the pile (by activating the "With symbol" checkbox).

The information entered for each pile type can be viewed in a list of types and copied, edited or exported to files on disk using the corresponding options to be used in other models.

The floating window is used to adjust the display of the stress diagrams by means of the following options:

• The following options are available at the top:
  • The "See contour plots", "See contour lines with values" and "See isolines without values" options can activate the display of the information in the indicated formats.
  • Alternatively, users can "Automatically scale when zooming in" so that colours, lines and values displayed on the screen are adjusted according to the visible area when zooming in. 
  • Optionally, the "Colours for the representation of contour plots" can be modified, including the range and number of colours.
• Worst case / Combinations / Maximum
  In this drop-down menu, users select whether the following voltage values are to be displayed or not:
  • Worst case
    Displays the worst-case stress of any combination at each point. At each point, the stress shown may belong to a different combination.
  • Combinations
    Displays the stresses of a particular combination chosen by the user, to be selected in a second drop-down.
  • Maximum
    Displays the results of the combination resulting in the maximum stresses.
• Minimum value / Maximum (optional)
• By activating these boxes and entering a numerical value in the corresponding fields, the minimum and maximum values of the colour gamut range of the representation can be set.