Add Single Piles or Forepoles

Piles/Forepoles can be added as individual (single) piles or pile patterns to selected faces or edges of external volume pieces.

To add Piles/Forepoles as individual piles to a selected face:

1. Select the Support workflow tab
2. Select Faces Selection as the Selection Mode.
3. Select the face on which to add the pile(s).
4. Select Add Piles or Forepoles from the toolbar or the Piles & Forepoles sub-menu of the Support menu.

TIP: with the face selected, you can also right-click on the viewing screen and select Add Piles or Forepoles from the Support sub-menu.

5. You will see the Add Piles/Forepoles dialog. In this dialog:
• Select the Pile/Forepole Property type.
• Select the pile/forepole Orientation (e.g. Normal, Trend & Plunge, or Vector).
• Select the pile/forepole Direction, by specifying the Axis and Imin Direction.
• Enter the Length of the pile/forepole.
• In a multi-stage mode, the Staging options allow you to specify the stage at which the piles(s)/forepole(s) will be installed and the stage at which the pile(s)/forepole(s) will be removed. In addition, it can be selected to automatically remove pile(s)/forepole(s) in excavated material using the available option.
• Select Application = Single Pile.
• Select the method to use in specifying the Pile Head Location.

See below for details about the property, orientation, direction, length, staging, application, and pile head location.

6. If Pile Head Location was selected as X,Y,Z in the previous step, enter the XYZ coordinates of the pile head and select Add. If Freehand is selected, use the view window and left click on the mouse to place the pile/forepole. With Freehand selected, the left click of the mouse effectively completes the placement and add operation. You may repeat this action for each pile/forepole.
7. When all piles/forepoles have been added to the selected face, select Done to complete and close the dialog.

To apply a single Pile/Forepole to an edge repeat the Steps 1 to 7, but use Edges Selection to select the edge(s) on which to add the pile.

Pile/Forepole Property

You can select a Pile/Forepole Property type in the Add Piles/Forepoles dialog. If you wish to edit the pile/forepole properties you can use the Edit Pile Property shortcut button beside the Pile property type list.

Pile/Forepole Orientation

The Orientation may be specified using one of the following options:

• Normal - piles/forepoles are applied normal to the boundaries
• Trend/Plunge - specify a trend and plunge
• Vector (x,y,z) - specify a vector from the x, y, and z-directions

Flip Orientation

Note that after adding a pile/forepole, the orientation may sometimes be opposite from the intended direction (i.e. 180 degrees off). If this occurs, you can select the pile and use the Properties pane option to "flip" (i.e. reverse) the load orientation by 180 degrees.

Pile/Forepole Direction

Remember that in RS3 a pile is simulated as a Beam, with additional properties to account for the pile/soil interface behaviour. In order to define how beams/piles are installed on a boundary with respect to the beam cross-section, you must choose a beam Axis and Imin Direction.

AXIS

You may choose either the Imin Axis or the Imax Axis of the beam cross-section to represent the beam cross-sectional axis.

IMIN / IMAX DIRECTION

You must then choose a direction for the chosen beam axis. The following options are available:

• Normal
• Trend & Plunge
• Vector

Pile/Forepole Length

The length of all piles/forepoles as measured along the axis of the pile/forepole.

Staging

If your model is staged, you can specify the installation and removal stage of piles/forepoles.

• Install at stage - by default the installation stage will be set to the stage that you are currently viewing (i.e. the currently selected stage tab). You can enter a different stage if necessary.
• Remove at stage - by default the removal stage will be set to never. You can enter the stage at which the piles/forepoles are to be removed (uninstalled), if applicable.

AUTO-REMOVE IN EXCAVATED MATERIAL

The piles/forepoles can be automatically removed in excavated materials if the Auto-remove in excavated material checkbox is selected.

Pile/Forepole Application and Pile Head Location

In RS3, Piles/Forepoles can be added as Single Pile or Pile Pattern. The Single Pile option allows the user to select the geometry on which the piles/forepoles are to be added and define the Pile Head Location by one of the following options:

• X,Y,Z - enter the XYZ coordinates of the pile head to be added. This option requires the use of the Add button after each pile/forepole head location is entered in order to add the pile/forepole to the model.
• Freehand - use the view window and left click on the mouse to place the pile/forepole. With this option selected, the left click of the mouse effectively completes the placement and adds the pile/forepole to the model.