Three dimensional analysis of building settlement caused by shaft construction

An analysis of a case history of settlement damage to a masonry building, due to the construction of a nearby shaft, is presented. Three-dimensional finite element analysis is used, in which the non-linear behaviour of both the soil (a heavily overconsolidated clay) and the building is taken into account. Procedures are used to capture the construction process as realistically as possible. Comparisons are made between a variety of analyses (including separate analyses of the building and the soil, and a fully coupled analysis of the whole system), as well as with observations at the site. The principal comparisons are in terms of observed surface settlements and of the categories of cracking damage suffered by the masonry building. It is concluded that the analysis technique can model adequately the interaction between the building and the ground, but that details of settlement and damage patterns depend critically on assumptions about the structure and stiffness of the building and its foundation.