GGSD Program Details for GROUP 3D

GROUP 3D

Category	Piles (lateral loading and groups)
Publisher	Ensoft Inc
Platform	Win2000, WinXP
Status	Commercial
Description	GROUP 3D is a design tool for analysing the behaviour of piles in a group subjected to both axial and lateral loadings. The program was developed to compute the distribution of loads (vertical, lateral, and overturning moment in up to three orthogonal axes) from the pile cap to piles arranged in a group. The piles may be installed vertically or on a batter and their heads may be fixed, pinned, or elastically restrained by the pile cap. The pile cap may settle, translate, and/or rotate and is assumed to act as a rigid body. The program will generate the non-linear response of the soil, in the form of t-z and q-w curves for axial loading, in the form of p-y curves for lateral loading and in the form of t-r curves for torsional loading. A solution requires iteration to accommodate the non-linear response of each pile in the group model. It solves the non-linear response of each pile under combined loadings and assures compatibility of geometry and equilibrium of forces between the applied external loads and the reactions of each pile head. The p-y, t-z, q-w and t-r curves may be generated internally, employing recommendations in technical literature, or may be entered manually by the user. The pile-head forces and movements are introduced into equations that yield the behaviour of the pile group in a global coordinate system. For closely-spaced piles, the pile-soil-pile interaction can be taken into account by introducing reduction factors for the p-y curves used for each single pile. As an option, the user can ask the program to generate suggestions for p-multipliers to automatically reduce the soil resistance. It allows for the analyses of pile groups with 2-dimensional models (typical of symmetrical pile arrangements with three degrees of freedom) and with 3-dimensional models (handling components with six degrees of freedom).
Cost	US Dollars 1450
Data formats supported	None stated
Supplier in United States of America	Ensoft Inc