Three‐dimensional Finite Element (FE) simulations involving numerous slender structures with high length‐to‐diameter ratios have become a standard task in geotechnical design practice. Deep foundations supported by bored piles exemplify this problem class. The Standard FE pproach (SFEA), which explicitly discretizes slender structures using solid FEs, often leads to prohibitive mesh topologies and high computational costs. To overcome these limitations, embedded pile (EP) elements are increasingly adopted, offering reduced modelling effort, lower simulation runtimes, and direct extraction of stress resultants. However, state‐of‐the‐art formulations often exhibit limitations such as mesh‐size dependent responses and an idealized centreline‐based representation of soil–structure interaction, which reduce the credibility of the numerical predictions. This concern has motivated the development of an enhanced formulation, referred to as Embedded Pile with Implicit Interaction Surface (EP‐I), which captures soil–structure interaction at the physical soil‐structure contact. The present contribution provides insight into the theoretical foundations of the EP‐I and demonstrates its applicability through two pile problems. Furthermore, it provides practical guidance for evaluating the performance and applicability of EP formulations implemented in the widely used geotechnical FE software PLAXIS 3D.
Granitzer et al. (Tue,) studied this question.