PCO — Pile Cap One¶
Version 1.0.2 · Windows 64-bit
A platform for the analysis, design and detailing of pile caps, in accordance with the Brazilian technical standards.
Project limits¶
What it does¶
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Strut and tie
Design by Blévot & Frémy and by the Strut-and-Tie Method (MBT) of the IBRACON Commentaries on NBR 6118.
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Finite elements
Hexahedral or tetrahedral mesh of the pile cap, to check the stress field against the strut-and-tie assumptions.
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Load combinations
Normal ultimate combinations according to NBR 8681, with the correct treatment of favourable and unfavourable permanent actions.
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Checks
Punching, shear and compression nodes.
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Columns of any shape
Rectangular, circular, I/H section, U section, hollow rectangular and hollow circular — and more than one column per cap.
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Outputs
Interactive reinforcement detailing, DXF export and an editable technical report.
Integration with the SP line¶
PCO communicates with SPO, SPX and SPX AI. In practice, this closes the loop of deep foundation design: the SP line programs design the pile — bearing capacity, length, reinforcement — and PCO designs the cap that sits on top of them, receiving the geometry and the reactions instead of requiring them to be entered again.
Workflow¶
Difference from PCX¶
PCO designs rigid pile caps. PCX adds the design of flexible pile caps, modelled as a simply supported or fixed-end beam.
The two share the same core: PCX is PCO with flexible pile caps enabled. All of this documentation — manual and formulations — applies in full to PCX.
When PCO is enough
If your pile caps meet the rigidity condition — most ordinary building pile caps do —, PCO does the job. PCX is justified when slender caps appear, in which the strut does not form in a well-defined way and the real behaviour is bending.
Next steps¶
- Interface — a tour of the program.
- Formulations — what it calculates, and how.
- References — the bibliography.