Abstract:Pile supported embankment has been widely used in road, airport and dam engineering due to effective construction and economic advantages which can effectively control the settlement and differential settlement. The soil aching effect is a key factor in the load transfer mechanism of pile supported embankment. Based on the current laboratory model test, a series of numerical simulations were conducted with the particle flow code PFC2D to study the contact force, principal stress, vertical and lateral displacements in embankment. The embankment fill and subsoil were simulated by the Disk,andthe pile and model box were simulated by the WallThe multi-layer compaction method was used to establish the Discrete Element Method models. The micromechanical properties of the embankment fill and subsoil were obtained from numerical biaxial compression test and simple compression test, respectively. The simulation results indicated that the soil arching in pile supported embankment was composed by multiple hemispherical arches with different centers, and the height of arching was about 5(s-a)/6. Within the soil aching height, the deflection of principal stresswas obvious, and the vertical and lateral displacements were significant.