Based on researching the collapse cause of an industrial building
it is concluded that the main cause is pile foundation’s lateral displacement induced by soil pressure
which is transferred to pile body due to soil arching action between piles. The accident proves that the soil arching action indeed exists between piles. Furthermore
three-dimensional numerical model is established to explore soil arching action of passive piles; the comparison is made for the differences of soil arching action between three dimension and two dimension; the rule is drawn for soil arching action of passive pile under different pile spaces and different loads; and the variation rule of soil arching action with time is explored.