Influence of Axial Loads on the Lateral Capacity of Instrumented Steel Model Piles

10.6135/ijprt.org.tw/2013.6(2).80

Jin-Tae Lee；Monica Prezzi；Rodrigo Salgado

Axial load ； Combined load test ； Lateral capacity ； Steel model pile

International Journal of Pavement Research and Technology

6卷2期（2013 / 03 / 01）

80 - 85

英文

Only a few experimental studies have been performed on the response of piles subjected to combined loading, although the load applied on a pile is usually a combination of a vertical and a lateral load in practice. In addition, the experiment results available in the literature are inconsistent with respect to the effects of axial loads on the lateral capacity of piles. The objective of this paper is to assess the influence of axial loads on the lateral response of piles driven in sand through model pile combined load tests. Large-scale sand samples were prepared in a cylindrical steel tank with different relative densities (dense and loose) using a pluviation method, and an instrumented steel model pile was driven using a drop hammer. A series of lateral load tests were performed on the model piles subjected to different axial loads. The combined load test results demonstrated that the presence of an axial load on a driven pile is detrimental to its lateral capacity, for the bending moments and lateral deflection of the pile head increased substantially with increasing axial load.