Experimental Study on the Interaction Mechanism of Cap—Pile Group—Soil

Static load tests on pile group with prototype size were carried out in order to study the behavior and the working properties of the cap—pile group—soil interaction in the pile group foundation. The soil resistance under the cap, the pile shaft resistance and the tip resistance were measured by installing various measuring gauges. Based on these test results, the cap—pile group—soil interaction characteristics were analyzed. The regulations of the soil reaction on the cap, the shaft resistance and the tip resistance of pile, the mechanism of load transfer have been discussed with comparison to the result of the single pile tests. The bearing capacity of pile group is greater than the sum of the bearing capacity of the single pile obtained from testing in the same site in pile group foundation in the case presented here.     

软黏土中成桩工艺对HSCM桩抗压承载性能影响的模型试验研究

螺旋桩芯劲性复合桩（helix stiffened cement mixing pile,简称HSCM桩）是一种新型复合桩,其成桩工艺会对桩身及其承载性能有较大影响。为验证HSCM桩在软黏土中同步旋进注浆工艺的可行性,并研究其成桩参数对抗压承载性能的影响,设计了2组缩尺模型试验,包括不同叶片数量与钻进速度的HSCM桩与对比螺旋桩。通过在高岭土制备的软黏土中成桩,并进行抗压承载性能及桩身几何尺寸测试,分析HSCM桩的成桩参数与水泥土桩身间的关系。试验结果表明：同步旋进注浆工艺能够在螺旋桩周围形成倒圆台状的水泥土桩身,水泥土桩身的平均黏结直径约为叶片直径的1.17～1.35倍;适当增加叶片数量能够使水泥与土体充分拌和,提高水泥土桩身的完整性与连续性,以改善HSCM桩的成桩质量;钻进速度大幅提高会导致注浆量不足,减小水泥土桩身的黏结直径与刚度;试验条件下HSCM桩的抗压极限承载力是螺旋桩的3.83～3.93倍,桩径扩大提高了侧摩阻力,注浆工艺加固并提高了土体强度,弥补了叶片在旋进过程中扰动土体造成强度降低的问题。     

变截面劲性水泥土桩承载特性室内模型试验研究

研究变截面劲性水泥土桩的几何特征对承载特性的影响,结果表明:具有1个扩大盘或2个扩大盘间距较大的变截面桩,盘下部的土体发生压缩和局部剪切破坏现象,上部的土体则发生梨形滑落;盘间距较小时,上下两盘之间的土体与两盘成为一体;变截面桩的桩侧荷载分担值均远大于桩端荷载分担值,盘的数量及间距对桩侧及桩端荷载分担值影响不大;1个盘时,其位置对承载力有一定的影响;2个等间距盘的变截面桩,盘位置越高承载力越高;盘间距对承载力影响不显著;3个盘的承载力大于2个盘的承载力,但结果相差不大;变截面桩的承载力得到显著提高,其承载力不小于与扩大盘直径相等的等截面桩;随着桩顶荷载的增大,盘承担的荷载增加显著,盘以下桩身的轴力因盘承担大部分而骤减,其降低幅度与盘的数量、位置及间距有关.     

Influence of cap size and strength on settlements of TDM-piled embankments over soft ground

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of pile cap size, soft layer thickness and pile strength on load transfer and settlement behaviors of embankments supported by floating and fixed T-shaped deep cement mixing piles and conventional DCM piles under volume control. Preliminary investigation is performed by a series of small-scale physical model tests. The results reveal that the differential settlement can be substantially reduced with an enlarging pile cap as a result of larger embankment load transferred to the piles. The extended numerical analysis results demonstrate that the pile efficacy is related to the individual pile bearing capacity, which, in turn, depends on the pile cap size. The soft layer thickness has an insignificant effect on differential settlement but a significant effect on average settlement, while the pile strength plays an important role in differential settlement only when the cap size is not very large. Shape factor of at least 3.0 is recommended to ensure the reduction in differential settlement and minimize the effect of the change in pile strength.     

V⁃H荷载作用下海洋平台吸力式桩桶桩土承载特性研究

用于海洋平台的吸力式桩桶基础作为一种新型平台基础正逐渐成为人们研究的重点。为研究吸力式桩桶单桩基础的受力特性,对V-H（竖向—水平）联合荷载作用下的吸力式单桩基础桩土的承载特性进行了数值模拟,并将数值模拟的有限元解通过与API规范中对p-y曲线的计算方法进行对比来验证有限元模型的可行性,最后采用分级作用力的加载方式对其破坏包络曲线进行绘制,并推导出相应的函数表达式。研究表明,采用ABAQUS有限元分析软件对吸力式桩桶进行数值模拟是可行的,随着对吸力式桩桶所施加V-H联合荷载的不断增大,吸力式桩桶所能体现的应力和弯矩极限值也在随之增大,其位移变化主要在施加荷载的区域附近,最后在联合荷载作用下所体现的极限承载状态,即包络曲线大致呈四分之一的椭圆形状。     

海上风电钢管桩自平衡法现场试验研究

一种新型钢管桩预装荷载箱法被研发出用于自平衡法海上风电钢管桩基检测试验,并通过现场自平衡试验研究探究了海上打入桩桩基础特性。该方法首次成功应用于海外某海上风电场直径1.4 m的超长大直径钢管桩承载力检测,用于探究其承载特性和桩侧桩端阻力发挥规律。现场试验显示,该新型检测方法达到了预期的测试效果和经济效益,与现有钢管桩自平衡法相比,对土的影响更小,可靠度更高,为类似土层和直径的超长钢管桩承载力试验提供了新的途径。     

Development of the cyclic p–y curve for a single pile in sandy soil

Pile foundations that support transmission towers or offshore structures are dominantly subjected to cyclic lateral load induced by wind and waves. For a successful design, it is crucial to investigate the effect of cyclic lateral loads on the pile behavior that is loaded laterally. Although the p–y curve method is generally utilized to design the cyclic laterally loaded pile foundations, the effect of cyclic lateral loads on the pile has not been properly implemented with the p–y curve. This reflects a lack of consideration of the overall stiffness change in soil–pile interaction. To address this, a series of model pile tests were conducted in this study on a preinstalled aluminum flexible pile under various sandy soil conditions. The test results were used to investigate the effect of cyclic lateral loads on the p–y behavior. The cyclic p–y curve, which properly takes into account this effect, was developed as a hyperbolic function. Pseudo-static analysis was also conducted with the proposed cyclic p–y curve, which showed that it was able to properly simulate cyclic laterally loaded pile behavior in sandy soil.     

Field study of set-up effect in open-ended PHC pipe piles

Large-scale field tests were conducted to study set-up effect in open-ended prestressed high-strength concrete pipe piles jacked into stratified soil. Four open-ended prestressed high-strength concrete pipe piles with 13 and 18 m in embedment depth were fully instrumented with fiber Bragg grating sensors and installed. Several restrike dynamic tests were performed on each test pile, with the time interval from 21.5 to 284 hours after installation. Static loading tests (SLTs) were later performed on each test pile at 408 hours after installation to substantiate the dynamic tests. Changes with time in pile bearing capacity and in the shaft and toe resistances were studied based on the results of the pile tests. The development of shaft resistance set-up in different layers was studied in particular. It was found that set-up effect in the shaft resistance is significant and the toe resistance increment was minor. The overall set-up factor of total bearing capacity was found to range from 0.09 to 0.53, and the set-up effect of friction pile is much larger than the end bearing pile. More significant set-up in shaft resistance was observed in fill and alluvium layer. The dimensionless set-up factor A for shaft resistance in marine deposits ranges from 0.5 to 1.43, and it contributes the most to the shaft resistance as the shaft resistance in marine deposits is higher.     

Model tests on open-ended concrete pipe piles jacked in sand

Abstract

An experimental study of the performance of concrete pipe piles during installation under different penetration speeds and static load tests on the piles in sand is presented. The applied jacking force, the amount of pile penetration, length of soil plug formed and ultimate bearing capacity were measured during the model tests. The results showed that the concrete pipe piles were partially plugged and the behavior of the soil plug was significantly affected by the penetration speed. The lower the penetration speed, the larger the soil plug formed which in turn leads to a greater ultimate bearing capacity. The size of soil plug can be evaluated by the m value defined as the ratio of the volume of the soil plug to that of the penetrated pile wall. The relationship between the m value and the penetration speeds can be used to estimate the amount of soil plug and the depth of penetration for an open-ended concrete pipe pile jacked into sand.     

A Model Test on the Behavior of a Static Drill Rooted Nodular Pile Under Compression

A static drill rooted nodular pile is a new type of composite pile foundation with high bearing capacity, and mud emissions can be largely reduced using the static drill rooted method. This report presents a model test on the behavior of this composite pile in a test box. The load-displacement response, axial force, skin friction, and mobilized base load are discussed in the report; in particular, the force in the cemented soil was investigated based on the measured data. Moreover, the finite element software ABAQUS was used to help investigate this behavior more thoroughly. It was determined that the function of the cemented soil around the pile shaft was different from that at the enlarged pile base; the stress in the cemented soil around the shaft increased suddenly when nearing the pile base; the ultimate skin friction obtained in the model test was larger than that estimated in the field test; and the relative displacement between the precast nodular pile and the cemented soil could be ignored during the loading process, which corresponded to the result of the field test and demonstrated that the nodular pile and cemented soil act as one entity during the loading process.     

Postgrouted helical piles behavior through physical modeling by FCV

Piling procedure may disturb the surrounding soil, due to the installation particularly for cast-in-place piles. It causes a reduction in the soil strength parameters and, consequently, pile capacity. To overcome shortcomings and also for improving piles’ capacity, postgrouting as a compensation method is recognized and more developed in recent years. Helical piles, those are used widely in marine and land projects, although, are driven by torque implementation, but soil disturbance is noticed, where number of the helices become up to 3 and more. In this paper, an experimental study program is performed by frustum-confined vessel (FCV) to investigate bearing capacity of model helical piles and also postgrouted cases’ performance. FCV has been used because of its linear distribution of vertical and horizontal stresses from zero at top to maximum at bottom which simulates real field stress conditions. Through experimental study, small-scale helical model piles were made of 4-mm-thick steel plate and have been used with a length of 750?mm. The shaft and helix diameters of model piles have been 32 and 89?mm, respectively. So, the helix-to-shaft ratio (wing ratio) was about 2.8. The helical model piles installed in fine-grained sand as a surrounding soil and then axial loading tests before and after grouting were performed to achieve ultimate pile capacity. Results indicated postgrouting can improve both ratios of toe and frictional soil–pile interactions including upgrading β and N_t factors. In addition, the post grouting phenomena can change the pile geometry due to treated soil bond, resulting better functioning. Therefore, it is a proper method to improve helical piles performance and compensate installation effects in capacity mobilization.     

Reinforcement and Arching Effect of Geogrid-Reinforced and Pile-Supported Embankment on Marine Soft Ground

The effectiveness of constructing a geogrid-reinforced and pile supported embankment on soft ground to reduce differential settlement has been studied by pilot scale field tests and numerical analysis. Three-by-three pile groups with varying pile spacing were driven into a layer of soft ground, and a layer of geogrid was used as reinforcement over each pile group. Further, a 2-D numerical analysis has been conducted using the computer program FLAC 2D. The mechanisms of load transfer can be considered as a combination of embankment soil arching, geogrid tension, and stress transfer due to the difference in stiffness between pile and soft ground. Based on the pilot scale field tests and results of numerical analysis, we find that the geosynthetic reinforcement slightly interferes with soil arching, and helps reduce differential settlement of the soft ground. Also, the most effective load transfer and vertical stress reduction at the midspan between piles occurs when the pile cap spacing index D/b (D: pile cap spacing, b: diameter of pile) is 3.0.     

Undrained bearing capacity of spudcan under combined loading

The bearing capacities of spudcan foundation under pure vertical (V),horizontal (H),moment (M) loading and the combined loading are studied based on a series of three-dimensional finite element analysis.The effects of embedment ratio and soil non-homogeneity on the bearing capacity are investigated in detail.The capacities of spudcan under different pure loading are expressed in non-dimensional bearing capacity factors,which are compared with published results.Ultimate limit states under combined loading are presented by failure envelopes,which are expressed in terms of dimensionless and normalized form in three-dimensional load space.The comparison between the presented failure envelopes and available published numerical results reveals that the size and shape of failure envelopes are dependent on the embedment ratio and the non-homogeneity of the soil.     

Shaft capacity of pre-bored grouted planted nodular pile under various overburden pressures in dense sand

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a series of model tests performed to study the shaft capacity of pre-bored grouted planted nodular (PGPN) pile in dense sand. The influence of the vertical overburden pressure on the shaft capacity of the PGPN pile is also investigated based on the test results. The test piles were equipped with strain gauges to measure the axial loads during the loading process, moreover, a foam plate was buried beneath pile tip to eliminate the influence of tip resistance on the shaft capacity. Some conclusions can be drawn based on the test results: the peak skin friction of PGPN pile increases with the increase of vertical overburden pressure applied on the foundation soil, while the rate of increase decreases with the increasing overburden pressure; the surface of the pile–soil interface of PGPN pile is relatively rough, and significant dilatant increase in lateral stress occurs during the loading process.     

Field and Theoretical Study of the Response of Super-Long Bored Pile Subjected to Compressive Load

In this article, two full-scale pile loading tests were conducted to observe the field performance of the super-long bored piles, and a simplified approach for nonlinear analysis of the load-displacement behavior of a single pile was presented. The field tests on piles indicates that, under the maximum test load, more than 70% of the pile top settlement is caused by the compression of pile shaft. For practical purposes, the pile top settlement can be reduced through improving the pile shaft strength. When the load reaches the maximum test load, the proportion of the load carried by the pile tip is approximately 30%. The super-long pile is functioning as an end-bearing friction pile. The skin friction at shallow depth is fully mobilized and decreases from a peak value with increasing load. However, the skin friction of deeper soil is not fully developed due to less relative displacement. Furthermore, a BoxLucas1 model is used to capture the relationship between unit skin friction and pile-soil relative displacement, whereas a hyperbolic model is used to describe the relationship between toe stress and pile base displacement. Based on the BoxLucas1 model and the hyperbolic model, a load transfer method is used to clarify the response of a single pile, and a computational flow chart is developed. The efficiency and accuracy of the present method is verified using the field tests on piles. The proposed simple analytical approach is economical and efficient, resulting in savings in time and cost.     

Behavior of soil plugs in open‐ended model piles driven into sands

Calibration chamber tests were conducted on open‐ended model piles driven into dried siliceous sands with different soil conditions in order to clarify the effect of soil conditions on load transfer mechanism in the soil plug. The model pile used in the test series was devised so that the bearing capacity of an open‐ended pile could be measured as three components: outside shaft resistance, plug resistance, and tip resistance. Under the assumption that the unit shaft resistance due to pile‐soil plug interaction varies linearly near the pile tip, the plug resistance was estimated. The plug capacity, which was defined as the plug resistance at ultimate condition, is mainly dependent on the ambient lateral pressure and relative density. The length of wedged plug that transfers the load decreases with the decrease of relative density, but it is independent of the ambient pressure and penetration depth. Under several assumptions, the value of earth pressure coefficient in the soil plug can be calculated. It gradually reduces with increase in the longitudinal distance from the pile tip. At the bottom of the soil plug, it tends to decrease with increase in the penetration depth and relative density, and to increase with the increase of ambient pressure. This may be attributed to (1) the decrease of friction angle as a result of increase in the effective vertical stress, (2) the difference in the dilation degree of the soil plug during driving with ambient pressures, and (3) the difference in compaction degree of soil plug during driving with relative densities. Based on the test results, an empirical equation was suggested to compute the earth pressure coefficient to be used in the calculation of plug capacity using one‐dimensional analysis, and it produces proper plug capacities for all soil conditions.     

用静力触探参数确定地基土水平地基抗力系数的比例系数m值--以天津地区为例

承受水平荷载作用的桩基,规范中常采用m法进行桩基水平承载力的计算,地基土水平地基抗力系数的比例系数m值在规范中根据地基土的状态、类别以表格给出。在地基勘察中,现在广泛采用静力触探试验。直接利用静力触探数据给出比例系数m值。将使桩基设计所用参数更加直接准确。本文利用天津地区地层大量静力触探资料与地基土状态数据,利用统计分析回归方法,总结出地基土的液性指数IL与静力触探参数锥尖阻力qc及摩阻比Rf间的关系式,针对天津的地层土体,给出利用静力触探资料查用m值的表格,为桩基的设计计算提供资料。     

Centrifuge modelling of lateral loading behaviour of a “semi-rigid” Mono-pile in soft clay

Abstract

Mono-pile foundations have been widely used for offshore wind turbines principally due to their convenient construction and cost-effective nature. So far, little attention has been paid to large diameter “semi-rigid” piles that have distinct behaviours from flexible or ideally rigid piles. This paper presents a series of centrifuge model tests to study the deforming and bearing characteristics of a 5.9 dia. semi-rigid pile under lateral loadings in kaolin clay. For monotonic loading, a modified p–y curve analysis model considering rotational soil flow near the rotation centre of pile was proposed, highlighting the limitation of classic plane-strain based plasticity models to evaluate the ultimate lateral pile-soil resistance. For cyclic loading, a strong correlation between the degree of soil degradation and cyclic load amplitude was identified. Besides, a degradation factor model, accounting for various cyclic stress levels and soil depths, was proposed, which can be used to assess the accumulative displacement of semi-rigid piles under cyclic loadings in soft clay.     

有限元法在桩靴承载力计算中的应用

自升式钻井平台插桩是地基土在桩靴荷载作用下发生连续的塑性破坏的动态过程,当地基极限承载力等于桩靴荷载时插桩完成。经典土力学极限承载力理论对土体潜在滑动面做了假设,无法有效分析土体内部的破坏过程。本研究应用有限元法（FEM ）对插桩过程进行了模拟,得到地基土的破坏机制以及中间荷载下土体的应力、应变情况,通过和各理论公式计算的极限承载力进行对比分析,分析影响地基极限承载力的因素。研究表明,基础宽度与硬土层厚度的比值 B/H越大,下卧软土层越容易发生塑性破坏,极限承载力明显下降,当B/H＜0．286时,可以忽略下卧软土层对地基承载力的影响。     

A simplified calculation method for axial cyclic degradation of offshore wind turbine foundations in clay

Abstract

Pile foundation is the most popular option for the foundation of offshore wind turbines. The degradation of stiffness and bearing capacity of pile foundation induced by cyclic loading will be harmful for structure safety. In this article, a modified undrained elastic–plastic model considering the cyclic degradation of clay soil is proposed, and a simplified calculation method (SCM) based on shear displacement method is presented to calculate the axial degradated capacity of a single pile foundation for offshore wind turbines resisting cyclic loadings. The conception of plastic zone thickness R_p is introduced to obtain the function between accumulated plastic strain and displacement of soil around pile side. The axial ultimate capacity of single piles under axial cyclic loading calculated by this simplified analysis have a good consistency with the results from the finite element analysis, which verifies the accuracy and reliability of this method. As an instance, the behavior of pile foundation of an offshore wind farm under cyclic load is studied using the proposed numerical method and SCM. This simplified method may provide valuable reference for engineering design.