Estimating Shear Strength Properties of the Surrounding Soils Based on the Execution Energies of Piles

Abstract

Historically, empirical relations are the basis of everyday foundation design. These relations, however, rely on specific datasets, which may not represent the true conditions observed in the field. Even in situ tests rely on empirical correlation formulas, which link observed phenomena to soil properties. These correlations should be updated according to the specific design conditions. Big data (BD) workflows enable the use of massive data available to update the correlations and to provide more accurate predictions of the parameters studied. Thus, in this paper, a BD approach is used to study the relation between the drilling process of continuous flight auger piles and the shear strength properties (SSPs) of the surrounding soils. Soil surveys were carried out to identify the soil strata in the site and to validate the estimates of the SSPs. The results show that indirect measurements are in accordance with typical undrained shear strength and friction angles of the materials considered.

Keywords

• continuous flight auger piles
• specific energy
• shear strength
• friction angle
• undrained shear strength