A comparison between static and dynamic load tests of Tapered steel jacking piles in Baskarp sand

Abstract

In this study, four full scale static compression tests were performed on a tapered steel jacking pile with diameters 76 mm and 89 mm in both dry and saturated soil conditions. Each test consists of multiple sub-tests with respect to determination of in-situ Baskarp Sand No.15 conditions and bearing capacities of the piles. Further, a finite element methodology has been developed to predict the load-displacement response of tapered piles installed in sand, incorporating the effects of jacking installation. The methodology is based on the identification of the failure mechanism and shear strain formation at failure around the pile as well as adoption of soil-soil interface elements. The nonlinear soil model parameters for a fully wished-in-place (fully-WIP) condition were obtained through piezocone penetration tests where various methods were applied to obtain the relative density, among which those providing best fit according to Jamiolokowski et al., (2003) were selected for further assessment. Finally, the hammer tests were performed from which the dynamic bearing capacities and the relation between static and dynamic bearing capacities were obtained.

Keywords

• tapered piles
• static bearing capacity
• dynamic
• finite element
• installation