Numerical investigation of the installation process and bearing capacity of circular helicoid piles in undrained clay

Abstract

The circular helicoid pile (CH pile) is a special-shaped pile with outstanding axial bearing properties developed in the last ten years, its pile-soil interaction problem has nonplanar strain and is non-axisymmetric. The coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian (CEL) method was applied to simulate the entire process of installation, axial compression and pullout loading of the CH pile in undrained clay to assess the interaction between the pile and soil, and the accuracy of the CEL model was verified by in-situ test results. The surfaces of the CH pile were divided into the bottom surface, outer and inner surfaces, with the inner surfaces including compressive and pullout surfaces. The variation in axial forces and moments on the CH pile and its various types of surfaces in the whole process of installation and bearing was clarified and the relative contribution of reacting forces and moments on various surfaces to the total resistance of the pile was evaluated. The stress distribution characteristics of the soil around the pile and the pile-soil interfaces after the installation of the CH pile and under the ultimate limit state were obtained, and then the force states of inner surfaces in the whole process of installation and bearing were analysed.

Keywords

• Special-shaped pile
• Circular helicoid pile
• Pile-soil interaction
• Pile installation
• Bearing capacity
• Coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian (CEL)