Field investigation into the performance of pipe pile in soft clay under static and cyclic axial loads

Abstract

We performed a field investigation into the effective stress, the shaft friction at the pile–soil interface, and the pile-end base resistance of a 29.5 m long prestressed concrete pipe pile in soft clay under static and cyclic loadings (50 000 cycles). Our results indicate that under low-level cyclic loading (CLR ≤ 0.2, where CLR is the ratio of cyclic load amplitude to the ultimate capacity), the pore water pressure at the pile–soil interface initially accumulates with the number of cycles, followed by gradual dissipation after reaching its maximum value. The effective stress also initially decreases and then increases. The shaft friction increases after cyclic loading. Owing to axial load redistribution, the base resistance decreases with the number of cycles. When the pile is subjected to high-level cyclic loading (CLR ≥ 0.5), the pore water pressure at the pile–soil interface keeps accumulating while the effective stress continues to decrease, leading to the degradation of shaft friction. The base resistance increases as a result of axial load redistribution. In particular, we analyzed the effects of the static load level and the cyclic load level on the changes shaft friction.