Laboratory Study of Lateral Load Capacity and Behaviour of Short Piles in Clayey Soil.

Abstract

This research is an experimental study investigating the lateral loading capacity of piles in clayey soil. Important factors considered in this study included pile diameter, embedded length of pile, effective unit weight, and degree of saturation of soil, which were studied for their effects on the lateral loading capacity of short driven piles. The experimental study involved testing six specimens in the laboratory, each made of galvanized iron of 21.7 and 27 mm diameter and L/d (embedded length/diameter) ratios of 10, 14, and 18. The specimens were subjected to lateral loadings while embedded in clayey soil with effective unit weights of 13, 15, and 15.6 kN/m3 and degrees of saturation of 30, 41 and 97%, to simulate true pile behaviour. The obtained pile responses were then plotted as force-displacement diagrams. The varying parameters were thus diameter and embedded depth of pile, effective unit weight, and degree of soil saturation. The results of this experimental study on the behaviours of the piles under the influence of lateral loading in the clay were also compared with the predicted lateral capacity of the piles based on work by other researchers. Moisture content and degree of saturation were found to have the greatest effects on pile behaviour. This study thus aids understanding of the behaviours of short piles embedded in clayey soil under lateral loading to allow designers to take practical steps and choose an appropriate method when designing a pile.