Lateral load tests on model pile groups and piled raft foundations in sand

Abstract

This paper presents the results obtained from lateral load tests on model pile groups and model piled raft foundations in Toyoura sand in a lg field. In the test series, raft size, number of piles, pile spacing and pile rake angle were varied. It was found that for model foundations with the same configuration, the piled raft foundation exhibited about 2 times higher lateral resistance than that of the pile group foundation. In pile groups, lateral resistance of the foundation increased almost linearly with the increasing number of piles. In piled rafts, the lateral resistance did not necessarily decrease with a decreasing number of piles, since the lateral resistance of the raft base compensated for the reduction of the number of piles. Use of the batter piles greatly improved the performance of both piled raft and pile group foundations under lateral loading.