Theoretical and Actual Bearing Capacity of Driven Piles Using Model Piles in Sand

Abstract

In general, increasing of penetration rate may result in an increased of pile capacity. Occasionally, there were differences between theoretical and actual bearing capacity of the piles. Rate of penetration of pile influenced the pile bearing capacity. The bearing capacity of model pile increased as the rate of loading increased based on pile driving formula. Therefore, the study was conducted to determine the bearing capacity of model piles with different penetration forces based on theoretical method and experimented analysis. Five circular hollow section model piles using pipe pile were used to penetrate into cohesionless soil with different penetration force respectively. The loading for ultimate bearing capacity using theoretical calculation was approximately about 0.163kN.However, referring to the limitation of a laboratory setup, the maximum loading was 0.12kN. Several trials had been initiated but when it reached 0.14kN, the setup was unstable and dangerous to be continued. Therefore, the ultimate bearing capacity derived by the pile load test results were based on a pile moved up to 10% of its tip diameter criteria. In the future, both theoretical and actual calculation must be made to avoid any confusion and detect mistakes in near future.