A numerical interpretation of load tests on bored piles

✍ Scribed by Luciano Tosini; Annamaria Cividini; Giancarlo Gioda

• Book ID: 104015411
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2010
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 904 KB
• Volume: 37
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0266-352X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.compgeo.2010.01.001

✦ Synopsis

The finite element interpretation is discussed of two load tests carried out on bentonite slurry piles bored in granular soils. The first case concerns a pile belonging to a 12 pile group. An axisymmetric finite element model that reproduces, with reasonable accuracy, the experimental results is developed. The model is then extended to three-dimensional conditions and applied to the analysis of the entire group. The results suggest some comments on the different assumptions that can be adopted in the calculations and on their effects on the global load-settlement curve of the pile group. The second case concerns a load test in which, in addition to the load-settlement data, also the axial strains along the pile were measured through electrical extensometers. The numerical back analyses highlight an apparent contradiction between the two sets of experimental data. On their bases some conclusions are drawn on the possible causes of the observed inconsistency and on the influence of the construction technology on the interaction between the pile tip and the soil underneath it.