Effect of Friction Fatigue on Pile Capacity in Dense Sand
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 133, Issue 1
Abstract
The paper presents the results of a series of field tests performed to study the causes of friction fatigue experienced by displacement piles. Four instrumented model piles were installed at a dense sand test-bed site. The test series was designed to impose different levels of cyclic loading during pile installation. Static and cyclic load tests were subsequently performed to study the differences in the axial capacities developed for ostensibly monotonic and cyclic installations. The test results indicated that the mobilized horizontal effective stress regime that controls pile side friction primarily depends on the in situ sand state, as reflected by the cone penetration test (CPT) resistance. A zone of highly stressed sand that produced a concentration of high shear resistance was mobilized in the vicinity of the pile base. The horizontal effective stress that acted on the pile shaft reduced in response to cyclic loading, with the largest reductions occurring for high-intensity cyclic loading or when the pile had experienced only a few load cycles during installation. Although cyclic loading caused a reduction in the horizontal effective stress that acted on the pile shaft, the elevated stress built up in the vicinity of the pile base during installation remained higher than that remote from the base. The elevated stress in the vicinity of the pile base only dissipated after cyclic tension loading had been applied.
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Acknowledgments
The writers wish to thank the following people for significant contributions to the work described: Mr. Irfan Chatta, former research student at University College Dublin, who performed the site testing; David Gallagher and Frank Dillon, who designed and built the instrumented pile; the technical staff at University College Dublin and Trinity College Dublin, including George Cosgrave, David McCauley, Martin Carney, and George Jones, who assisted in the fieldwork; and Roadstone Ltd., for permission to use the quarry at Blessington, County Wicklow.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 133 • Issue 1 • January 2007
Pages: 63 - 71
Copyright
© 2007 ASCE.
History
Received: Mar 21, 2006
Accepted: Jun 26, 2006
Published online: Jan 1, 2007
Published in print: Jan 2007
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