An Axial Load Transfer Model for Piles Driven in Chalk
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 149, Issue 11
Abstract
Chalk is encountered under large areas of Northern Europe and other locations worldwide, and a wide range of onshore and offshore structures are founded on piles driven in chalk. The safe and economical design of these structures is challenging because of current uncertainties regarding their axial capacity and load-displacement behavior. This work builds on recent research into the axial capacity of open-ended driven piles by proposing new shaft and base load transfer models for chalk that employ geotechnical properties measured directly in laboratory and in-situ tests. First, this study set out a new closed-form elastic analysis of the initial tension loading response. Then, a new nonlinear shaft model was proposed that captures the radial variation in properties induced by pile installation in chalk and uncouples the piles’ stiffness responses from their ultimate local shaft resistances, which are predicted independently. A new base model was also outlined that predicts the loading response based on the chalk’s small-strain stiffness and cone penetration test (CPT) cone resistances. The models are shown to offer good load-displacement predictions for 0.139-m to 1.8-m diameter piles tested between 20 and 600 days after driving at several sites. Improved reliability and accuracy are demonstrated through comparison with existing load-transfer methods.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge the kind help of Dr. Ken Vinck in providing access to his database of field tests on piles driven in chalk. The first author also acknowledges the financial support of a Skempton scholarship of the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at Imperial College London and support from the China Scholarship Council (CSC).
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 149 • Issue 11 • November 2023
Copyright
© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 28, 2022
Accepted: Jun 29, 2023
Published online: Sep 7, 2023
Published in print: Nov 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Feb 7, 2024
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Axial loads
- Design (by type)
- Driven piles
- Engineering fundamentals
- Engineering mechanics
- Foundation design
- Foundations
- Geotechnical engineering
- Geotechnical investigation
- Load bearing capacity
- Load factors
- Load tests
- Load transfer
- Penetration tests
- Pile foundations
- Pile tests
- Piles
- Shafts
- Static loads
- Statics (mechanics)
- Structural design
- Tests (by type)
- Tunnels
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