Lateral Response of a Single Pile in Unsaturated Sand
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 150, Issue 8
Abstract
Pile response in unsaturated soils is an area of interest due to its prevalence in real-world scenarios. Significant differences exist in the lateral behavior of single piles in partially saturated soils due to increased soil stiffness. In this study, a single pile was monotonically loaded laterally to investigate the performance of piles in soils with variable water table levels. Pile head lateral response showed that a mix of unsaturated-saturated soil led to an increase in lateral loads on the pile at a similar displacement compared with the fully saturated or dry soil conditions. The lateral response of the pile was obtained based on the curvature data from the strain gauges. A derivative method was used to generate the shear force and lateral resistance along the pile length based on finite differences at the seven strain gauge locations, thereby eliminating errors associated with curve fitting. Various lateral response plots, such as the normalized curves, curves, and maximum bending moment response plots, were used to assess the response to lateral load. Further, the effect of two different loading rates were assessed on the fully saturated and unsaturated-saturated soil, and the range of loading rates evaluated had minimal influence on the pile lateral response. Results indicated that considering the influence of the unsaturated soil could increase lateral resistance under similar lateral displacements. However, there is a risk of inducing large pile bending moments, potentially leading to pile flexural failure if the pile plastic moment is reached.
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Data Availability Statement
The majority of the data generated for this research is shown in the published article. However, the corresponding author can make the raw data available upon request.
Acknowledgments
The authors appreciate the laboratory technical assistance provided by Noah MacAdam of the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences and the graduate students in the geotechnical research group at the University of New Hampshire.
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© 2024 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 21, 2023
Accepted: Mar 1, 2024
Published online: May 24, 2024
Published in print: Aug 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Oct 24, 2024
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Continuum mechanics
- Curvature
- Design (by type)
- Dynamic loads
- Dynamics (solid mechanics)
- Engineering fundamentals
- Engineering mechanics
- Foundations
- Geomechanics
- Geometry
- Geotechnical engineering
- Lateral loads
- Load factors
- Mathematics
- Pile foundations
- Piles
- Saturated soils
- Soft soils
- Soil mechanics
- Soil properties
- Soils (by type)
- Solid mechanics
- Structural design
- Structural dynamics
- Unsaturated soils
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