Determination of Frictional Resistance of Steel Piles in Sandy Soil using Static Compressive Load Test

ABSTRACT Piles are relatively long structural foundation members that are used to transmit loads from soil layers with low bearing capacity (or high settlement) to deep soil layers with high bearing capacity. In foundation design, determination of pile bearing capacity is considered as a complex issue. In this paper, the bearing capacity of steel pipe piles in sandy soil is studied using the results of static compressive load test. Piles were installed in soil using the jacking method. In this method, at first, a hydraulic jack was applied for installing piles and then, it was used for applying the compressive load required in the static load test. After recording data, the values of bearing capacity of the piles were compared with the values calculated from analytical methods. Then, the values of friction capacity of piles were evaluated using the results of tension test. The results showed that due to the effects of soil plug on the bearing capacity of piles and installing piles using the jacking method, the obtained values of bearing capacity of the piles are much than their analytical ones. Moreover, the results indicate the effect of frictional resistance on the ultimate bearing capacity of the piles.