Field Test Study on the Bearing Capacity of Extra-Long PHC Pipe Piles under Dynamic and Static Loads

• Published in: Sustainability Vol. 15; no. 6; p. 5161
• Main Authors: Xiao, Yonggang, Liu, Xiaomin, Zhou, Junlong, Song, Liwei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.03.2023
• Subjects: Adaptability; Concrete; Concrete pipes; Digitization; Dynamic tests; Engineering; Field tests; Friction; Friction resistance; High strength concretes; Load; Load tests; Mechanization; Pile bearing capacities; Pile driving; Pile foundations; Piles; Pipe piles; Shaft friction; Site planning; Static loads; Steel pipes; Strain gauges; Sustainability
• ISSN: 2071-1050; 2071-1050
• DOI: 10.3390/su15065161

Pretensioned prestressed high strength concrete (PHC) pipe piles are widely used in various engineering foundations, which have the advantages of high single pile bearing capacity, strong adaptability to geological conditions and high degree of construction mechanization. In order to study the vertical compressive bearing performance and settlement characteristics of ultra-long PHC pipe piles, high strain dynamic detections and static load tests were carried out on four PHC piles with a diameter of 0.9 m on site. It can be seen from the field test that the bearing capacity of the prefabricated pipe piles was time-dependent. By the end of the dynamic test, the bearing capacity of each test pile increased by 27% to 66%. The static load test also verified the rationality of the value of the restitution coefficient. Therefore, the final bearing capacity of the pile foundation can be predicted by using the high strain initial driving results and the restitution coefficient, which can reduce the repeated driving process, effectively save the cost and improve the engineering efficiency. Under 2.1 times the design load, the change range of the pile concrete modulus is from 37.5 GPa to 52 GPa, the change range of the pile side friction resistance is from 0 kPa to 97 kPa and the change range of the pile end to pile bottom load ratio is from 0% to 7.54%. During the test, the shaft friction and end bearing of the lower part of the piles were not fully mobilized. The shaft friction resistance, the end resistance and the movement behavior of the pile top and the end of the piles can provide parameter references for the subsequent design and construction of the piles.