Experimental and Numerical Study on Lateral Resistance of Micropile in Sand

• Published in: KSCE journal of civil engineering Vol. 27; no. 9; pp. 3740 - 3752
• Main Authors: Hwang, Tae Hyun, Kim, Kang Hyun, Shin, Jong Ho
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Seoul Korean Society of Civil Engineers 01.09.2023; Springer Nature B.V; 대한토목학회
• Subjects: Bearing capacity; Civil Engineering; Diameters; Engineering; Field study; Field tests; Foundations; Geotechnical Engineering; Geotechnical Engineering & Applied Earth Sciences; Industrial Pollution Prevention; Load; Micro piles; Numerical analysis; Shear tests; Slenderness ratio; 토목공학; Lateral bearing capacity; Slenderness ratio; Micropile; Installation angle
• ISSN: 1226-7988; 1976-3808
• DOI: 10.1007/s12205-023-0977-0

Micropile has been increasingly used not only as a reinforcing material for foundations but also as the foundations themselves. Due to the high slenderness ratio (length/diameter (L/D)) of the micropile, the lateral resistance has frequently been neglected or underestimated. However, field measurements in this study revealed that the lateral resistance of a micropile is considerable. In this study, the lateral behavior and lateral bearing capacity of a micropile were investigated by performing field tests, physical model tests, and numerical analysis. It was found that the lateral resistance of the micropile is highly dependent on the slenderness ratio and the installation condition such as inclination. Particularly, the battered micropile showed higher resistance than the vertical pile. The increase in the lateral support of the micropile was obtained when the micropile was inclined 45° in the direction of the load. Based on the numerical parametric study, a simple evaluation method to determine the lateral bearing capacity of a micropile is proposed.