BEHAVIOR OF PILES DURING SOIL CONSOLIDATION

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Structural Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt

Abstract

Piles driven into soft clay are often subjected to downdrag force. The downdrag force develops negative skin friction on the pile shaft. Negative skin friction is the most common problem in the design and construction of pile foundations in soft soil. Depending on the relative movement of the pile soil system, positive and negative skin friction are developed on pile shaft. Neutral plane is defined as the depth at which the relative displacement between the pile and the soil is zero.
This paper presents a study on the behavior of pile during soil consolidation. The experimental work was developed to analyze the negative skin friction and the location of the neutral plane on a single pile embedded in clay. The clay layer was allowed to consolidate.  The study concluded that the neutral plane is located toward the end of the pile as the end bearing increases.  The depth of neutral plane increases by increasing pile length.

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