Prediction of Pile Shaft Capacity in Tension Based on Some Direct CPT Methods—Vistula Marshland Test Site

Abstract

This paper presents different CPT methodologies for the prediction of the pile shaft resistance in tension on the example of three reference screw piles of the Jazowa test site in Poland. The shaft capacity was estimated based on the cone resistance, sleeve friction and CPT excess pore water pressure. Three piles with a diameter of 0.4 m and the length varied from 8 m to 14.6 m were subjected to static load tests in tension. Their results were used to determine the ultimate bearing capacity of the reference piles. The pile shaft resistance was estimated according to the AFNOR standard, Doan and Lehane 2018 centrifuge tests based method (Delft University of Technology approach), the Modified Unicone method, KTRI (Kajima Technical Research Institute) and LCPC (Laboratoire Central des Ponts et Chaussées) method. Then, the ultimate bearing capacity determined in static load tests was compared to the estimated values according to five different methods. The best estimation, fitting almost perfectly to static load test values, was obtained with the AFNOR method, whereas the other predictions significantly underestimated the ultimate bearing capacity.