Grain-scale DEM study of open-ended pipe pile penetration in granular soils

Abstract

Open-Ended Pipe Piles (OEPP) are particularly popular in offshore engineering. An important feature of the installation of these piles is the rate with which soil enters the pile from the bottom, and its interaction with the internal pile shaft. The response of OEPP crucially depends on the occurrence of soil plugging, which can make the behavior of an OEPP similar to a pile of solid cross section. Plugging is generally attributed to arching effects in the soil; therefore, understanding this phenomenon requires an investigation at the grain scale. This is precisely the objective of this study, where the Distinct Element Method (DEM) is used to study the installation of an Open-Ended Pipe Pile in a Virtual Calibration Chamber comprising 128000 grains, under constant horizontal stress. Despite the relatively small number of particles, this numerical model is found to be able to reproduce several aspects of the mechanisms actually observed in thefield. The results are compared to those obtained from actual experiments of miniature pile penetration tests. Stress and strainfields that develop in the soil inside and outside the pile provide interesting data and shed light on the mechanisms at play during OEPP installation, especially as for the influence of grains interlocking.