Experimental Evaluations of Model Piles Subject to Inclined Loading in Sand

Abstract

The structures that subjected to varying loads are supported by pile foundations. These loads consist of inclined and vertical loads. The main objective of this work is to experimentally investigate the effects of an inclined load on the lateral pile reaction and axial pile displacement for piles found in cohesionless soil. For this purpose, the slenderness ratios of model steel piles are varied by values of 11, 14, and 17. Moreover, the pile shapes involved in this study are H-pile, closed end circular and square. The experimental tests were conducted in sandy soil. However, the load inclination angle included in assessing the pile behavior were 0, 30, 45, and 60 from the vertical. In order to study the above parameters on the behavior of model pile, thirty-six experimental tests were carried out. Several findings indicated that the lateral pile deflection was highly influenced by increasing the load inclination. Further, the load inclination effect on the pile's ultimate bearing capacity is high which leads to a reduction in the pile's capacity. Additionally, the vertical displacement of pile is less than horizontal displacement when the pile is subjected to an inclined load of 45° and the model fails by horizontal displacement.