A FUNDAMENTAL STUDY OF THE PERFORMANCE OF X-SECTION CAST-IN-PLACE CONCRETE SINGLE PILES

摘要

X-section cast-in-place concrete (XCC) piles are used because they have a higher bearing capacity than circular section cast-in-place concrete (CCC) piles of the same cross-sectional area. Although the bearing capacity of XCC piles has been studied, the performance of XCC single piles, especially for the stress-transfer mechanism dependent on the geometrical effects, is still not fully understood. This paper reports two comparative field static load tests on an XCC and a CCC single pile of the same cross-sectional area. In addition, corresponding three-dimensional numerical back-analyses are performed to provide a fundamental understanding. The measured and computed results reveal that the XCC single pile has an approximately 25% higher ultimate bearing capacity than the CCC single pile. This is because the XCC single pile has an approximately 20% larger total side resistance, which is caused by a 60% larger pile perimeter and a slightly smaller unit side resistance. Lateral soil arching effects are developed, causing a non-uniform effective normal stress and a shear stress across the circumference of the XCC single pile. It is suggested that XCC single piles have a higher efficiency in terms of material saving compared with CCC single piles.