Development of a Coupled Bridge Superstructure: Foundation Finite Element Code

摘要

The report presents a novel way to drive and laterally load battered and plumbfixed head piles in flight. The pile cap is divided into two parts, with the bottom providing a template for pile driving, and the top ensuring a fixed head condition. The driving consisted of pushing three piles at a time (plumb or battered) into the soil until the two halves of the pile cap were engaged. Both halves of the cap were then epoxied together and a lateral load test was performed. The centrifuge was not stopped throughout the pile driving and load testing procedure. Based on the experimental results, the approach was very repeatable. All tests were performed at 45 g's, which modeled open ended pipe piles of 0.43 m in diameter by 13.6 m in length. In Florida, maximum battered lengths are usually less than 18 m. For the 3 x 3 battered group tests, the two outer rows were inclined at 8V to 1H, whereas the inner row had a slope of 4V to 1H.