Experimental Study on Uplift Load Carrying Capacity of Steel Pile in Sand

Understanding the pile behaviour and predicting the capacity of piles under uplift loading are important topics in foundation design. Experimental model tests have been conducted on single pile and pile groups embedded in cohesionless soil and subjected to pure uplift loading. The experimental test were conducted on solid straight vertical steel piles with an diameter of 0.8cm and the length of the pile is 15cm. The sand bed is prepared at two different condition of relative density of medium and very dense sand condition. Single pile and group piles containing one and nine piles embedded in sandy soil were tested, and the results are presented and discussed in this paper. The influence of pile embedment depth, relative density of soil and arrangement in a group on the uplift capacity of piles are investigated. The study revealed that the behaviour of single pile under uplift loading depends on embedment depth and soil properties and relative density of soil. The group efficiency under uplift loading improved slightly with an increase in the relative density of soil. It is believed that the experimental results presented in this study would be beneficial to the professional understanding of the soil-pile-uplift interaction problem.