Standard penetration test

Engineering

Strain gauge

Pile

Geotechnical engineering

Materials science

Geology

Solid mechanics

Operations research

Liquefaction

Composite material

Subgrade

Penetration (warfare)

Structural engineering

Load testing

Cone penetration test

Penetration test

Acta Geotechnica

Slow-maintained static load tests were performed on closed-ended and open-ended steel pipe piles driven side by side in a gravelly sand soil profile. The site investigation consisted of multiple cone penetration tests (CPTs) and standard penetration tests (SPTs), as well as laboratory tests on soil samples collected at various depths from the test site to determine basic soil properties. The test piles were densely instrumented with a combination of electrical-resistance and vibrating-wire strain gauges. The open-ended test pile was a specially fabricated double-wall, fully-instrumented pile, allowing for separation of the measurements of the inner and outer shaft resistances. Detailed comparison of the load test results, in terms of driving resistance, load response and profiles of unit shaft and base resistances for the two test piles, is presented and discussed. The applicability of three CPT-based pile design methods is assessed through a layer-by-layer comparison of the estimated resistances with those measured in the static load tests.

Comparison of the load response of closed-ended and open-ended pipe piles driven in gravelly sand