An Experimental Study of the Effect of Pile Cap on Behaviors of Group Piles

모형실험을 통한 사질토 지반에서의 무리말뚝 거동에 대한 상부기초 접촉 효과 연구

In case that pile cap is in direct contact with underlying soil, the bearing mechanism for pile groups, including direct bearing effect of cap and its induced influence on pile-soil-cap interaction, should be properly considered. In this paper, the effects of pile caps on behaviors of pile groups in sandy soils were investigated by model tests, which consist of tests on 3 by 3 pile groups with/without contact on subsoil, single pile with/without contact and cap as a shallow foundation. Also, the influences of pile spacing in group piles on contact effects were investigated. The test results showed that the load carrying capacity of pile cap was large enough not to be ignored. However, the interaction effects due to contact between cap and subsoils were not revealed obviously in working load range. And in the design of pile groups, the bearing effect of pile cap when contacted with subsoils, can be reflected by simply summing up load settlement behaviors of each cap and group piles without contact.