Civil Engineering Association

CENTRIFUGE MODELING OF LATERALLY LOADED BATTERED PILE GROUPS IN SAND

This research is part of an on-going study of the effects of ship impact loads on waterway structures underlain by pile foundations. The objectives of this research are: (1) To modify the existing pile driver and make it capable of driving 3 by 3 and 4 by 4 battered pile groups in flight onto a base plate and achieve fixed head conditions at the pile cap; (2) To instrument each of the piles in both groups to measure shear and axial force and bending moment; (3) To conduct the lateral load tests in samples with relative densities of 36% and 55% and also to test with dead loads equivalent to 20%, 50%, and 80% of the vertical capacity of the model pile group; (4) To analyze the effect of dead load on the lateral capacity at different relative densities; (5) To gather data about the internal force distribution of the pile groups and to investigate the pattern of pile group rotation; and (6) To use measured test data to validate a coupled bridge superstructure-foundation finite-element-code (FLORIDA-PIER).