Laboratory Test Setup for Cyclic Axially Loaded Piles in Sand

This paper presents a comprehensive description and the considerations regarding the design of a new laboratory test setup for testing cyclic axially loaded piles in sand. The test setup aims at analysing the effect of axial one-way cyclic loading on pile capacity and accumulated displacements. Another aim was to test a large diameter pile segment with dimensions resembling full-scale piles to model the interface properties between pile and sand correctly. The pile segment was an open-ended steel pipe pile with a diameter of 0.5 m and a length of 1 m. The sand conditions resembled the dense sand conditions found several places in the North Sea. To simulate various vertical effective stress states, an elastic rubber membrane was placed on the soil surface and connected to a vacuum system, thus, increasing the effective stresses in the sand. A custom-made CPT devise was used to confirm equal soil conditions for all tests. For verifications purposes six static tension tests conducted at three different vertical effective stress levels of 0, 35 and 70 kPa. The load-displacement curves showed that the test setup provides repeatable test results. A preliminary comparison between the unit shaft friction determined from the API RP 2GEO standard and from the test results indicated over consolidation of the sand. Two initial one-way cyclic loading tests provided results of effects on pile capacity and accumulated displacements in agreement with other researchers’ test results.