Permeable granular piles are used to increase the time rate of consolidation, reduce liquefaction potential, improve bearing capacity, and reduce settlement. However, the behaviour of granular piles depends on the confinement provided by surrounding soil, which limits their use in very soft clays and silts, and organic and peat soils. This research effort aims to develop a new ground-improvement method using pervious concrete piles. Pervious concrete piles provide higher stiffness and strength, which are independent of surrounding soil confinement, while offering permeability comparable to granular piles. This proposed ground-improvement method can improve the performance of different structures supported on poor soils. To achieve the goal of the research project, a series of pervious concrete sample mixing has been conducted to investigate the pervious concrete material properties. Laboratory tests are carried out on a pervious concrete pile of 100 mm diameter and variation at different lengths (500mm,400mm,300mm) surrounded by sand of different density. The tests are carried out either with an entire equivalent area loaded to estimate the stiffness of improved ground or only a column loaded to estimate the limiting axial capacity. Pervious concrete is a special concrete product made primarily of a single-sized aggregate. Pervious concrete has been used in pavements to reduce storm-water-runoff quantities and perform initial water-quality treatment by allowing water to penetrate through the surface. In the United States, pervious concrete is mainly used in pavement applications, including sidewalks, parking lots, tennis courts, pervious base layers under heavy-duty pavements, and low traffic-density areas. The vertical load responses of pervious concrete are the variation of soil stresses and displacement are discussed. Nine tests are conducted on pervious concrete pile further investigate the behaviour of the pervious concrete pile and surrounding soil under vertical load condition. Therefore, Pervious Concrete Piles is particularly suitable for reinforcing subsoil that has low strength and poor permeability.
Behavior of Pervious Concrete Pile based on Vertical Loading
