Experimental and theoretical studies of laterally loaded finned piles in sand

2014 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 381-393 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed M.A. Nasr

Large lateral loads may act on pile foundation supporting structures, such as bridge abutments, retaining walls, and structures subjected to wind–earthquake loads. A pile with fins is a newly developed type of pile foundation that is capable of supporting large lateral loads. In the present study an attempt is made to evaluate the improvement in lateral capacity of a pile with fins mounted close to the pile head. Small-scale model tests and a numerical study using finite element analysis were performed on regular piles without (fins) and piles with fins. These piles were installed in sand of different relative densities (Dr = 35% and 78%). The investigations were carried out by varying the length, width, and shape of the fins, and type of pile. Results reveal that there is a significant increase in lateral resistance of the piles after mounting the fins close to the pile head. The increase in lateral resistance gained by placing fins on a pile varies with geometries of the pile and fins. The lateral resistance increases with the increase in length of the fins until the fin’s length is equal to 0.4 of the pile length. Based on the results of the laboratory model and numerical analysis, critical values of fin parameters for maximum improvement are suggested. The agreement between observed and computed results is found to be reasonably good in terms of ultimate lateral load and fin efficiency. A comparison between the model results and the prototype-scale results is also studied.

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-83
Author(s):  
J.W. Kim ◽  
J. H. Doh ◽  
S. Fragomeni

This paper discusses the behaviour characteristics of the shaping formation of Single-Chorded Space Truss (SCST) structures by means of cable-tensioning of bottom chords. The innovative technique is fast and economical and issued in many types of space structures. The small-scale test models presented herein consist of uniform pyramids with multi-directional ball type joints which are erected into their final shape by cable-tensioning. Since the joint behaviour is very significant in studying the shaping of SCST structures, basic tests for beam and pyramidal units were performed. The feasibility of the proposed cable-tensioning technique and the reliability of the established geometric model were confirmed by finite element analysis. The proposed cable-tensioning technique indicates that the behaviour characteristic of joints is very important in the shaping formation of SCST structures. More specifically in situations where heavy cranes are inaccessible, the cable-tensioning construction technique has proven to be an easy and reasonable method compared to conventional construction methods that typically include heavy cranes and scaffolding.


2014 ◽  
Vol 891-892 ◽  
pp. 17-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sudip Basack

The ocean environment necessitates the pile foundation supporting the offshore structures to be designed against cyclic load, moments and torques initiated by a combined action of waves, wind, tides, currents, etc. Such a complex loading condition induces progressive degradation in the pile-soil interactive performance introducing significant reduction in bearing capacity with increased settlement and displacements. The Author has carried out extensive experimental (laboratory model tests) and theoretical investigations (boundary element analysis) to study the salient features of this degradation and developed a design methodology for offshore pile foundation. The works conducted and the major conclusions drawn are highlighted in this paper.


2015 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 49-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Krasiński ◽  
Tomasz Kusio

Abstract Ordinary pile bearing capacity tests are usually carried out to determine the relationship between load and displacement of pile head. The measurement system required in such tests consists of force transducer and three or four displacement gauges. The whole system is installed at the pile head above the ground level. This approach, however, does not give us complete information about the pile-soil interaction. We can only determine the total bearing capacity of the pile, without the knowledge of its distribution into the shaft and base resistances. Much more information can be obtained by carrying out a test of instrumented pile equipped with a system for measuring the distribution of axial force along its core. In the case of pile model tests the use of such measurement is difficult due to small scale of the model. To find a suitable solution for axial force measurement, which could be applied to small scale model piles, we had to take into account the following requirements: - a linear and stable relationship between measured and physical values, - the force measurement accuracy of about 0.1 kN, - the range of measured forces up to 30 kN, - resistance of measuring gauges against aggressive counteraction of concrete mortar and against moisture, - insensitivity to pile bending, - economical factor. These requirements can be fulfilled by strain gauge sensors if an appropriate methodology is used for test preparation (Hoffmann [1]). In this paper, we focus on some aspects of the application of strain gauge sensors for model pile tests. The efficiency of the method is proved on the examples of static load tests carried out on SDP model piles acting as single piles and in a group.


Author(s):  
Z. Omrani ◽  
K. Abedi ◽  
A. R. Mostafa Gharabaghi

In this paper, a numerical study of the dynamic buckle propagation, initiated in long pipes under external pressure, is presented. For a long pipe, due to the high exerted pressure, local instability is likely to occur; therefore, the prevention of its occurrence and propagation are very important subjects in the design of pipelines. The 3D finite element modeling of the buckle propagation is presented by considering the inertia of the pipeline and the nonlinearity introduced by the contact between its collapsing walls. The buckling and collapse are assumed to take place in the vacuum. The numerical results of the nonlinear finite element analysis are compared with the experimental results obtained by Kyriakides and Netto (2000, “On the Dynamics of Propagating Buckle in Pipelines,” Int. J. Solids Struct., 37, pp. 6843–6878) from a study on the small-scale models. Comparison shows that the finite element results have very close agreement with those of the experimental study. Therefore, it is concluded that the finite element model is reliable enough to be used for nonlinear collapse analysis of the dynamic buckle propagation in the pipelines. In this study, the effects of external pressure on the velocity of dynamic buckle propagation for different diameter to thickness ratios are investigated. In addition, the mathematical relations, based on the initiation pressure, are derived for the velocity of buckle propagation considering the diameter to thickness ratio of the pipeline. Finally, a relation for the buckle velocity as a function of the pressure and diameter to thickness ratio is presented.


Author(s):  
M. P. Doubrovsky ◽  
I. Yu. Dobrov ◽  
A. V. Gerashchenko ◽  
O. M. Dubrovska

When constructing piled clusters and structures supported by large mono-piles, piles designed are used to take up significant lateral and pressing-in loads. New effective and less resource-demanding design of piled cluster was considered before. At this paper some results of its model testing in laboratory conditions are analyzed and discussed. To increase energy-absorbing capacity of mooring/fender dolphins it was worked out and researched a new design of combined tubular mono-pile structure, incorporating internal flexible pile and damping element placed at the zone of pile head. This design has been tested by laboratory experiments using small scale model. Obtained results confirm its effectiveness and practicability.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (03) ◽  
pp. 352-368
Author(s):  
Hazem Ali Abdel Karim ◽  
Ahmed Reda El-Baz ◽  
Nabil Abdel Aziz Mahmoud ◽  
Ashraf Mostafa Hamed

This study investigates the aerodynamic performance of wind turbines aiming to maximize the power extracted from the wind. The study is focusing on the effect of introducing a second rotor to the main rotor of the wind turbine in what is called a dual rotor wind turbine (DRWT).  The numerical study took place on the performance of small-scale model of wind turbine of 0.9 m diameter using S826 airfoil. Both the Co-rotating and Counter rotating configurations were investigated at different tip speed ratios (TSR) and compared with the performance of the single rotor wind turbine (SRWT). Many parameters were studied for dual rotor turbines. These include the spacing between the two rotors, the pitch angle of the rear rotor and the rotational speed of ratio rear to front rotor. Three-dimensional simulations performed and employed using CFD simulations with Multi Reference Frame (MRF) technique. The Co Rotating Wind Turbine (CWT) and Counter Rotating Wind Turbine (CRWT) found to have better performance compared to that of the SRWT with an increase ranging from 12 to 14% in peak power coefficient. Moreover, the effect of changing the pitch angle of the rear rotor on the overall performance found to be of a negligible effect between angles 0⁰ until 2⁰ degrees tilting toward the front rotor. On the other hand, the ratio of rotational speed of the rear rotor to the front rotor found to cause a further increase in the peak performance of the CWT and CRWT ranging from 3 to 5%.


Author(s):  
Filippos Tourlomousis ◽  
Robert C. Chang

The ability to incorporate three-dimensional (3D) hepatocyte-laden hydrogel constructs using layered fabrication approaches into devices that can be perfused with drugs enables the creation of dynamic microorgan devices (DMDs) that offer an optimal analog of the in vivo liver metabolism scenario. The dynamic nature of such in vitro metabolism models demands reliable numerical tools to determine the optimum process, material, and geometric parameters for the most effective metabolic conversion of the perfused drug into the liver microenvironment. However, there is a current lack of literature that integrates computational approaches to guide the optimum design of such devices. The groundwork of the present numerical study has been laid by our previous study [1], where the authors modeled in 2D an in vitro DMD of arbitrary dimensions and identified the modeling challenges towards meaningful results. These constructs are hosted in the chamber of the microfluidic device serving as walls of the microfluidic array of channels through which a fluorescent drug substrate is perfused into the microfluidic printed channel walls at a specified volumetric flow rate assuring Stokes flow conditions (Re<<1). Due to the porous nature of the hydrogel walls, a metabolized drug product is collected at the outlet port. A rigorous FEM based modeling approach is presented for a single channel parallel model geometry (1 free flow channel with 2 porous walls), where the hydrodynamics, mass transfer and pharmacokinetics equations are solved numerically in order to yield the drug metabolite concentration profile at the DMD outlet. The fluid induces shear stresses are assessed both in 3D, with only 27 cells modeled as single compartment voids, where all of the enzymatic reactions are assumed to take place. In this way, the mechanotransduction effect that alters the hepatocyte metabolic activity is assessed for a small scale model. This approach overcomes the numerical limitations imposed by the cell density (∼1012 cells/m3) of the large scale DMD device. In addition, a compartmentalization technique is proposed in order to assess the metabolism process at the subcellular level. The numerical results are validated with experiments to reveal the robustness of the proposed modeling approach and the necessity of scaling the numerical results by preserving dynamic and biochemical similarity between the small and large scale model.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kang Fei ◽  
Di Dai

A laboratory-scale model test is conducted to improve the understanding of the effects of thermal cycles on the mechanical behavior of energy piles. The model pile is composed of cement mortar and dry sand with a relative density of 30% is used for the model ground. After applying the working load to the pile head, the pile is subjected to three thermal cycles with a magnitude of 15°C. The measured temperature response and mechanical behavior are analyzed and used to validate the proposed numerical approach. In the numerical analysis, the temperature variation due to thermal cycles is calculated using uncoupled heat transfer analysis. Then, the computed temperature field is used as the boundary condition in the sequence stress analysis. A series of numerical sensitivity analyses are carried out using the sequentially coupled method to investigate the long-term performance of energy piles under different soil and pile head restraint conditions. The numerical results suggest that the restraint condition at the pile head plays an important role in the mechanical response of energy piles. The ultimate pile resistance after thermal cycles does not decrease significantly. The accumulation of settlement of the free head pile and the reduction in the axial force of the restrained head pile should be considered in the design.


2022 ◽  
Vol 961 (1) ◽  
pp. 012063
Author(s):  
Taha K. Mahdi ◽  
Mohammed. A. Al-Neami ◽  
Falah H. Rahil

Abstract Increasing the cross-sectional area of piles leads to an increase in the lateral bearing resistance and reduces displacements near ground level. This increase compensates for the reduction in soil stiffness at the seabed level. Installing wings near the mudline level is one approach for increasing the area of the pile in mudline level. This research paper discusses a number of small-scale laboratory models and FEM models to study the benefit of adding wings on the variation of bearing capacity of laterally pile loaded embedded in sandy soil. To determine the advantages of adding wings to the pile, four embedded ratios (4, 6, 8, 10) were used to model both flexible and rigid pile types with various wing numbers and dimensions. The results revealed that adding wings to the pile improves lateral load resistance and greatly reduces lateral deflection. So, to achieve better resistance, wings must be linked with the pile shaft perpendicular to the lateral load applied nearer the top of the pile head. Increasing the number of wings results in a large increase in lateral pile capacity. The ultimate lateral applied load is proportional to the rise in relative density at the same (L/D) ratio.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document