Responses of Laterally Loaded Single Piles Subjected to Various Loading Rates in a Poroelastic Soil

Groundwater table has an important role in soil–structure interaction problems. However, analysis of laterally loaded single piles has often been conducted by solely considering the mechanics of the soil skeleton or decoupling the interactive mechanics of the soil skeleton and the fluid flux; in other words, most analyses were performed without taking into consideration the coupling effect between the soil skeleton and the fluid flux. To improve our understanding of the hydromechanical coupling effect on laterally loaded single piles, a series of finite element study on laterally loaded single piles in saturated porous media was conducted. The effect of pile cap geometries, cap widths, cap embedment depths, and pile lengths, on the response of laterally loaded single piles was also studied. The loading condition of the pile was found to have a significant effect on the generation of excess pore-water pressure. The lateral displacement and bending moment computed at the maximum excess pore water pressure, which in turn, is equivalent to an undrained analysis, produced the minimum responses among all the other loading conditions. The effect of pile cap geometries was found to be much less significant than anticipated.

Uplift resistance capacity of anchor piles used in marine aquaculture

Anchor piles are widely used in marine aquaculture, and the safety is largely determined by the uplift resistance capacity,especially in harsh ocean environments. However, there are few practical guides to the design and installation of the anchor piles for mooring the body of marine aquaculture equipment. Laboratory experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of the initial tension angle, pile diameter, embedded depth, and pile configuration on the uplift resistance capacity of anchor piles under oblique loads. CCD camera and load cell were utilized to measure the corresponding displacement and load, respectively. The results show that increasing the initial tension angle of circular and square single piles can significantly improve the uplift resistance capacity. The failure load of the square single pile was slightly higher than that of the circular single pile. Increasing the pile diameter can effectively improve the failure load and delay the development speed of the pile top displacement. Increasing the embedded depth can effectively improve the failure load and increase the lateral displacement of the pile top. The uplift resistance capacity of the dual anchor piles was better than that of the single anchor piles. The layout configuration has little effect on the failure load, but has a large effect on the displacement development.

Uplift Resistance Capacity of Anchor Piles used in Marine Aquaculture

Anchor piles are widely used in marine aquaculture, and their uplift resistance capacity largely determines their safety, especially in harsh ocean environments. However, a practical guide on its design and installation is wanting. Laboratory experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of the initial tension angle, pile diameter, embedded depth, and pile configuration on the uplift resistance capacity of anchor piles for marine aquaculture under oblique loads. The results show that increasing the initial tension angle of circular and square single piles can significantly improve the uplift resistance capacity. The failure load of the square single pile was slightly higher than that of the circular single pile. Increasing the pile diameter can effectively improve the failure load and delay the development speed of the pile top displacement. Increasing the embedded depth can effectively improve the failure load and increase the lateral displacement of the pile top. The uplift resistance capacity of the dual anchor piles was better than that of the single anchor piles. The layout configuration has little effect on the failure load, but has a large effect on the displacement development.