Numerical modelling of the effect of ground consolidation caused by the installation of displacement piles on pile bearing capacity

Abstract

    Recently, with the development of piling technologies, displacement piles have become a popular selection, therefore, the need to increasing the accuracy in the calculation of pile bearing capacity is required. When a pile is installed into ground, the pile volume takes place and the soil is pushed outward from the pile shaft, which cause changes in the total stress and deformation state of the surrounding soil. In the saturated cohesive soil ground, large part of the increments of the total stresses is firstly transferred to pore water pressure (PWP) (which is also called ineffective stress or neutral stress), the PWP then dissipates with time and transfers into effective stresses. When the effective stresses of the soil surrounding the pile change, the pile bearing capacity also changes. This paper, therefore, investigates the effect of ground consolidation phenomenon caused by pile installation process on the pile bearing capacity, using a numerical method. The result show that the pile bearing capacity increases significantly after the ground consolidation process.