Experimental and Numerical Evaluation of a Novel Piling System for Sound Wall Applications
Abstract
Drilled shafts are conventionally used as foundations for sound walls. However, steel piles can provide faster installation and immediate utilization. The purpose of this research program is to evaluate a novel pile concept which comprises an H-pile modified to better resist typical load patterns faced by sound wall piles including lateral force and moment from wind and uplift force from adfreeze. The modifications include one or two plates welded to the pile and soil anchors (nodes) welded along the pile flange.
A full-scale pile load testing program was performed on sixteen piles which included monotonic and cyclic lateral load tests and uplift load tests. A numerical model was developed and validated from the experimental results which was then used to explore the effect of plate dimensions and the soil type on a pile’s lateral capacity. A second numerical model was developed to extend the cyclic lateral load analysis to simulate higher loads and more load cycles.
The test results showed that the plate greatly increased lateral capacity and the parametric study demonstrated that widening the plate is more efficient for increasing lateral capacity than lengthening it. The cyclic tests and modelling revealed that the lateral stiffness of the piles remains approximately constant within 100 cycles and the pile is not expected to exceed deflection limits after 1000 cycles of the design load. The uplift load tests concluded that adding nodes decreased the uplift capacity of H-piles. It was observed that the installation quality of the piles directly affected pile capacity.