Pervious concrete piles: Development and investigation of an innovative ground improvement system.

摘要

Permeable granular piles are used to increase the time rate of consolidation, reduce liquefaction potential, improve bearing capacity, and reduce settlement. However, the behavior 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. Four vertical load tests were performed on one granular pile and three pervious concrete piles. The vertical load responses of pervious concrete and aggregate piles are compared and the variation of soil stresses and displacement during pile installation are discussed. Two lateral load tests were conducted on a precast pervious concrete pile and on a cast-in-place pile. The behavior of pervious concrete piles and the effects of installation on their response under lateral loading were investigated. In addition, a finite element model simulation account for the installation effect has been used to further investigate the behavior of the pervious concrete pile and surrounding soil under vertical load condition.