Impact of pile geometry on the installation of open ended press-in piles

This paper describes tests undertaken to explore the influence of a driving shoe and surface body ribs on the installation resistance during press-in installation of a tubular pile. The research utilises non-intrusive physical modelling capabilities of transparent soil and laser aided Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) to establish soil-pile interaction behaviour during installation. Model piles were manufactured from glass which enabled soil displacement both inside the outside of the pile to be observed. The tests results indicate that (i) a pile with a driving shoe generates greater initial resistance however substantial reductions occur as the pile installation depth increases due to increased lateral soil movement, (ii) surface body ribs are effective in maintaining reduced interface friction along the length of the pile and (iii) onset of soil plugging occurs at increased installation depths producing ‘closed end’ pile conditions which reduced installation resistance.