Back-Calculated P-y curves from Lateral Load Tests for Railway Bridge Foundation

수평재하시험을 이용한 철도교 기초의 P-y 곡선에 관한 연구

A significantly larger lateral load and moment are applied on a high speed railway bridge foundation than other bridge foundations. Therefore most of bridge foundations on Honam high speed railway project were designed by high strength steel pipe piles to resist lateral load and moment, which caused the increase of construction costs. In order to perform optimum design, it is important to estimate accurate lateral resistance when designing this type of structure. Lateral load tests were carried out based on the field design data with the purpose of examining the lateral behavioral characteristics of a railway bridge foundation. The standard load test method(ASTM D 3966) was used for field tests by applying twice of design load. Total four load tests were performed on high speed railway bridge foundations with strain gages installed by every 1m along piles to measure load-resistance characteristics under applied lateral loads. The back-calculated P-y curves from strain gages were compared with estimated P-y curves using theoretical methods based on geotechnical investment data. Back-calculated P-y curves from field tests for sand and clay ground conditions were presented in this paper, which are different from theoretical P-y curves. By using the research results of this study, more accurate estimations of pile design under lateral loads can be available for similar geotechnical conditions.