• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.123-127
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• 2015

Wood piles are rarely used in the construction of a greenhouse in Korea, but they are relatively more often used in other countries, such as the Netherlands. There are several advantages associated with wood piles: they are more cost-effective, less time-consuming, and more ecofriendly than the steel pipes (SPs) and pre-stressed highstrength (PHC) piles. However, one of the limiting conditions is that they have to be installed below the groundwater level to prevent decay. Since the groundwater levels are generally high in the reclaimed lands in Korea, wood piles are expected to be used often as reinforcements for foundations of greenhouses in these areas. In this study, we measured the uplift capacities of wood piles through in-situ uplift capacity tests with an aim to provide basic design data for wood pile foundations. In order to test their applicability, we then compared these experimentally measured ultimate uplift capacities with the ones calculated through some of the existing theoretical equations. The wood piles used in the loading tests were made of softwood (pine wood), and the tests were performed using piles with different diameters (∅25cm and ∅30cm) and embedded depths (1m, 3m, and 5m). The test results revealed that the uplift capacity of the wood piles showed a clear linearly increasing tendency in proportion to the embedded depth, with the ultimate uplift capacities for the diameters 25cm and 30cm being 9.38 and 10.56tf, respectively, at the embedded depth of 5m; thus demonstrating uplift capacities of ${\geq}9tf$. The comparison between the actually measured values of the uplift capacity and the ones calculated through equations revealed that the latter, which were obtained using the ${\alpha}$ method, were generally in an approximate agreement with the in-situ measured values.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.5-16
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• 2018

In the current study, the engineering behaviour of prebored and precast steel pipe piles was examined from a series of full-scale field measurements by conducting static pile load tests, dynamic pile load tests (EOID and restrike tests) and Class-A and Class-C1 type numerical analysis. The study includes the pile load - settlement relations, allowable pile capacity and shear stress transfer mechanism. Compared to the allowable pile capacity obtained from the static pile load tests, the dynamic pile load tests and the numerical simulation showed surprisingly large variations. Overall among these the restrike tests displayed the best results, however the reliability of the predictions from the numerical analysis was lower than those estimated from the dynamic pile load tests. The allowable pile capacity obtained from the EOID tests and the restrike tests indicated 20.0%-181.0% (avg: 69.3%) and 48.2%-181.1% (avg: 92.1%) of the corresponding measured values from the static pile loading tests, respectively. Furthermore, the computed results from the Class-A type analysis showed the largest scatters (37.1%-210.5%, avg: 121.2%). In the EOID tests, a majority of the external load were carried by the end bearing pile capacity, however, similar skin friction and end bearing capacity in magnitude were mobilised in the restrike tests. The measured end bearing pile capacity from the restrike tests were smaller than was measured from the EOID tests. The present study has revealed that if the impact energy is not sufficient in a restrike test, the end bearing pile capacity most likely will be underestimated. The shear stresses computed from the numerical analysis deviated substantially from the measured pile force distributions. It can be concluded that the engineering behaviour of the pile is heavily affected if a slime layer exists near the pile tip, and that the smaller the stiffness of the slime and the thicker the slime, the greater the settlement of the pile.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.18 no.7
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• pp.37-47
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• 2017

In this study, a series of full-scale field tests on prebored and precast steel pipe piles and the corresponding numerical analysis have been conducted in order to study the characteristics of pile load-settlement relations and shear stress transfer at the pile-soil interface. Dynamic pile load tests (EOID and restrike) have been performed on the piles and the estimated design pile loads from EOID and restrike tests were analysed. Class-A type numerical analyses conducted prior to the pile loading tests were 56~105%, 65~121% and 38~142% respectively of those obtained from static load tests. In addition, design loads estimated from the restrike tests indicate increases of 12~60% compared to those estimated in the EOID tests. The EOID tests show large end bearing capacity while the restrike tests demonstrate increased skin friction. When impact energy is insufficient during the restrike tests, the end bearing capacity may be underestimated. It has been found that total pile capacity would be reasonably estimated if skin friction from the restrike tests and end bearing capacity from the EOID are combined. The load-settlement relation measured from the static pile load tests and estimated from the numerical modelling is in general agreement until yielding occurs, after which results from the numerical analyses substantially deviated away from those obtained from the static load tests. The measured pile behaviour from the static load tests shows somewhat similar behaviour of perfectly-elastic plastic materials after yielding with a small increase in the pile load, while the numerical analyses demonstrates a gradual increase in the pile load associated with strain hardening approaching ultimate pile load. It has been discussed that the load-settlement relation mainly depends upon the stiffness of the ground, whilst the shear transfer mechanism depends on shear strength parameters.