• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.41-53
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• 2024

Micropiles are small, cast-in-place piles with a diameter of 300 mm or less, primarily used to reinforce existing structures and support new constructions. As the application of these piles has expanded, extensive research has been conducted on their bearing characteristics, particularly in micropiled rafts. These studies have consistently demonstrated the positive impact of micropiles on foundation reinforcement. However, previous research often overlooked the potential variations in behavior between micropiled and conventional piled rafts based on different pile conditions. Furthermore, the influence of the cohesive characteristics of the soil layer beneath the foundation on the reinforcing effect of the micropiles has not been adequately addressed. This study, therefore, undertook 3D numerical analysis to assess the reinforcing effect of micropiles, considering both pile conditions and the cohesive characteristics of the soil layer beneath the foundation. The findings revealed that micropiles are significantly more effective in non-cohesive soil layers compared to cohesive ones, with the potential to increase the bearing capacity of the raft by up to 3.7 times.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.22 no.11
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• pp.89-99
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• 2006

The PCRW (Precast Concrete Retaining Wall) has many advantages compared with cast in place concrete retaining wall : shorter construction period, excellency of quality and minimum interference with the adjacent structure and traffics. However, shallow foundation type of PCRW, which has comparatively better ground condition, has some disadvantages such as difficulty in transportation and higher cost due to the size of PCRW being expanded by resisting only with self-weight if there is no other supplementary reinforcement. The presented study, in order to complement such disadvantages of PCRW, have applied the micropile method. The micropile method has advantages like low-cost and high-efficiency and does not require huge space, because it can be executed with small size equipment. However, the mechanical behavior characteristics of the PCRW reinforced by micropile, which is installed to improve the reinforcement effect, is not yet clearly identified and there is no suggested standard as to the length, diameter, install angle and install position of micropiles. Hence, this method is yet being designed depend on engineer's experience. In this study, various laboratory model tests as to sliding and overturning were performed in order to identify and present the optimum type of reinforcement and reinforcement effect of the PCRW reinforced by micropiles. In addition, it also executed numerical analysis for the purpose of verifying the optimum type of reinforcement for micropiles based on the results of laboratory model tests. The optimum reinforcement type of micropiles was estimated by model test and numerical analysis. The length of micropiles is 0.4 times wall height and the diameter is 0.04 times wall length.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.20 no.7
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• pp.25-32
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• 2004

This paper examines the results of full-scale field tests on micropiles and side resistance is evaluated with respect to axial displacements and soil properties. Both cohesive and cohesionless soils are included in this evaluation. For all practical purposes, the developed load-displacement relationship and the geotechnical soil properties for each micropile and soil type can be used to represent the available data well through normalized average values and empirical correlations. There is a significant difference in load-carrying capacity between micropiles and drilled shafts that results primarily from the micropile pressure-grouting installation effects on the state of stress in the ground. The results show that micropiles can have a significant increase of capacity over larger-diameter drilled shafts at shallower depths with D/B < 100 or so. In cohesive soils, the typical increase is on the order of 1.5 with values as high as 2.5. For cohesionless soils, the typical increases are in the range of 1.5 to 2.5 with values as high as 6.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.15-23
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• 2021

Various micropiles have been developed through research related to micropiles, which have been carried out with the increased use of micropiles. Among the micropile construction methods being developed, the triaxial micropile (tmp), which is recently developed for the purpose of increasing the horizontal bearing capacity (seismic resistance), is representative. The three-axis micropile has the advantage of a method that can resist horizontal load more effectively because three micropiles installed inclined on each axis resist horizontal load. However, there is a problem in effectively using this pile method due to insufficient research on the support characteristics of the triaxial group micropile. In order to effectively utilize the triaxial group micropile (tmp), it is required to evaluate the bearing capacity for the factors that affect the horizontal bearing capacity of the pile. Therefore, in this study, field horizontal loading Tests were performed for each load direction, field loading Tests were verified through three-dimensional finite element analysis, behavioral characteristics of triaxial micropiles were evaluated, and appropriate horizontal bearing capacity was analyzed in consideration of horizontal load directions.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.36 no.8
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• pp.61-72
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• 2020

It is generally considered that differences of axial stiffness between exiting pile and reinforcing pile affect the load distribution ratio during vertical extension remodeling. But there are few cases to verify the effect of stiffness by field load test on load distribution ratio in Korea. In this paper, a series of load tests for micropiles were carried out to evaluate the effect of axial stiffness on the load distribution ratio. First, different types of micropiles were constructed so that conventional micropiles simulated existing piles and waveform micropiles simulated reinforcing piles. Secondly, load tests were performed to evaluate the stiffness of each piles. After then, the raft was installed to make a piled raft system and load tests were applied on foundation to verify the effect of axial stiffness on the load distribution ratio. The experimental results show that the stiffness of waveform micropiles were 2.5 times larger than that of conventional micropiles, and the load distribution ratio between existing and reinforcing piles was increased according to axial stiffness of piles.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.31-44
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• 2023

A base expansion micropile was developed to improve the bearing capacity of the micropile, which bears a simple device installed at the pile base. Under an axial load, this base expansion structure radially expands at the pile tip and attaches itself around ground, compressing the boring wall in the construction stage. In this study, conventional and base expansion micropiles were constructed in the weathered rock where micropiles are commonly installed. Further, field load tests were conducted to verify the bearing capacity enhancement effect. From the load test results, it was revealed that the shaft resistance of base expansion micropiles was about 12% higher than that of conventional micropiles. The load transfer analysis results also showed that compared to conventional micropiles, the unit skin friction and unit end bearing of base expansion micropiles were 15.4% and 315.1% higher, respectively, in the bearing zone of the micropile.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.39 no.12
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• pp.93-102
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• 2023

Despite recent modifications to building structural standards emphasizing the seismic stability of building foundations, the current design focus remains solely on vertical support, resulting in insufficient consideration of horizontal loads during earthquakes. In this study, we evaluated the dynamic behavior of inclined tripod micropiles (ITMP), which provide additional seismic resistance against horizontal and vertical loads during earthquakes. A comparison of the dynamic characteristics, such as acceleration, displacement, bending moment, and axial force, of ITMP with a 15° installation angle and normal vertical micropiles with a 0° installation angle was performed using dynamic centrifuge model tests. Results show that under moderate seismic loads, the proposed ITMP exhibited lower acceleration responses than the vertical micropiles. However, when subjected to a long-period strong seismic excitation, such as sine (2 Hz), ITMP showed greater responses than the vertical micropiles in terms of acceleration and settlement. These results indicate that the use of ITMP reduces the amplif ication of short-period (high-f requency) contents compared with the use of vertical micropiles. Therefore, ITMP can be used to enhance seismic performance of structures.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.335-344
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• 2019

Micropiles are widely used for foundation underpinning to enhance bearing capacity and reduce settlement of existing foundation. In this study, the main objective is to evaluate underpinning performance of a newly developed micropile called waveform micropile for foundation underpinning during vertical extension. Finite element method (FEM) was used to evaluate the underpinning performance of waveform micropile in terms of load-settlement response of underpinned foundation and load sharing behavior. For comparison, underpinning effects of three conventional micropiles with different lengths were also discussed in this study. Numerical results of load-settlement response for single pile demonstrated that bearing capacity and axial stiffness of waveform micropiles were higher than those of conventional micropiles because of the effect of shear keys of waveform micropiles. When additional loads 20 %, which is according to design loads of the vertical extension, were applied to the underpinned foundation, load sharing capacity of waveform micropile was 40 % higher than conventional micropile at the same size. The waveform micropile also showed better underpinning performance than the conventional micropile of length 1~1.5 times of waveform micropile.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.31 no.9
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• pp.39-51
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• 2015

various soil conditions as its application to foundation retrofit works has increased. However, most of the domestic researches focused mainly on bearing behavior of Case-I and Case-II type micropiles, whereas structural verification research was insufficient in relation with bulking behavior in particular. In this respect, this study was perfomed to understand the critical buckling characteristics of micropiles under axial load with various steel bars and grout conditions. As a result, it was found that a critical buckling shear strength of a micropile increases for smaller diameter micropile and a critical buckling load decreases with a longer length in the condition under the critical buckling length. Also, a method to evaluate a buckling possibility and yield behavior under axial compressive load conditions is proposed.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.5-11
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• 2007

Micropiles have been used for underpinning or rehabilitation of existing foundations, and direct structural support system as well. However, relatively few studies have been done on the load-transfer mechanism of micropile systems in Korea. In addition to that, only the limited information is available for estimating the side friction values on micropiles installed in weathered soils. In this study, a full-scale test on an instrumented micropile is performed in order to establish the load-transfer curves based on a hyperbolic function. Then, an empirically derived equation that correlates the load-transfer curve of micropiles with the N values from field standard penetration tests is proposed. The results from all procedures are presented in this paper. Finally, back analysis using a finite difference method and the published field data are adopted for examination of a developed skin friction equation of micropile in weathered soils respectively.