Experimental investigation of the behavior of pile groups in sand under different loading rates

The behavior of pile groups in sand under different loading rates is investigated. A total of 60 tests were conducted in the laboratory using model steel piles embedded in a medium dense sand. The model piles have an outside diameter of 25 mm and embedment length of 500 mm. Five different configurations of pile groups (2 x 1, 3 x 1, 2 x 2, 2 x 3, 3 x 3) with center to center spacing between the piles of 3d, 6d and 9d (d is the pile diameter) were tested. The piles were subjected to axial compressive loads under four different loading rates: 1.0, 0.5, 0.1 and 0.05 mm/min. Test results indicated that the axial compressive capacity of pile group increases with the loading rate such that the pile capacity versus logarithm of loading rate data plot approximately along a straight line. The slope of this line increases as the number of piles in a group increases and it decreases by increasing the spacing between piles in a group.