Influence of the shape of a pile shoe an a model pile penetrating layered soil

This is an account of a small-scale model study to examine the influence of the shape of pile shoes on the behavior of piles. A model pile 32 mm diameter was driven at a constant rate of penetration into sand overlying a layered clay in a container and with four different shapes of pile shoes. The test results indicate that the load penetration curves assume constant values in the sand and the clay, respectively, but the values at the interactive stage of the sand and the clay lie between the two extreme values obtained in the two strata. The final shape of the plug of sand driven ahead of the pile is independent of the shape of the pile shoe in every case.