Soil plug behaviour of open-ended model piles jacked in cohesionless soil

The objective of this study is to investigate the behaviour of soil plugging of open-ended pipe piles under various soil and pile conditions. Extensive laboratory tests were conducted on small-scale model pipe piles installed in sand with varying soil conditions. The diameter of the pile, soil density, rate of penetration and the degree of saturation all influenced the soil plugging behaviour. The laboratory test results indicated that the length of the soil plug typically increases as the diameter of the pile increases and the relative density of the soil decreases. Additionally, the plug length decreases as the matric suction value increases. The jacking force was found highly dependent on the plugged length and particle properties of the soil. The effect of penetration speed on soil plugging and load settlement behaviour were also investigated. Finally, a correlation has been developed between the plug length ratio (PLR) and the incremental filling ratio (IFR).