Experimental investigations of a pile in colloidal silica stabilized sand under vertical and lateral loads

Settlement during an earthquake occurs due to the permanent change in volume, which reduces the shear strength of the soil. Reduction of shear strength in soil leads to considerable damage in pile-supported structures due to the generation of extra lateral loads to piles by lateral movement of loose soil. Tests were carried out to examine the behavior of the pile foundation in colloidal silica treated sand under the application of vertical, lateral, and combined loading conditions at different initial relative densities. Dry sand (untreated), fully saturated sands (untreated), and colloidal silica treated sands were used to examine the property enhancement of colloidal silica sand under different load conditions. PLAXIS 3D geotechnical professional software was used for the numerical analysis of the tests mentioned above. The soil parameters, as well as the pile considerations which were obtained from the laboratory, were used in the present analysis. The numerical results obtained from the investigations were similar to the experimental test results for all the loading cases. Colloidal silica stabilization in sand increases the vertical, lateral, and combined loading capacity of the pile. The pile bending moment of the colloidal silica treated sands was lower than untreated sands. Results indicated that colloidal silica treatment could be an effective ground improvement technique to enhance the vertical and lateral load-carrying capacity of the pile. © 2021, Saudi Society for Geosciences.