The effect of ageing on the axial capacity of piles in sand

Kenneth George Gavin, David John Paul Igoe, Lisa Kirwan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

50 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Open-ended steel pipe piles are used to support jacket structures in the offshore wind sector. These piles experience significant tensile axial loading in-service and the tensile shaft resistance thus governs their design. Although pile ageing (increased shaft resistance with time) has been noted by a number of workers and incorporation in design could lead to significant efficiencies, there is a dearth of high-quality field test data that measure its effects. This paper presents the results from an experimental investigation designed to examine the effect of ageing on the tension shaft resistance developed by open-ended piles in sand. As part of this investigation, four 340 mm diameter open-ended steel piles are driven 7 m into a dense sand deposit in Blessington, Ireland. Each pile is subjected to a series of static axial tension load tests at different time intervals after driving and the effects of ageing are assessed. The tension capacity of the piles is seen to increase by as much as 185% over a period of 7 months after driving.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)122-130
Number of pages9
JournalProceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Geotechnical Engineering
Volume166
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2013
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Foundations
  • Offshore engineering
  • Piles and piling

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