Lateral Response of a Single Pile in Unsaturated Sand

Abstract

Pile response in unsaturated soils is an area of interest due to its prevalence in real-world scenarios. Significant differences exist in the lateral behavior of single piles in partially saturated soils due to increased soil stiffness. In this study, a single pile was monotonically loaded laterally to investigate the performance of piles in soils with variable water table levels. Pile head lateral response showed that a mix of unsaturated-saturated soil led to an increase in lateral loads on the pile at a similar displacement compared with the fully saturated or dry soil conditions. The lateral response of the pile was obtained based on the curvature data from the strain gauges. A derivative method was used to generate the shear force and lateral resistance along the pile length based on finite differences at the seven strain gauge locations, thereby eliminating errors associated with curve fitting. Various lateral response plots, such as the normalized p-y curves, M-y curves, and maximum bending moment response plots, were used to assess the response to lateral load. Further, the effect of two different loading rates were assessed on the fully saturated and unsaturated-saturated soil, and the range of loading rates evaluated had minimal influence on the pile lateral response. Results indicated that considering the influence of the unsaturated soil could increase lateral resistance under similar lateral displacements. However, there is a risk of inducing large pile bending moments, potentially leading to pile flexural failure if the pile plastic moment is reached.