Measuring soil-structure interaction on laterally loaded piles with digital image correlation

Abstract

A testing system to investigate soil-structure interaction on laterally loaded piles has been developed at Lafayette College. The two-piece soil box developed for this work allows the direct or indirect loading of single or multiple pile systems. Direct loading is accomplished by attaching hydraulic rams directly to the exposed area of the piles above the soil surface. Indirect loading is accomplished by loading the top section of the two-piece soil box, transferring the load from the ram to the side of the top section of the box and then to the pile through the surrounding soil. The interaction between the piles and the soil is monitored by a variety of sensors that range from common load cells, strain gages and displacement sensors to shape acceleration arrays, sheet pressure sensors and digital image correlation. The shape acceleration array measures the displacement of the pile along its length. Sheet pressure sensors are used to record the pressure distribution of the soil/soil box interaction in front of the directly loaded piles and behind indirectly loaded piles. Digital image correlation is used to measure surface soil movement. By combining the results from the various sensors the interaction of the soil and pile can be better understood. © 2012 Published by Elsevier B.V.