Behaviour of Batter Micropiles Subjected to Vertical and Lateral Loading Conditions

Abstract

Micropiles are drilled and grouted piles having diameter between 100 to 250 mm. Due to its small diameter, it is suitable for low headroom and limited work area conditions. It can be installed without noise nuisance, without vibrations to surrounding soils and structures and without disruption to the production operations in industries which makes micropiles suitable for underpinning and seismic retrofitting of structures. It is necessary to therefore understand the behaviour of micropiles under different loading conditions. This work is on vertical and battered micropiles with different length/diameter ratio (L/D) subjected to vertical and lateral loading conditions. Batter angles had a significant influence on both the vertical and lateral load carrying capacity. The ultimate vertical load was found to increase upto a 30˚ batter. The ultimate lateral load was found to increase significantly with increasing L/D ratios upto an L/D ratio of 30 for vertical and 48 for battered piles, beyond which the increase was found to be not significant. In general, negative battered micropiles offered more lateral resistance than positive battered micropiles. The results of the study indicated that the ultimate load capacity and mode of failure of the micropiles are a function of the angle of batter, direction of batter and the L/D ratio for vertically and laterally loaded micropiles.