Response of a Reinforced

Concrete Embedded Pile

Under Lateral Loading
Part I: Field Testing
Jonathan P. Stewart
Associate Professor
John W. Wallace
Associate Professor
Ertugrul Taciroglu
Assistant Professor
Eric Ahlberg
Graduate Student Researcher
Changsoon Rha
Graduate Student Researcher
Craig R. Whitten
Caltrans, Senior Bridge Engineer
Anoosh Shamsabadi
Caltrans, Senior Bridge Engineer
Testing Program
• 6ft Flagpole

Completed in
Winter 2000
• 2ft Flagpole
• 2ft Fixed-head
• 9-pile Group
• Cap Only
Testing Program
• 6ft Flagpole
• 2ft Flagpole
• 2ft Fixed-head
• 9-pile Group
• Cap Only
Testing Program
• 6ft Flagpole
• 2ft Flagpole

Completed in
Summer 2005
• 2ft Fixed-head
• 9-pile Group
• Cap Only
Testing Program
• 6ft Flagpole
• 2ft Flagpole
• 2ft Fixed-head

Scheduled for
November 2005
• 9-pile Group
• Cap Only
Testing Program
• 6ft Flagpole
• 2ft Flagpole
• 2ft Fixed-head
• 9-pile Group

Scheduled for
early 2006
• Cap Only
Testing Program
• 6ft Flagpole
• 2ft Flagpole
• 2ft Fixed-head
• 9-pile Group
• Cap Only

Scheduled for
Spring 2006
2 ft Flagpole Test
• 24” diameter shaft
• Extends 13’-4” above ground
• Extends 25’ below ground
• Reinforcing: 13’-4”

Longitudinal: 8-#9

Transverse: #5 spiral @ 4.5”
• Steel: Grade 60
24”

fu=65 to 75 ksi
• Concrete: 4 ksi

f’c=5.2 to 6.4 ksi
Site Location
• Caltrans Owned Property
• Located at the I-405 and I-105 interchange in the city of
Hawthorne, CA
• Two 3000 kip reaction blocks
 Site Characterization
• Soil Testing

SCPT, SPT, Down-hole Suspension Logging, Pressure-meter, Pit
Excavation Mapping completed in 1999
Normalized Cone Norm alized Friction Ra tio, Soil B ehavior Ty pe Inde x,
( N1 )60 Su (ksf) Wn (%) Soil Stress (ksf) Resist ance, Q F Ic
0 10 20 30 40 50 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 25 50 75 0 3 6 9 12 0 100 200 300 0 10 20 30 0 1 2 3 4

0
FILL, concret e U-U Wn σv
LL
and asphalt debris PMT PL σ 'p
5

CLAY, silty sandy

10

S ILT, fine sands

15

CLAY, silty sandy

20
Depth (ft)

25
S AND, silty medium
to fine- grained
30
CLAYE Y SAND,

35 slightly silty

40

45

wt
50 Mean Q Mean F Mean Ic
S AND, fine-grained
Mean Q +/- 1 Std Mean F +/- 1 Std Mean Ic +/- 1 Std
Instrumentation
• 6 Instrumentation types, 182 total sensors
• 54 Fiber Bragg gratings

Small strains (<1.5% tension)

Average strain in concrete
• 50 DC LVDTs

Large strains (<18%)

Average strain in concrete
• 60 strain gauges

Local strain in steel
• 11 inclinometers
• 4 pressure gauges
• 3 external string pots
Test Results
Load vs. Displacement Moment vs. Curvature
Displacement [mm] Curvature [x10-3 /mm]
0 100 200 300 400 500 0 0.02 0.04 0.06
40 5000

160 500
4000
30
400
120

Moment [kN-m]
Moment [k-in]
3000
Load [kips]

Load [kN ]
300
20
80
2000
North Direction North Direction
200
South Direction South Direction
10 Exp. p-y P-y
40
API p-y 1000 FEM 100
FEM SWM
SWM
0 0 0 0
0 4 8 12 16 20 0 0.0004 0.0008 0.0012 0.0016 0.002
Displacement [in] Curvature [1/in]
2 ft Fixed-head Test
• Specimen construction
completed
• Data acquisition with 2
computers and GPS
synchronized time-
stamping
• Real-time load-
displacement plotting
• Displacement controlled
testing using 4 external
LVDTs
P-y Interpretation
• Curvature Profiles

Curvatures obtained by Curvature vs. Depth for 9” Head
measuring strain Displacement on 6ft Flagpole Test
gradient over cross-
section

Curvatures obtained 20
WEST EAST

Elevation relative to ground line (ft)

from inclinometers by 10 Yield
differentiating rotation 0

data -10

• Data Scatter -20

∆ = 9 in (≈ 0.5 ×∆y )
-30
Characterization -40
FOS
EX
IN

Scatter from different -50
0.0001 5E-005 0 -5E-005 -0.0001
instrumentation types Curvature (1/in)

Scatter from local

cracking in concrete,
material variability
P-y Interpretation
• Procedure 20
WEST EAST

Elevation relative to ground line (ft)

Obtain curvature profiles from 10 Yield

experimental data 0

-10

-20
∆ = 9 in (≈ 0.5×∆y )
-30
FOS
EX
-40
IN
-50
0.0001 5E-005 0 -5E-005 -0.0001
Curvature (1/in)
P-y Interpretation
• Procedure 20
WEST EAST

Elevation relative to ground line (ft)

Obtain curvature profiles from 10 Yield

experimental data 0

-10

Obtain moment profiles using
-20
experimental M-φ relationship ∆ = 9 in (≈ 0.5×∆y )
-30
FOS
EX
-40
IN
-50
0.0001 5E-005 0 -5E-005 -0.0001
Curvature (1/in)

WEST EAST
20

Elevation relative to ground line (ft)

10 Yield

-10

-20
∆ = 9 in (≈0.5×∆ y)
-30
FOS
EX
-40
IN
-50

-200000 -150000 -100000 -50000 0 50000 100000 150000 200000

Moment (k-in)
P-y Interpretation
• Procedure 20
WEST EAST

Elevation relative to ground line (ft)

Obtain curvature profiles from 10 Yield

experimental data 0

-10

Obtain moment profiles using
-20
experimental M-φ relationship ∆ = 9 in (≈ 0.5×∆y )
-30
FOS

Fit regression models to curvature -40
EX
IN
and moment profiles -50
0.0001 5E-005 0 -5E-005 -0.0001
• Piece-wise, high-order polynomial Curvature (1/in)

• Weighted least squares

WEST EAST
20

Elevation relative to ground line (ft)

10 Yield

-10

-20
∆ = 9 in (≈0.5×∆ y)
-30
FOS
EX
-40
IN
-50

-200000 -150000 -100000 -50000 0 50000 100000 150000 200000

Moment (k-in)
P-y Interpretation
• Procedure

Double integrate curvature profile to obtain deflection profile

Double differentiate moment profile to obtain soil reaction profile

Assemble p-y curves at various depths
P-y Interpretation
• Result: p-y curve with defined uncertainty
6 ft Depth

30000

25000

20000
p (lb/in)

15000

10000

5000

0
0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1 1.25 1.5
y (in)
Outcomes
• Performance data from full-scale tests (archived
in NEES data repository)
• Experimental p-y relationships for various
configurations

Diameter effects (6ft flagpole to 2ft flagpole)

Head fixity effects (2ft flagpole to 2ft fixed-head)

Group effects (2ft fixed-head to 9-pile group)
• Cap passive and frictional resistance
Future Work
• Dynamic stiffness and damping
characteristics of critical
foundation components
(previous tests were only quasi-
static)
• Stiffness, damping, and failure
mechanism of full scale
abutment system
• Coupled vertical and horizontal
behavior of drilled shaft
foundations.
• Full scale dynamic testing of
complete bridge-column-
abutment systems
More Information
• Detailed information, photos, video, papers and more at:
http://www.nees.ucla.edu/caltrans
Future Work

• Proposed Tests

Coupled dynamic/pushover testing of large diameter
individual shaft or small diameter shaft group
(Hawthorne site)

Cyclic loading to failure of drilled shaft group (remote
site)

Coupled vertical/horizontal testing of drilled shafts
(Hawthorne site)

Full scale pushover/abutment test (Hawthorne site)