Towards the Innovation of Screw Piles: Lab Pile Testing and Rotary Penetrometer Development

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Screw piles are an innovative type of deep foundations in Canada. The screw pile industry of Canada represents a potential market at the scale of $1B. The screw pile industry of Canada supports the infrastructure construction, mining sector, railway, and Arctic development in Canada. Screw piles have been adopted to foundation manual and technical guides of Canada. Despite wide use of screw piles, several deficiencies can still be identified. The factors that governs the failure of screw piles are not clear to engineers or researchers. The current design methods for screw piles may need to be improved. The proposed program will address the fundamental questions related the soil-screw pile interaction. The program consists of three major projects. In the first project, the soil reaction and pore water response to screw piles installed into various soil types will be conducted in the laboratory; the axial and lateral resistance of screw piles of varying dimensions will be measured; the soil deformation pattern around screw piles subjected to axial loading will be quantified using the Particle Image Velocimetry technique. The objective of the first project is to address the detailed soil-screw pile interaction that can further be used to understand failure modes of screw piles and assist in the screw pile design. In the second project, a rotary penetrometer (RPT) will be developed and tested in the laboratory. The objectives of this project are to support the direct design method of screw piles and offer a new tool for geotechnical site investigation. RPT may be considered as a miniature screw pile consisting of a shaft and helix. The installation torque profiles and pore pressure collected during RPT penetration can support the interpretation of soil properties and behaviour types. Unlike other investigation techniques that drive a shaft downwards, RPT screws a shaft into ground for the site investigation purpose. The third project of this program will validate the performance of RPT in the field located on the farm at the University of Alberta. Soil properties and pile resistance, derived from RPT, will be compared with actual values that had been previously determined. RPT will have several advantages over conventional investigation methods and can find a unique niche in the screw pile industry. The program will train two PhD students, one MSc student, and several undergraduate students. The outcomes of proposed program will improve the current design approaches for screw piles and develop an innovative technique for geotechnical site investigation. The research program will make Canada maintain a world leader in the screw pile industry and site investigation.