Response of passively loaded pile groups – an experimental study

Preventing or reducing the damage impact of lateral soil movements on piled foundations is highly dependent on understanding the behavior of passive piles. For this reason, a detailed experimental study is carried out, aimed to examine the influence of soil density, the depth of moving layer and pile spacing on the behavior of a 2x2 free-standing pile group subjected to a uniform profile of lateral soil movement. Results from 8 model tests comprise bending moment, shear force, soil reaction and deformations measured along the pile shaft using strain gauges and others probing tools were performed. It is found that soil density and the depth of moving layer have an opposite impact regarding the ultimate response of piles. A pile group embedded in dense sand requires less soil displacement to reach the ultimate soil reaction compared to those embedded in medium and loose sands. On the other hand, the larger the moving depth, the larger amount of lateral soil movement needs to develop the pile group its ultimate deformations. Furthermore, the group factor and the effect of pile spacing were highly related to the soil-structure interaction resulted from the transferring process of forces between pile rows with the existing of the rigid pile cap.