The bearing capacity and settlement of gravel piles in clay
Master Thesis
1980
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University of Cape Town
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Abstract
The writer has been interested in the subject of gravel piles for a number of years and has been suprised at the lack of rational design methods. When the piles are inserted in sand their purpose is mainly one of densification and their effectiveness is usually measured by a Dutch Cone Penetrometer with an increase in cone resistance as the sand is densified. For clays the above method is clearly not applicable and a conservative approach has generally been adopted with regard to the pile length and spacing. There appears to be only one paper which is often quoted as a design method (Hughes and Withers 1974) and at least one contractor used this method as a basis for design (Cementation •1977). The State of the Art was advanced in .1976 when a symposium on ground treatment was held. Again the basic design philosophy adopted was that of Hughes and Withers, and numerous case histories appeared to back up the design approach. The writer was therefore interested in formulating a new design method which could act as a check on the traditional method. Also, it was felt that an understanding of the stress-strain behaviour of the pile was needed to fully appreciate the implications of any design method. However, prior to the submission of the thesis the writer was made aware of work undertaken in Australia (Balaam and Booker 1979) which used elastic methods to establish the stress-strain behaviour of a pile. This approach is valuable as the sensitivity of design to various parameter changes can quickly be checked by reference to the numerous graphs presented. As this work is little known the relevant graphs have been reproduced in Ch. 8 of this thesis. It is intended that this thesis will act as a concise guide to column behaviour and design, as well as to the uses to which they may be put. Also, a new design method is proposed which. has been developed from a basic understanding of the stress-strain behaviour of a pile. The sequential approach used in developing this thesis is outlined in the next section.
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Includes bibliography.
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Jones, D. 1980. The bearing capacity and settlement of gravel piles in clay. University of Cape Town.