An experimental study on the resistance and movement of short pile installed in sands under horizontal pullout load

ABSTRACTIn this study, the model tests were conducted on the short piles installed in sands under a horizontal pullout load to investigate their behavior characteristics. From the horizontal loading tests where dimensions of the pile diameter and length, and loading point were varied, the horizontal pullout resistance and the rotational and translational movement pattern of the pile were investigated. As a result, the horizontal pullout resistance of the pile embedded in sands was dependent on the pile length, diameter, loading point, etc. The ultimate horizontal pullout load tended to increase as the loading point (h/L) moved to the bottom from the top of the pile, regardless of the ratio between the pile length and diameter (L/D), reached the maximum value at the point of h/L = 0.75, and decreased afterwards. When the horizontal pullout load acted on the upper part above the middle of the pile, the pile rotated clockwise and moved to the pullout direction, and the pivot point of the pile was located at 150–360mm depth below the ground surface. On the other hand, when the horizontal pullout load acted on the lower part of the pile, the pile rotated counterclockwise and travelled horizontally, and the rotational angle was very small