Research on concrete pile structures

This research focuses on the structure of concrete piles and covers the following themes: the development of an analysis method for the structural capacity of concrete piles, the effects of driving stresses on the pile material, and the capacity of pile joints and rock shoes and their impact on the capacity of the pile. Our main goals are to shed light on the behaviour of reinforced concrete piles, develop increasingly precise and user-friendly methods for estimating the structural capacity of concrete piles, and develop the process of demonstrating the conformance of pile products.

Research on concrete piles is needed to gain further insight into the behaviour of pile structures. The results of our research could be utilised in related design and product development and to update the instructions for dimensioning. A typical pile foundation in Finland consists of end-bearing concrete piles. The capacity of these piles is determined based on the stability or strength of the pile material instead of geotechnical capacity. There are currently no analysis methods for reinforced concrete piles that would take into account both the stability and strength of the pile material. One special feature of concrete piles is that they are repeatedly subjected to extremely high driving stresses during installation. The effects of these driving stresses on the properties of the pile material have not been previously studied in Finland. This research aims to considerably improve our understanding of these topics.

Research on this topic started with a preliminary study to uncover the factors that affect the design of reinforced concrete piles and identify related development needs. The next step is to carry out analytical research to develop an analysis method based on second order deflection. Full-scale driving tests will be performed to explore the effects of blow stresses on the strength of concrete piles. In later stages, the analysis method will be verified experimentally and the behaviour of pile joints and rock shoes will be examined in more detail.

Project manager  Jukka Haavisto    

jukka.haavisto [at] tut.fi    

040 198 1885