DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE OF SOIL-PILE-SLIP TEST APPARATUS FOR TENSION PILES

The T-Z method is the common method available to estimate load-displac ement behavior of tension piles. Obtaining accurate T-Z curves from la boratory tests has a vital role in better estimation of pile behavior. The available apparatus used to obtain laboratory T-Z curves (Coyle a nd Sulaiman 1967) suffers from a set of limitations. A soil-pile-slip test apparatus has been designed at the University of Nottingham (UK) to obtain better T-Z curves for tension piles. This paper presents the design details and the testing procedure of the soil-pile-slip test a pparatus. A set of T-Z curves obtained using this apparatus is analyze d, which provides insight into the mechanism of soil-pile-slip dilatio n near the pile surface.