Lateral Resistance of Finned-Piles in c– ϕ Soils: Experimental Investigations and Numerical Studies

Abstract

Finned pile foundation systems are advantageous at resisting lateral loads, particularly for offshore foundations. They can replace large-dimension monopiles. This paper evaluates the lateral load resistance of finned piles for onshore foundation applications. The dimensionless factor fin-efficiency is used to quantify the improvements in the resistance caused by the fins. This study performed a series of small-scale model experiments for long piles embedded in c– ϕ soil. The numerical studies were performed with finite element approach. The paper presents the influence of fin-factors such as fin-position, width, length, orientation, embedment in pile cap, and eccentric loading on lateral resistance of finned pile. This study also suggests the optimum fin parameters that help increase the lateral resistance to the maximum possible. The study on effect of fin-embedment in pile cap shows that finned piles with fin embedded in pile cap (FP-FEPC) perform better than those without fin embedment (FP-WFE). The material cost-benefit study supported the economy of the construction with the finned pile, utilizing only 55% of the material used by the regular pile. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Indian Geotechnical Society.