Loading behavior of pile groups studied with the aid of inductive displacement transducers and strain gages

In order to study the vertical loading behavior of piles, large-scale model experiments have been performed using single piles and pile groups of different sizes and lengths, with loading continued until failure of the total system.

In order to study the vertical loading behavior of piles, large-scale model experiments have been performed using single piles and pile groups of different sizes and lengths, with loading continued until failure of the total system. The vertical forces in the interior of the piles were measured with special strain gage devices which provided an indication of the load gradient along the length of the piles.

The settlement of the piles and the displacement of the soil were measured by means of inductive displacement transducers. The measured data was analyzed with a fully-automatic scanning system and a computer. The experiments showed that close-spaced pile groups can carry higher maximum loads than comparable single piles.