Load transfer characteristics and bearing capacity of micropiles

마이크로파일의 하중전이특성 및 지지성능 분석

This paper presents the analysis result of load-transfer mechanism and pile movements associated with the development of frictional resistance to understand the engineering characteristics of micropile behavior. An field load tests were performed for two different types of micropiles and they are (i) thread bar reinforcement with D=50mm and (ii) hollow steel pipe reinforcement with $D_{out}$=82.5mm and $D_{in}$=60.5mm and wrapped with woven geotextile for post-grouting. The load test results indicated that micropiling with pressured grouting provided better load-transfer characteristics than micropiling with gravity grouting under both compressive and tensile loading conditions in that unit skin frictional resistance is well distributed along installation depth. The unit weight and unconfined compressive strength of cured grout were obtained for each piling method. The strength and unit weight of micropile with pressured grouting was higher than those with gravity grouting. The fact that load bearing quality with pressured grouting is better than that of gravity grouting could be attributed to the dense mutual adhesion between surrounding ground and pile due to pressurized grouting method and better grout quality.