Full-scale lateral load tests of driven piles in Bangkok Clay

This paper presents the details and preliminary results of full-scale lateral load tests on driven piles in Bangkok clay. Steel piles of moderate size were instrumented with strain gauges at various locations along the length. Field load tests were carried out to large pile displacements. Based on the framework of elastic beam on foundation, the strain gauge outputs were employed to determine pile bending moments, deflections, and external soil reactions. The experimental pile responses were compared to the numerical predictions of the computer program LPILE. It was found that the numerical model predicted unrealistically stiff load-deflection behavior. The reason was likely the use of Matlock p - y model for soft clay which significantly overestimated the experimental p - y relationships of Bangkok clay particularly near the ground surface.