ABSTRACT
Over the initial stages of installation, the internal shear stresses (qsi) will be minimal and the pile will penetrate in a coring fashion, and the plug height will remain level with the initial ground surface. However, as the internal shear stresses develop, the plug resistance is mobilized and the plug height will become less than the embedded length. Once fully plugged, the plug length will remain constant, with the plug level decreasing in tandem with the pile penetration. The degree of plugging is commonly quantified through the incremental filling ratio (IFR), which is defined as the change in plug height (ΔL) with respect to a change in penetration (ΔZ), as illustrated by Figure 1.
