ABSTRACT
The complex deformation processes during the installation and loading of a driven pile, prevent accurate theoretical modeling of axial pile capacity. Instead, design methods must be calibrated using databases of load tests. Offshore and nearshore driven piles are typically 0.76 m to 2 m in diameter, whilst databases of load tests used for design method calibration typically have a mean diameter less than 0.5 m. A recently-compiled database of 77 pile load tests with adjacent CPT profiles at sandy sites contained only four load tests on piles with a diameter greater than 1 m (Schneider et al. 2007a). Since the application of a calibrated design method to a nearshore or offshore pile involves significant extrapolation from existing databases, it is essential that the equations in the design method correctly capture the mechanisms that influence pile capacity; in particular the effects of pile diameter and end-condition.
