Capacidad de carga vertical por fuste y punta de pilotes tubulares de acero huecos.

Abstract

Open-ended, Steel, pipe piles are being used more often in important projects in Ecuador. Their great axial and lateral capacity make the an attractive pile alternative, especially when considering the logistic advantage of increasing or decreasing their length depending on the site conditions through welding or cutting of pieces. On the other hand, Pile Dynamic Analyses (PDA) and (CAPWAP) are being used more often in Ecuador to validate pile length by checking the bearing capacity. In this work, a database of geotechnical parameters as well as data of CAPWAP -determined geotechnical capacities has been compiled of projects built in the coast of Ecuador with open-ended, steel, pipe piles of 0.8, 1.2 and 1.5 m in diameter. Back-analyses were performed to be able to estimate tip resistance of open-ended pipe piles, finding that the tip resistance is a function of the ratio of embedment length and pile diameter (L/D). It was also found that for the 0.8 m diameter piles more tip area was working than for 1.2 and 1.5 m diameter piles.