EXPERIMENTS IN EXPANDABLE TIP PILING

SIGNIFICANT ECONOMIC SAVINGS CAN BE REALIZED IF PILE DESIGN LOADS CAN BE INCREASED TO THOSE WHICH THE PILE ITSELF IS CAPABLE OF SUSTAINING AS A STRUCTURAL COLUMN. IF FRICTION PILE CONDITIONS OR UPLIFT CONDITIONS A SYSTEM IS DESCRIBED WHEREBY PILE CAPACITIES ARE INCREASED BY EXPANDING THE PILE CROSS SECTION BY EXTRUDING STEEL PLATES FROM THE PILE BODY AFTER THE PILE IS DRIVEN. RESULTS OF A LABORATORY MODEL TEST AND REDUCED SCALE PROTOTYPE TEST ARE GIVEN AND COMPARED WITH A THEORETICAL PRELIMINARY DESIGN PROCEDURE. A DESIGN EXAMPLE ILLUSTRATES POTENTIAL ECONOMY. AN EXAMINATION OF THE SCHEME'S ADAPTABILITY TO VARIOUS PILE SECTIONS ALREADY IN COMMERCIAL USE THROUGHOUT THE WORLD EMPHASIZES THE VERSATILITY OF THE SYSTEM. /AUTHOR/