Lateral Performance of Helical Pile in Cohesionless Soil

Helical pile is one of the deep foundation system used to support the axial compression, axial tension, and lateral loading. Helical piles use as foundation for wind farms, transmission tower, pipelines, for underpinning, monopole, etc., as axial and lateral support. Advantages of the helical pile in construction are its ease of installation, reusability, and noise control. In this study, lateral performance of helical piles on small-scale model tests in cohesionless soil was analyzed. The model tests were done by using variable parameter as helix pitch and helix diameter by considering the relative density constant at 30%. The experimental tests were performed on model piles in a cylindrical tank having 600 mm diameter and 650 mm height. The soil was classified as per the IS classification as poorly graded sand (SP). Lateral load capacity of helical piles were determined by varying helix pitch 10 mm to 30 mm at an interval of 10 mm and varying the helix diameter 40 mm to 60 mm at an interval of 10 mm, respectively. The results are validated with empirical formula of Mittal et al. (2010) and Perko (2009). It is concluded that the ultimate lateral load increases with increase in helix diameter and decreases with increase in helix pitch.