Axial load testing of FBG-instrumented piles in dense sand test site in Kilmuckridge, Ireland
Axial load testing of FBG-instrumented piles in dense sand test site in Kilmuckridge, Ireland
Significant advances in strain instrumentation has enabled researchers to determine pile behaviour during installation, equalisation and loading with increased accuracy. Optical fibre Bragg grating (FBG) strain sensors have been shown to provide accurate, stable measurements of strain for steel piles during driving without issue. This paper presents the results of a 406 mm diameter open-ended steel pile which was driven to a depth of 5.75 m in dense sand at Trinity College Dublins geotechnical research test bed in Kilmuckridge, southeast Ireland. The pile was instrumented with FBGs to provide insights into pile behaviour during installation and subsequent static tension testing. The results showed that thermal effects during driving had a significant effect on the measured installation strains. Reasonable estimates of residual loads induced by the installation process were obtained through a back-analysis procedure using strain profiles at the end of the tension test.
Tanmoy Barik; Kevin Flynn; Sathwik Kasyap Sarvadevabhatla; David Igoe
11th International Conference on Physical Modelling in Geotechnics (ICPMG2026)
Session 6: Onshore and offshore foundation systems
https://doi.org/10.53243/ICPMG2026-436