摘要: |
Two concurrent research programs funded by the Federal Highway Administration, the International Association of Foundation Drilling, and others are being conducted to determine how to best detect anomalies in drilled shafts and assess their impact on performance. An ongoing program at Polytechnic University involves axial load tests on shafts used for a symposium, with no data yet available. The University of Houston load-testing program is further along, and results are providing good insight into the structural performance of drilled shafts with anomalies. Initial results showed that the ultimate lateral load capacity was reduced by a maximum of 10% and determined that an anomaly outside of the reinforcing cage had much less impact than one inside the cage. From laboratory testing, researchers developed and calibrated a computer model to evaluate other anomaly sizes, geometries, and combinations. The model showed that for the unlikely case of three simultaneous anomalies occurring in a critical section of a drilled shaft, the pure axial capacity would be reduced by approximately 33%, and the pure flexural capacity would be reduced by 47% from the theoretical values for a perfect section. |