Análise numérica e experimental de blocos sobre duas estacas metálicas

Abstract

The objective of this research was to study the mechanic behavior of pile caps on two steel piles submitted to centered loading with different arrangements of the connection between pile and pile cap and to evaluate analytical models found on the technical literature. A numerical analysis of a pile cap on two steel piles was made by using the software ANSYS®, compared with experimental results from Tomaz (2018). From the parameters defined on the numerical analysis, 63 other numerical models were developed. An analysis of variance of the results obtained pointed that the variables that had an impact over the pile cap’s bearing capacity were the embedment length of the pile and the compressive strength of the concrete. An experimental program with three models of full-scale pile caps on two steel piles were executed, in which the type of arrangement of the connection between pile and pile cap varied. The types of arrangement studied were bars welded on the steel pile and bars welded on the steel pile along with stirrups. The type of arrangement had no impact on the pile cap’s bearing capacity, however, the arrangement with bars welded on the steel pile along with stirrups improved the crack distribution and ductility. The analytical model from Meléndez et al. (2019) was the most precise on predicting the ultimate load of the pile caps. The criteria from ABNT NBT 6118 (2014) that characterizes the behavior of pile caps is not adequate as it does not consider the inclination of the strut, which is one of the main parameters of design.