Analysis on the synergistic variation of soil freezing and pile foundation bearing capacity in permafrost regions

Abstract

The construction of bored piles in permafrost regions disturbs the thermal stability of frozen soil, leading to decreased early bearing capacity of the pile foundation. As the permafrost ground temperature influences the area, the pile-soil gradually undergoes refreezing, resulting in a continuous enhancement of the pile foundation's bearing capacity. To study the synergistic variation law of soil refreezing and bearing capacity of bridge pile foundation in permafrost regions, two test piles with a length of 15 m and a diameter of 1.2 m were poured based on the actual bridge engineering construction project in the permafrost region of Daxing’an mountains, China. An intelligent temperature monitoring system was set up inside and around the area of the test pile. Combined with the collected temperature data, the refreezing state of pile-soil was comprehensively judged. The self-balancing method was employed to assess the bearing capacity of pile foundation before and after refreezing, unveiling the variation patterns in friction resistance at different soil layers and pile-end resistance. On this basis, a finite element model was established to analyze the interaction between pile side friction and pile tip resistance at varying depths of frozen soil. The test and analysis results revealed that the permafrost temperature in the pile foundation area was −1.9 ℃. Following pile-soil refreezing, the ultimate bearing capacity of the pile foundation increased by 2 232 kN, and the growth rate was 42.9%. The friction resistance of each soil (rock) layer on the pile side increased, with the growth rate ranging from 15% to 75%.