Experimental Investigation on Foundation Behaviour and Optimum Pile Spacing in Cohesionless Soil

In this study, 40 model test were conducted with cohesionless soil in two different relative density of 50 % and 85 %. The model tests were categorized into 3 different configurations as only raft, only pile and piled raft foundation. Also the model tests of the piled rafts were configured as shallow and surface. During the tests vertical loads were incrementally applied. The results demonstrate that the optimum pile spacing is smaller in the surface case compared to the shallow case. The study demonstrated experimentally that optimum pile spacing is to be between 1.5D to 4D, for 50 % relative density, whereas the optimum pile spacing for 85 % relative density is 4.5D to 6D.