LOAD BEARING CAPACITY OF LATERAL LOADED PILES IN WATERED CARPATHIAN FLYSCH

In this paper, flysch is presented as a representative material of a wide section of the Carpathian Mountains, with some areas in Poland highlighted. The geological structure of this area is complex due to the alternating layers of blocky rock masses and soil (Vessia et al., 2017). Such a complex pattern is seen in some Alpine flysch slopes, such as the Ingelsberg landslide area (Romeo et al., 2015). Many authors are monitored, predicted landslides (Allasia et al., 2013; Bertacchini et al., 2009; Casagli et al., 2010) by sophisticated sensors. The rock-soil flysch successions have become intensively fissured as a result of their geological history, weathering (precipitation and snowmelt), and long-term water retention, especially on the surface layers. These complex materials are characterised by heterogeneous lithologies, whose mechanical properties are largely uncertain. These geological structures have also been confirmed by monitoring and control studies performed on a large number of landslides (Bednarczyk, 2014). One of the most striking phenomena is the sudden decrease in the strength parameters in the studied rocks in the direction parallel to the layers due to watering. The process is made possible by heterogeneous fractured strong rock layers with high permeability coefficients for water. This study precisely describes the phenomena occurring at the contact area between the component layers of flysch under the wet conditions of a weak plane. An elastic-plastic analysis method that considers the developed strength model at the surfaces of the contact areas (Biernatowski & Pula, 1988; Pula, 1997) has been used to estimate the load capacity for piles working under a horizontal load. The piles are part of a reliability chain (Pula, 1997) in a given construction and are the first element of concern for monitoring (Muszynski & Rybak, 2017). A particular device intended to study the dependence of the shear stress on a fixed failure surface in a controlled consolidation condition was utilized. The study was conducted for a wide range of displacements and for different values of stabilized vertical stresses of consolidation. The complexity of the processes occurring in the shear zone, presented as a detailed study of the material crack mechanics, is highlighted. The laboratory results were used to construct the mechanical model of the slip surface between the soil and rock with the description supported by a neural network (NN) approximation. The artificial NN was created as a multi-layered, easy to use approach for interpreting results and for quick reconstruction of approximated values useful for the calculations presented in laterally loaded piles. For the calculations, long, sheared strips of material were considered in a semi-analytical procedure to solve a differential equation of stability. The calculations are intended to reveal the safety indexes for a wide range of boundary tasks as the most significant indicator for design decisions.