Nasr, A. M. A. & Krishna Rao, S. V. (2016). Gotechnique 66, No. 1, 5870 [http://dx.doi.org/10.1680/jgeot.15.P.

076]

Behaviour of laterally loaded pile groups embedded in

oil-contaminated sand
A. M. A. NASR
and S. V. KRISHNA RAO

Soil contamination with oil is not only harmful for the environment, but is also detrimental to
associated buildings and foundations. Thus, the main aim of this study is to discover the influence of
oil-contaminated sand on the lateral behaviour of pile groups. Single pile tests were also performed for
comparison purposes. Small-scale model tests and a numerical study using finite-element analysis were
performed on single piles and pile groups. The investigations were carried out by varying the percentage
of oil content, the thickness of the contaminated layer and the pile group configurations. To fit the field
conditions, contaminated sand layers were prepared by mixing the sand with oil content of 06% with
regard to dry soil. The results indicated that the friction angle was reduced with increasing oil content.
Thus, there is a significant decrease in the lateral resistance of the pile groups caused by oil
contamination. The lateral resistance is decreased and the lateral deflection of the piles is increased with
an increase in the thickness of the contaminated sand layer and percentage of oil content. For the
middle pile in the lead row in the group, the maximum bending moment increased by about 40% at an
oil content of 2% over that in clean sand. The agreement between observed and computed results is
found to be reasonably good in terms of lateral resistance capacity and group efficiency.

KEYWORDS: contaminated material; finite-element modelling; model tests; piles; soil/structure interaction

INTRODUCTION significant increase in the compressibility of the contami-

Rapid industrialisation means that large quantities of indus-
trial waste are being discharged into surrounding areas,
causing contamination of the soil. Leakage of pipelines, oil
wells, underground storage tanks of gas stations and stranded
oil spills are the major sources of surface contamination. Soil
contamination with oil is a serious worldwide problem.
During the last decade, the results of a number of studies
related to the physical properties and behaviour of oil-
contaminated soil have been published (e.g. Al-Sanad et al.,
1995; Ghaly, 2001; Shin et al., 2002; Mashalah et al., 2007).
Nasr (2013) stated that the uplift resistance of a vertical pile
was reduced drastically by oil contamination. The maximum
reduction in uplift resistance occurred at low contamination
(oil content 1% with respect to dry soil). Direct shear tests
performed on oil-contaminated sands (Ghaly, 2001) showed
a reduction in soil friction angle () with an increase in
the oil percentage. Al-Sanad et al. (1995) carried out a
laboratory testing programme to determine the influence of
oil contamination and aging on the geotechnical properties
of Kuwaiti sand. The field measurements of oil content in the
contaminated soil ranged between 3 and 6% by weight of
dry soil (Kuwait Oil Company, 1991). They found that oil
contamination leads to decreased permeability and strength.
A reduction in the angle of friction () from 32 to 30 was
observed in specimens prepared at a relative density of 60%
and mixed with 6% of heavy crude oil.
From the above published papers, it is clear that oil
contamination caused a significant reduction in the friction
angle of both loose and dense sands. Furthermore, a
Manuscript received 10 April 2015; revised manuscript accepted
4 September 2015. Published online ahead of print 13 October 2015.
Discussion on this paper closes on 1 June 2016, for further details see
p. ii.

Structural Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering,
Tanta University, Egypt.
Department of Civil Engineering, Osmania University,
Hyderabad, India.
nated soil compared to clean soil was noted. Therefore, it has
been recognised that oil-contaminated layers can be treated
like soft layers with modified friction angles.
Most structures are subject to lateral loads as a result of
wind, earthquake, impact, waves and lateral earth pressure.
Therefore, the prediction of soil resistance surrounding
piles subjected to lateral loads plays an important role in
the analysis of the response of the pile. It is therefore of great
interest to investigate soil contamination effects on laterally
loaded piles; in practice, 550 oils spills were reported in
Arabian Gulf area incidents with a total of 14 000 barrels
spilled in the period 19951999 and 11 000 barrels spilled in
the period 20002003 (Saudi Aramco, 2005).
To identify the factors that influence the lateral loading
capacity of pile groups, extensive experimental studies have
been performed, which include in situ tests (e.g. Ismael,
2010), 1g physical model tests (e.g. Chandrasekaran et al.,
2010) and centrifuge physical model tests (e.g. McVay et al.,
1998; Ilyas et al., 2004). Dhowmik et al. (2013) made a
detailed investigation to determine the factors that most
significantly affect overall group and single pile behaviour.
Because most of these factors are interrelated, those with
greater significance are identified first. In order of impor-
tance, these factors are group arrangement, pile spacing,
pile-head fixity, soil type and density, and pile displacement.
Otani et al. (2006) investigated three-dimensional (3D)
failure patterns in sand owing to a laterally loaded piles using
X-ray computed tomography. They concluded that the size of
the failure zone decreases with an increase in the ground
depth along the pile and the shape of this failure zone is
almost conical in three dimensions. Hajialilue-Bonab et al.
(2013) stated that a cone-shaped passive zone is established in
front of a laterally loaded pile. Another study was carried out
by McVay et al. (1998) in order to evaluate the behaviour of
laterally loaded pile groups in the sand. The results indicated
that the group response and p-multiplier approach is
independent of soil density, but mainly a function of group
geometry and row position. Cox et al. (1984) concluded that

58

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 LATERALLY LOADED PILE GROUPS EMBEDDED IN OIL-CONTAMINATED SAND
two or three times the pile diameter (DP) clear pile spacing
was enough to produce resistance to match that of a single
pile in side-by-side configuration.
In addition to experimental studies, the finite-element
method (FEM) provides a versatile tool that is capable of
modelling pilesoil interface behaviour and 3D boundary
conditions. Chae et al. (2004) performed several numerical
studies with 3D FEM model tests and a prototype test of a
laterally loaded short pile and pier foundation located near
slopes. Kahyaoglu et al. (2009) concluded that the results of
the analysis, performed using Plaxis 3D Foundation, and the
experiments were in close agreement.
There is a little available information in the literature to
assist in evaluating the influences of soil contamination on
the pile group resistance under lateral loads. Furthermore,
there is a need to study the behaviour of pile groups subjected
to lateral load and embedded in contaminated soil for proper
understanding of pilesoil interaction. Therefore, the aim of
the current study is to perform laboratory testing pro-
grammes and theoretical investigations to determine the
effects of oil-contaminated sand on the behaviour of laterally
loaded pile groups. The main parameters in this study are the
percentage of oil content, the thickness of the contaminated
layer and pile group configurations. In addition, a compari-
son between uncontaminated and oil-contaminated sandy
soil is conducted.
EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP AND TESTING
PROGRAMME
Soil tank
A series of laboratory model tests was conducted in a test
tank made of mild steel with inside dimensions of 1000 mm
long  500 mm wide  1000 mm high. These tank dimen-
sions were chosen to ensure that the failure wedge around the
models did not extend up to the walls (Prakash, 1962). The
longer front side of the tank was provided with a removable
glass plate 20 mm thick. The vertical edges of the tank were
strengthened by using steel angles in the middle and the top
of the sides. Fig. 1 provides a schematic view of the test
configuration.
The inside walls of the tank were polished smooth to
minimise friction between the sides and the soil. Although no
end bearing stress is anticipated at the pile tip, a vertical
1 4
12 3 11 10
13
8
14 6 Uniformity coefficient, Cu
4 7
2 9
5 Maximum void ratio, emax
1000 mm
1: Loading frame; 2: test tank; 3: thick glass wall; 4: stiffener angles;
5: steel base; 6: stiffener plate; 7: model pile; 8: strain gauges;
9: sandy soil; 10: dial gauges; 11: model pile cap; 12: steel wire;
13: smoothly adjusting pulley; 14: weights
Fig. 1. Schematic view of test configuration (without scale)
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59
clearance of 40 times the pile diameter was provided below
the pile tips.
Clean sand properties
The experiments were carried out on clean, oven-dried,
commercially available sand. It has very low impurity level
with a quartz (SiO2) content of 965%. A series of basic
laboratory tests were performed on this sand in accordance
with the relevant ASTM standard (ASTM, 2010) to obtain
its engineering properties. It was found that the sand used
was classified as poorly graded sand (SP) according to the
Unified Soil Classification System (USCS). The average unit
weight achieved in this study was 1769 kN/m3 02, which
gives a relative density of 70%. Furthermore, the drained
triaxial compression internal friction angle (tr) of the sand
at Dr 70% was determined as 395. Other physical
properties of the sand are given in Table 1.
Oil properties
Heavy motor oil that is available in the market was used to
contaminate the sand. This represents unprocessed oil,
similar to the majority of the material found at contaminated
sites (Evgin & Das, 1992; Al-Sanad et al., 1995). The oil used
in the experimental work is the same as that used by Nasr
(2009, 2013). The heavy motor oil that was used is basically
paraffinic in composition and has the following properties:
density 879 kN/m3, pour point  10C, kinematic vis-
cosity 1698  106 m2/s and specific gravity 088. The
tests on the oil used were performed at laboratory tempera-
ture equal to 25 10C.
Model piles and pile caps
Scale models can be defined as having geometric similarity
to the prototype. Geometric similarity defines a model
and a prototype with homologous physical dimensions.
In this study, geometric similarity was taken into account
in the selection of model pile dimensions and stiffness.
For a tubular steel pile of diameter 06 m and a length of
20 m, using a 1:50 scale version will give a steel pile model
400 mm long (LP) and 12 mm in diameter (DP), which
will provide the same behaviour. These pile models are used
in this research. By using the above pile dimensions
and stiffness, the scaling laws were verified where (LP)model/
(LP)prototype 1/n 1/50 and (EI)model/(EI)prototype 1/n 5
(Langhaar, 1951; Hajialilue-Bonab et al., 2013). The length
to diameter ratios for model and prototype were equalled at
33, to represent a long, flexible pile. To verify this, the pile
600 mm
Table 1. Properties of sand used in the model tests
Property Value
4
Effective grain size, D10: mm 019
1000 mm
Average grain size, D50: mm 028
260
4 Coefficient of curvature, Cc 112
Maximum dry unit weight, d max: kN/m3 1830
Minimum dry unit weight, d min: kN/m3 1641
062
Minimum void ratio, emin 045
Specific gravity, Gs 266
Coarse to medium sand: % 4110
Fine sand: % 5590
Fines (, 0075 mm) 300
Classification (USCS) SP
Water content, Wc: % 000
 60 NASR AND RAO
rigidity is related to a stiffness factor T (Matlock & Reese, 800
Confining pressure, 3 = 60 kPa
1960). In cohesionless soils, T is calculated as 700
q
T 5 EnPhIP 1

Deviator stress: kPa

600
Clean sand
500 2% oil
where EP modulus of elasticity of the pile material; 4% oil
400 6% oil
IP moment of inertia of the pile cross-section; and nh is
the horizontal subgrade reaction modulus. Laterally loaded 300
piles may be considered long and flexible for practical 200
purposes if the embedment depth of the pile is greater than
4T (LP  4T; Broms, 1964b). Since the soil is not elastic, the 100
range of values for nh 175222 MN/m3 for medium-dense 0
to dense sands (Terzaghi, 1955). In this study, the value of 4T 0 5 10 15 20
was estimated as 359343 mm. The computed value of 4 T Axial strain: %
can therefore be considered to be enough to satisfy the (a)
criterion for a long, flexible pile. The pile was instrumented
with five pairs of strain gauges placed on the two opposite 800
faces in the lateral loading direction. The strain gauges were Confining pressure, 3 = 115 kPa
700
glued at 20, 70, 120, 170 and 220 mm from the pile top. Clean sand
The pile caps were machined from mild steel plates 15 mm 600 2% oil

Deviator stress: kPa

thick, such that any possible deformation in the cap was not 4% oil
500 6% oil
allowed. These caps were punched at an equal space of 3DP
centre to centre. The diameters of holes in the caps were 400
13 mm to allow the screwed parts of the piles to pass through 300
the caps. At the bottom of the screwed parts of the piles, a nut
200
for each pile was placed and tightened in place; after the piles
were placed through the caps, another nut was tightened over 100
the top of the cap to fix the piles in place. Therefore, the 0
connection between the piles and the pile cap is assumed to 0 5 10 15 20
be fixed. Axial strain: %
(b)

Preparation and properties of oil-contaminated sand 800

Confining pressure, 3 = 211 kPa
In this study, oil-contaminated sand was artificially
700
prepared by mixing oven-dried sand with heavy motor oil
Deviator stress: kPa

at different percentages of 2, 4 and 6% (by weight of dry 600

sand) to match field conditions. Owing to oil viscosity, the 500
contaminated sand was put into closed containers for 2 days
to achieve equilibrium, and to allow any possible reactions 400
between soil and oil. The same oil contents and method were 300
Clean sand
conducted by Evgin & Das (1992), Ghaly (2001), Mashalah 2% oil
200
et al. (2007) and Nasr (2009, 2013). 4% oil
Typical results obtained from specimens of clean and 100 6% oil
oil-contaminated sand in drained triaxial compression tests 0
are shown in Fig. 2. Results showed that clean sand had a 0 5 10 15 20
higher maximum stress when strain was applied under a Axial strain: %
certain amount of applied confining pressure. This is also (c)
true of samples with 2, 4 and 6% of the oil. The angles of
friction at different oil contents calculated from drained Fig. 2. Deviator stress plotted against axial strain for clean and
triaxial compression tests are shown in Table 2. It is clear that oil contaminated sand at different applied confining pressure:
a reduction in peak friction angle with the increase of oil (a) 3 = 60 kPa; (b) 3 = 115 kPa; (c) 3 = 211 kPa
percentage can be observed. It was evident that the peak
friction angle was reduced by about 68% when the oil Table 2. Values of angle of shearing resistance of sand at different
content increased from zero to 2%. However, at oil content percentages of oil content
. 2%, the decrease rate of was smaller. Furthermore, from
the results of triaxial tests shown in Fig. 2, it is clear that Relative Percentage Friction angle, Reduction
an approximately similar amount of friction angle for density, Dr: % of oil: % : degrees* per cent: %
samples with the same oil content was noted at different
70 00 395
confining pressures. For example, at oil content 2%, the
20 368 680
estimated friction angles were 36, 366 and 37 at confining 40 350 114
pressures of 60, 115 and 211 kPa, respectively. Therefore, the 60 338 144
results established that the friction angle is not significantly
influenced by scale effects. Unlike the clean sand, the *Triaxial test results.
contaminated sand shows no visible peak strength at all
confining levels. This is probably because of the coating of oil
on the surface of sand grains, which leads to a reduction in strength of the mix. Furthermore, the surface of the sand
friction when the sand grains slip and slide over each other. grains will initially become coated with a thick oil film, which
When the oilsand mixes, the lubricating effects of the oil at results in a decrease in friction when the sand grains slip
the contacts of the sand grains have reduced the shear and slide over each other. These results agree with the

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 LATERALLY LOADED PILE GROUPS EMBEDDED IN OIL-CONTAMINATED SAND 61
Table 3. Model test programme

Series Constant parameters Variable parameters

I Single pile, clean sand

Single pile, oil content 4% LC/LP 01, 02, 03, 05
Single pile, LC/LP 03 Oil content 2, 4, 6%
II Pile group 1  , S 3D, clean sand Loading direction series, parallel
Pile group 2  3, S 3D, clean sand Loading direction series, parallel
Pile group 3  3, clean sand S 3D
III Pile group 2  3, S 3D, LC/LP 03, series Oil content 2, 4, 6%
Pile group 2  3, S 3D, LC/LP 03, parallel Oil content 2, 4, 6%
IV Pile group 1  2, S 3D, oil content 4%, parallel LC/LP 01, 02, 03, 05
Pile group 2  3, S 3D, oil content 4%, parallel LC/LP 01, 02, 03, 05
Pile group 3  3, S 3D, oil content 4%, box LC/LP 01, 02, 03, 05

findings of Mashalah et al. (2007), Shin et al. (2002) and 06 LT 04 LT

Ghaly (2001). Dial gauges
Lateral load, H
LC
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE AND TEST
PROGRAMME Contaminated
layer LP
In the analysis of soilpile interaction under lateral load,

1000 mm
the procedure relating to sand preparation around a pile is an

850 mm
Model pile
important parameter which has a great influence on the
results (Hajialilue-Bonab et al., 2013). For oil-contaminated
sand, a raining technique for soil placement in the test tank DP
was not suitable and did not provide uniform compaction. S
Clean sand
Therefore, the sand unit weight was controlled by pouring the Dr = 70%, LP/DP = 33
pre-calculated weight of sand into the box for each layer
(100 mm) separately, and the sand surface was levelled by
LT = 1000 mm
using a straight plywood bar. However, a compaction effort
was needed to reach the required layer thickness, of about Elevation
four blows using a flat-bottom hammer (01 m  01 m, LC/LP = 01, 02, 03, 05 Oil content = 00%, 20%, 40%, 60%
Pile spacing (S) = 3DP Loading direction = series, parallel
weighting 20 N), to achieve the required sand unit weight. Pile group configurations = 1 2, 2 3, 3 3
The sand unit weight achieved during the tests was moni-
tored by collecting samples in small cans (40  40  40 mm) Fig. 3. Geometric parameters of pile groups embedded in oil-
of known volume (64 cm3) and weight placed at different contaminated sand
locations in the test tank. After the testing, the weight of each
can was measured to compare with the required sand unit
weight. The average unit weight achieved in this study was tangents was projected back to the y-axis to obtain the lateral
(1769 kN/m3 02), which gives a relative density of 70% resistance load. An example of such a tangent intersection
(the target relative density in all of the experiments). Some technique is shown in Fig. 4(a). For the comparison of test
tests were repeated to check that the test results were not data, the term lateral capacity ratio (LCR) is used and
influenced by the presence of the cans. described as
After finishing the sand preparation, the pile or pile group
was jacked into the sand using a guide rod and hydraulic jack HROil
LCR 2
to push the piles into the sand to the required level. Finally, HRClean
the lateral load was applied to the pile cap (as shown in
Fig. 1). Then, the lateral displacements were recorded using where HR(Oil) and HR(Clean) are the lateral resistance loads of
two dial gauges (001 mm sensitivity), and their average was the single pile or pile group embedded in oil-contaminated
taken. sand and clean sand, respectively.
A testing programme was designed to evaluate the lateral The most widely recognised standard for quantifying
behaviour of single piles and pile groups embedded in oil- group interaction effects is the group efficiency factor, ,
contaminated sand. Table 3 shows a summary of test para- which is defined in equation (3)
meters and their values. Furthermore, all parameters and
their notation are shown in Fig. 3. HRgroup
3
n  HRsingle

DISCUSSION OF TEST RESULTS
Lateral loaddeflection curves were obtained from the test
models. In the discussion of the effect of the different
parameters, the lateral resistance load (HR) for different
cases has been estimated from (PY) curves. In the present
study and according to Al-Mhaidib (2004) and Rahman
et al. (2003), the lateral resistance load was determined by the
tangent intersection method. In this method, tangent lines
were drawn from the initial and end points of the lateral
loaddeflection curve and the point of intersection of these
where HR(group) is the lateral resistance load of the group, n is
the number of piles in the group and HR(single) is the lateral
resistance load of a single pile.
The bending moments of the model pile were calculated
from the recorded strain values of the pile shaft using the
following equation, which was used by Rollins et al. (1998)
and Ismael (2010)
EP IP t  c
M 4
h

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 62 NASR AND RAO
80 affected by increasing the thickness of the contaminated sand
Clean sand Single pile
LC/LP = 01 Oil content = 4% layer. With an increase in the thickness of the contaminated
70 sand layer, the initial stiffness decreased. The initial stiffness
LC/LP = 02
LC = 00
LC/LP = 03 decreased by about 15, 25, 41 and 49% at LC/LP equal to 01,
60
LC/LP = 05 02, 03 and 05, respectively, compared to the stiffness in
Lateral load, H: N

50 LC = 333DP clean sand. The above results were expected, whereas

contamination with oil near the ground surface is equivalent
40 LC = 666DP to placing a softer, more compressible layer (Al-Sanad et al.,
1995) near the top of the pile. This leads to a reduction in
30 lateral resistance and initial stiffness, and more deflection
LC = 10DP under loads. It is clear that the drastic reduction (about 50%)
20 LC = 1666DP in the lateral resistance is when LC/LP 03 compared to a
pile in clean sand. This is because the increase of the
10
contaminated sand layer to LC/LP 03 intersects the greater
0
part of the passive conical zone, which resists the lateral loads
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 in front of the piles. At the same time, by increasing LC/LP to
Lateral deflection, y: mm 03, the area of the contaminated sand that has small shear
(a)
strength increased around the pile. This implies that the soil
particles will be easily sheared when a lateral load is applied.
80
This can be explained by the presence of oil with a higher
Oil content = 2% Single pile viscosity, which might blanket the soil particles.
70 LC/LP = 03 Consequently, the contamination with oil reduced the
Oil content = 4%
specific surface area of sand particles and then decreased
60 Oil content = 6% the friction angle between particles (Nasr, 2009). By
increasing the thickness of the contaminated sand layer, the
Lateral load, H: N

50 chance of inter-particle slippage will also increase, sub-

40
30
20
10
0 within the top eight shaft diameters (8DP).
0 20 40 60 80
Lateral deflection, y: mm
(b)
Fig. 4. Variations of lateral load H with lateral deflection y for single
pile: (a) varying thickness of contaminated layer; (b) varying oil
content
where t and c are the tensile and compressive strains at the
location of the strain gauges attached to the pile shaft,
respectively, and h is the horizontal distance between the
strain gauges (i.e. diameter of pile).
Behaviour of laterally loaded single pile in oil-contaminated
sand
At the beginning, the single pile tests were performed to
provide a comparison to the behaviour of the pile groups. To
investigate the effect of the thickness of the contaminated
sand layer (LC) to pile length (LP), tests were conducted for
single piles at different LC/LP by keeping the oil content
constant at 4%. Typical lateral loaddeflection curves for
clean sand and oil-contaminated sand with different LC/LP
ratios are presented in Fig. 4(a). The results show that the
lateral resistance load decreases considerably as the thickness
of the contaminated sand layer (LC/LP) increases. The
maximum lateral resistance loads for all tests were observed
at lateral pile deflections that ranged from 125 to 20% of the
pile diameter. The figure demonstrated that the lateral
resistance mobilised in clean sand is greater than that in
oil-contaminated sand, and the difference in soil resistance
increases with increasing thickness of the contaminated sand
layer. It is evident from Fig. 4(a) that the initial stiffness was
sequently decreasing the shear strength of the soil. At large
depths of the contaminated sand layer, LC/LP 05, the
reduction in the lateral resistance load reduces significantly.
This can be explained by the size of the failure zone (the
passive conical zone) decreasing with the increase in the
ground depth along the pile. The above results are in good
agreement with Duncan et al. (1994), who stated that the
behaviour of the pile under lateral load is governed by the soil
100 120
To study the effect of percentage of oil content, tests were
performed for three different percentages of oil content with
respect to dry sand of 2, 4 and 6%, keeping the thickness of
the contaminated sand layer constant at LC/LP 03. Fig. 4
(b) shows the relationship between lateral loaddeflection
curves at different percentages of oil content. From the above
results, it was evident that the percentage of oil content has a
significant effect on the lateral resistance of a single pile. The
lateral resistance load decreased by about 275, 50 and 625%
at oil contents equal to 2, 4 and 6%, respectively, compared
with clean sand. The rate of decrease in the lateral resistance
load decreased when the oil content was larger than 4%. This
can be attributed to the fact that the lateral soil resistance
primarily depends on the internal friction angle of sand. The
increase in oil content to 4% reduces the shear strength of the
sand, which will cause a decrease in the internal friction
angle (Ghaly, 2001; Shin et al., 2002). Therefore, for
oil-contaminated sand, the results of triaxial tests presented
no visible peak strength at all confining levels.
Behaviour of laterally loaded pile groups in clean sand
To improve understanding of pile group behaviour and to
compare the test results, a series of lateral load tests were
performed on three pile groups embedded in clean sand
(series II). In all the experimental tests, the pile spacing (S)
was constant at S 3D. Fig. 5 provides plots of the measured
lateral loaddeflection curves for 1  2, 2  3 and 3  3 pile
groups embedded in clean sand. The geometric arrangement
of the piles within the group was also studied, as shown in
Fig. 5. Results demonstrated that, for the same lateral load
applied, the lateral deflection of the pile group in a series
arrangement was more than that in a parallel arrangement.
The lateral resistance load for the parallel arrangement

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 LATERALLY LOADED PILE GROUPS EMBEDDED IN OIL-CONTAMINATED SAND 63
350 200 S
Parallel arrangement Clean sand Pile group 2 3
Series arrangement S = 3D
300
Series S LC/LP = 03
Pile group 3 3
160
S 2% oil
250
Lateral load, H: N

Parallel

Lateral load, H: N
Series S
200 120
2% oil
150 Parallel
80 4% oil
100 S
4% oil
Series D
50 6% oil
40
Parallel 6% oil
0 Parallel arrangement
0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0 Series arrangement
Lateral deflection, y: mm 0
0 20 40 60 80 100
Fig. 5. Variations of lateral load H with lateral deflection y for pile Lateral deflection, y: mm
groups with different configurations
Fig. 6. Variations of lateral load H with lateral deflection y for 2 3
pile group at different oil contents
increased by about 14 and 11% compared to the series
arrangement, for 1  2 and 2  3 pile groups, respectively. 12
The improvement in the lateral resistance load of the pile Pile group 2 3
LC/LP = 03
group decreased with increasing the number of piles in the S = 3D S
10
group. LCR = HR (Oil) / HR (Clean)

Series S
08

Influence of the percentage of oil content on laterally loaded Parallel

06
pile groups
To study the influence of the oil content percentage, tests
on a 2  3 pile group in series and parallel arrangements were 04
conducted considering three different oil contents, as shown Single pile
in series III. The thickness of the oil-contaminated sand layer 02 Series arrangement
was kept constant at LC/LP 03. Lateral loaddeflection Parallel arrangement
curves for different oil contents are presented in Fig. 6. Based
0
on the results presented in Fig. 6, the lateral resistance load, 0 2 4 6 8
pile group efficiency and lateral capacity ratio LCR were
Oil content: %
calculated. The variation of the LCR with percentage of oil
content is shown in Fig. 7. The figure demonstrates that Fig. 7. Variation of LCR with oil content for 2 3 pile group
the increase in percentage of oil content drastically reduces
the lateral capacity ratio LCR. Obviously, the decrease in the
lateral capacity ratio LCR is significant with increasing oil 10
Clean sand Pile group 2 3
content until it reaches a value of 4%, beyond which the Oil content = 2% LC/LP = 03
decrease in the LCR is slightly minimised. This can be S = 3D
Oil content = 4%
attributed to the decrease in the friction angle of the soil 08
Oil content = 6%
particles due to the increase in the percentage of oil content.
Group efficiency

An increase in the percentage of oil content increases the

lubricating effect between soil particles, which reduces the 06 056
051 053
shear strength of the sandy soil. Hence, the contaminated soil 047 044
with a higher percentage of oil content will be easily sheared 042 046
when a shear strain is applied. However, the test results 04 036
indicate that the maximum reduction in angle of internal
friction is noted at the beginning of contamination (i.e. the
lower oil contents). From the above figure, at any oil content 02
value, the LCR of a pile group is less than that of a single
pile. This proves that, as the number of piles increases, the
soil resistance is less due to overlapping of the shear 0
zones between the neighbouring piles resulting in more Series Parallel
deflections. Group arrangement
Figure 8 shows the variation of the group efficiency with
group arrangement for a 2  3 pile group at different Fig. 8. Group arrangement plotted against group efficiency at
percentages of oil content. The lateral resistance loads used different oil contents
in group efficiency calculations (equation (3)) were noted at
lateral pile deflections ranging from 7 to 11% of the pile
diameter. As expected, the group efficiency decreases with an decrease in group efficiency was about 29 and 18% in the case
increase in percentage of oil content. Generally, the group of series and parallel arrangements, respectively, than that in
efficiency increases more in a parallel arrangement than in a clean sand. These results are in a good agreement with
series arrangement. By increasing the oil content to 6%, the Hanna & Ghaly (1994), who stated that the group efficiency

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 64 NASR AND RAO
increases with the increase in angle of friction (). For the in the LCR is independent of the thickness of the
2  3 pile group embedded in clean sand and spaced at 3D, contaminated layer.
the group efficiencies are 077, 079 and 105 at angles of The largest bending moments would occur in the lead row
friction equal to 31, 36 and 42, respectively. To study the of the group and are typically used for the design (Zhang
effect of percentage oil content on the lateral deflection and et al., 1999). Consequently, Fig. 11 shows the influence of the
bending moment along the pile length, the strain readings
were obtained from an instrumented pile in a middle leading
row (most affected pile in the lead row, Zhang et al. (1999)). Lateral deflection: mm
The 2  3 pile group was loaded with a 50 N lateral load in a 8 6 4 2 0
parallel arrangement at different percentages of oil content. 0
S
Fig. 9 illustrates the distributions of lateral deflection and
bending moments along the pile in the middle of the lead 005
row. The lateral deflections increase with oil content, and the S
010
maximum deflections occur at the ground surface (Fig. 9(a)).
The maximum lateral deflections increased by about 66% at
015
oil content 2% compared to clean sand. This can be Parallel

Depth: m
attributed to the presence of oil facilitating the sliding of 020
individual sand particles under lateral loads. For percentage
of oil content less than or equal to 4%, the lateral deflection Clean sand
025
along the pile length may reduce to zero before the toe of the Oil content = 2%
pile. The maximum bending moment in the piles often Oil content = 4% 030
controls the design of pile groups and therefore has to be Oil content = 6%
analysed accurately. Fig. 9(b) shows the bending moment 035
diagrams along the pile in the middle of the lead row at
different oil contents. Fig. 9(b) shows that the maximum 040
bending moment is increased with increasing percentage of
oil content. Furthermore, the location of the maximum (a)
bending moment is lowered by increasing the oil content.
The maximum bending moment increased by about 40% at Bending moment: N m
oil content 2% above that in clean sand. 4 0 4 8 12 16
0

005

Influence of thickness of contaminated sand layer on the 010

behaviour of pile groups
The upper soil layers around a pile represent the most 015
critical area for laterally loaded piles given that greater pile
Depth: m

deflections accumulate in the region of 13 pile diameters 020

below ground level (Zhang et al., 2005). Hajialilue-Bonab Clean sand
et al. (2013) stated that an inverted cone-shaped (passive 025
Oil content = 2%
zone) is established in front of a laterally loaded pile. This
passive conical zone centred on the pile and formed near the 030 Oil content = 4%
soil surface. In order to investigate the influence of the thick- Oil content = 6%
035
ness of the contaminated sand layer, several tests were per-
formed on pile groups with different configurations. In all 040
tests the percentages of oil content were kept constant at 4%.
(b)
The variations of the LCR with LC/LP are shown in Fig. 10.
The results clearly indicate that the lateral capacity ratio Fig. 9. (a) Lateral deflection and (b) bending moment along the pile
LCR decreases with an increase in the thickness of the con- length (lead row) at different oil contents (H = 50 N; LC/LP = 0.3;
taminated sand layer. This can be attributed to the increase in S = 3D)
the thickness of the contaminated sand layer which intersects
the passive conical zone, which resists the lateral loads in
front of the piles. The results indicate that, by increasing the 12
thickness of the contaminated sand layer to LC/LP 03 Oil content = 4%
(LC 10DP), the LCR decreased by about 57, 59 and 62% 10 S = 3D
LCR = HR (Oil) / HR (Clean)

for the 1  2, 2  3 and 3  3 pile groups, respectively, from

that in clean sand. Obviously, the maximum rate of reduction 08
in the LCR was noted at LC/LP 03 (LC 10DP). The rate
of decrease in LCR becomes relatively small when the 06
thickness of the contaminated sand layer is greater than
04
03. This can be explained as the size of the failure zone (the Single pile
passive conical zone) has the largest section at the ground 02
Pile group 1 2
surface and the size of this section decreases with the increase Pile group 2 3
in the ground depth along the pile (Otani et al., 2006). Pile group 3 3
0
Furthermore, the above results are in good agreement with 0 01 02 03 04 05 06
Duncan et al. (1994), who stated that the behaviour of a pile LC/ LP
under lateral load is governed by the soil within the top eight
shaft diameters (8DP). As expected, the LCR decreases with Fig. 10. Variation of LCR with LC/LP at different pile group
an increase in the number of piles in the group. The decrease configurations

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 LATERALLY LOADED PILE GROUPS EMBEDDED IN OIL-CONTAMINATED SAND 65
S thickness of the contaminated sand layer on the maximum
20 bending moment in the middle pile in the lead row of the pile
LC/LP = 01 S group 2  3. The maximum bending moment increases with
LC/LP = 02
increases in the thickness of the contaminated layer. These
Maximum bending moment: N m

LC/LP = 03
16 experimental results are consistent with the numerical results
LC/LP = 05 Parallel
obtained by Zhang et al. (1999).
12

FINITE-ELEMENT ANALYSIS
8 In this study, the problem was investigated numerically
using the finite-element package Plaxis 3D Foundation
(Plaxis, 2008). A series of finite-element analyses on
4 Pile group 2 3 model-scale and prototype-scale single piles and a 2  3 pile
Oil content = 4% group was carried out.
S = 3D
The mesh presented in Figs 12(a)12(c) was chosen based
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 on a mesh sensitivity study and the computational time
Lateral load, H: N required for the analysis. As shown in Figs 12(a) and 12(b),
the soil mass dimensions are 45 times the pile diameter
Fig. 11. Variations of maximum bending moment with lateral load H (length)  40DP (width) and a height equal to 14 times the
for 2 3 pile group pile length (LP). These dimensions were considered adequate

Y
Model pile group

Horizontal level
40DP

y
56DP = 14LP

Sand
y
x
z

X
x
z

Z
(c)
Fixed boundary
Constrained horizontally

(a)
Y X

Sand
16DP

Load
8DP

direction (d)

Number of elements = 9272

16DP

Number of nodes = 27 477

Z 16DP 5DP 24DP

(b)

Fig. 12. The finite-element mesh used to model a laterally loaded 2 3 pile group: (a) 3D mesh view; (b) plan of mesh; (c) 3D view of piles and cap;
(d) soil elements (15-node wedge)

Downloaded by [ Indian Institute Of Technology - Delhi] on [29/08/17]. Copyright ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
 66
to eliminate the influence of boundary effects on the pile
performance (Wallace et al., 2002). It is well known that the
zone in front of the laterally loaded pile group is most
affected by soil movement and resistance. Therefore, the zone
in front of the pile group was 24 times the pile diameter and
the zone behind the pile was 10 times the pile diameter.
Fig. 12(c) shows the 3D view of the piles and pile cap. The
soil elements that are used during mesh generation consist of
15 nodes. Fig. 12(d) illustrates the distribution of nodes over
the elements. The mesh consists of 9272 3D solid brick
elements and 27 477 nodes. The finite-element analysis of a
laterally loaded pile group in the sand is conducted under
drained conditions.
All the boundary conditions assumed in the small-scale
model were simulated in the finite-element model. Therefore,
at the bottom of the 3D finite-element mesh, total fixities
were used that restrained the movements in both horizontal
and vertical dimensions. For the right and left sides, roller
supports were used in order to restrain only the horizontal
movements and vertical displacement was left free.
Modelling parameters in the analysis
In this study, the sand was assumed to have non-associative
characteristics, following the elasticplastic MohrCoulomb
model. The elasticplastic MohrCoulomb model involves
five basic input parameters: elastic modulus (E), Poisson
ratio (), internal friction angle (), cohesion (C) and
dilatancy (). Triaxial compression friction angle (tr)
of clean sand at Dr 70% was determined as 395. For
clean sand, a dilatancy angle () of 9 was used, where
 30 (Plaxis manual (Plaxis, 2008)). Based on critical
state soil mechanics concepts, the dilatancy angle () of the
oil-contaminated sand is equal to 00 at large deviatoric
strains. Values of Poisson ratio are generally between 025
and 035 in the sand, and therefore 030 was used. To avoid
complication in the analysis performed in dry sand soils
NASR AND RAO
The interaction between the piles and the surrounding soil
was modelled by using interface elements created along the
circumference of the pile. The friction angle of the pilesoil
interface (i) was found to be equal to 29, based on the direct
shear test results of slippage tests between the plate
representing the pile surface and the sand. The strength
reduction factor of the interface (Rinter) is calculated from
equation (6) and set equal to 068.
tan i
Rinter 6
tan soil
Results of finite-element analysis
The results of the finite-element analyses are shown in
Figs 1315. All the tests were performed on a single pile and
2  3 pile group, while the percentages of oil content were
varied. For comparison, the dimensions of the pile and pile
group modelled in the numerical analysis are similar to the
dimensions used in the experimental model. The thickness of
the contaminated sand layer was kept constant at 03. A
comparison between the lateral loaddeflection response
calculated by using finite-element analyses and the results
obtained from the model tests for 2, 4 and 6% oil content is
shown in Fig. 13. From Fig. 13, it is clear that the finite-
element results provide a reasonable fit with the experimental
data, particularly at small deflections. However, at large
displacements, there is a noticeable difference between lateral
loaddeflection curves which were obtained from the model
and from finite-element analyses. Some of this error may be a
200
2 3 Pile group
S = 3D, parallel 2% oil
LC/LP = 03
160
2% oil
Lateral load, H: N

(C 00), Plaxis requires a small value that is bigger than 120

4% oil
02 kPa for cohesion. For that reason, a value of 03 kPa was
used for the cohesion in the analysis. Table 4 summarises the 4% oil
80
model parameters used in the analysis.
6% oil
Elastic steel material was used to simulate the pile and pile
cap material. Table 4 shows the material properties of pile 6% oil
40
and pile cap. The pile cap was modelled as a plate with
flexural rigidity EI and axial stiffness EA. From these two Model test (experimental)
parameters equivalent plate thickness (deq) was calculated FEM (model scale)
0
from the following equation 0 20 40 60 80 100
r Lateral deflection, y: mm
EI
deq 12 5
EA Fig. 13. Comparison of results from model tests and finite-element
analysis for 2 3 pile group

Table 4. Material parameters used in the finite-element analysis

Parameter Dense sand Contaminated sand Footing Piles

Material model MohrCoulomb MohrCoulomb Linear elastic Linear elastic

Type of material behaviour Drained Drained Non-porous Non-porous
Youngs modulus, Eref: kPa 35 000 (31 200, 28 600, 25 900)* 21  107 21  107
Poisson ratio, 030 030 02 02
Cohesion, C: kPa 030 (03, 05, 06)*
Friction angle, : degrees 3950 (368, 35, 338)*
Dilatancy angle, : degrees 90 00
Interface reduction factor, Rint 075 075 (068, 064, 062, 059)*
Failure ratio, Rf 090 090

*At 2, 4 and 6% heavy motor oil content, respectively.

According to Plaxis manual (Plaxis, 2008).

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 LATERALLY LOADED PILE GROUPS EMBEDDED IN OIL-CONTAMINATED SAND
12
2 3 Pile group
LC/LP = 03
10 S = 3D, parallel
LCR = HR (Oil) / HR (Clean)
08
06
04
02 Single pile
Pile group 2 3
0
0 2
Oil content: %
Fig. 14. Comparison between LCR and oil content as obtained from
experimental model tests and finite-element analysis
Bending moment: N m
16 12 8 4 0 4
0 bending moment along the pile length. A series of tests was
Lead row 005
LC/LP = 03
S = 3D 010
015
Depth: m
Parallel 020
025
S Clean sand, H/Hu = 037
030
035
H = 50 N
040
Fig. 15. Bending moment from finite-element results along the pile
length (middle pile in lead row) at different oil contents
result of uncertainties in soil properties. For example, the
friction angle for sandy soils is known to be affected by the
stress state and density. Models to characterise the peak
friction angle include direct correlation with these two main
factors (Carraro et al., 2009) and correlation with a physical
parameter that combines the influence of density and stress
state with reference to an ultimate state to describe sand
behaviour. Furthermore, the difference between experimental
and numerical results may be due to the inadequacy of the
numerical model. Assumed mesh dimensions, failure model
parameters and modelling of pilesoil interaction are the
main factors that can affect the results of numerical models.
In dry sand soils (C 00), to avoid complication in Plaxis
analysis, a small value that is bigger than 02 kPa for
cohesion was assumed. For the above reasons, except for
6% oil content, a noticeable difference between experimental
and numerical results was observed. The relationships
between the lateral load and lateral deflection obtained
from both experimental and numerical studies are non-linear
in all the cases considered and no peak lateral resistance was
observed. It is clear from Fig. 13 that the initial stiffness
calculated from finite-element results increases by about 11,
4 and 2% for oil contents 2, 4 and 6%, respectively, compared
to the initial stiffness obtained from the model test results.
This figure also demonstrates that the lateral resistance
load calculated using the FEM increases more by about 16,
14 and 5% for oil contents of 2, 4 and 6%, respectively, than
the lateral resistance load obtained from the model tests
results.
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67
S Figure 14 shows the results of the variations of the LCR
with percentage oil content for a single pile and 2  3 pile
S group. The curves clearly show a good agreement in the
general trend of the behaviour of both the experimental and
Parallel
numerical analyses. It is obvious that the LCR significantly
decreases as the oil content increases. The maximum rate
FEA, model scale
of decrease in the LCR was observed at oil content 4%. This
can be attributed to the increase in the lubricating effect
because of the increase in the oil content to 4%, which
reduces the shear strength of the sand soil. This implies
that the contaminated soil with higher oil content (4%) will
Experimental be easily sheared when a shear strain is applied. Therefore,
sand particles coated with 4% oil vastly reduce friction
4 6 8 between particles. Because the sand particles are mixed
with high oil content, the size of particles is larger than
those in clean sand. This is attributable to the oil coating on
the individual sand particles. Consequently, the contami-
nation with oil reduced the specific surface area of sand
particles and the exchange capacity (Nasr, 2009). Moreover,
for oil content .4%, the decrease in the LCR is not
significant.
8 12 16 Theoretical studies revealed the effect of oil content on the
conducted theoretically at different oil contents and at a
lateral load equal to 50 N, which represents 37, 54, 91 and
125% of the lateral resistance load for clean sand, 2, 4 and 6%
oil content, respectively. Fig. 15 shows the bending moment
Line of max. of the middle pile in the lead row with depth for different oil
bending moment contents. As expected, the bending moment along the pile
length increases with the increasing oil content. The
maximum bending moment was noted at the pile head so
Oil content = 2%, H/Hu =054 that the connection between the pile and the cap was
Oil content = 4%, H/Hu =091 modelled fixed. It is clear that the maximum bending
Oil content = 6%, H/Hu =125 moment shifted down by increasing oil content. Eventually,
from the comparison between results presented in Figs 9(b)
and 15, it is clear that the maximum difference between
experimental results and finite-element results in terms of
maximum bending moment along the pile length was about
11%. Therefore, the finite-element results provide a reason-
able agreement with the experimental data presented in this
study.
To supplement these results, the ability to use the
finite-element program to solve a large-scale problem is
highlighted. The main aim of this additional study was to
establish the reliability of model test results to develop design
recommendations with regard to the behaviour of laterally
loaded pile groups in oil-contaminated sand. The additional
series of finite-element analyses was conducted to examine
the scaling effects of the experimental model size results. The
size of the pile, pile cap, the soil thickness and mesh
boundary were increased 20 times to simulate prototype-
scale behaviour (i.e. pile diameter, DP 024 m, length of
mesh 108 m, width of mesh 96 m and height of mesh
135 m). A single pile and pile group 2  3 were only tested
at various oil contents and LC/LP 03. The results of lateral
resistance load expressed in the non-dimensional form, LCR,
are summarised in Table 5. The results of LCR predicted for
various mesh sizes are generally similar to each other. It is
clear that the LCR from the prototype-scale results is larger
than the experimental model results. The difference between
LCR calculated from model tests and that calculated from
the prototype-scale ranged from 3 to 14% of all cases.
Therefore, the results of the analysis performed using Plaxis
3D Foundation and the experiments were in close agreement.
It is clear that the predicted results are not too sensitive to the
scaling and size effects (at least in the range of geometry and
parameters examined in this study), if the lateral resistance
load is expressed in a non-dimensional from LCR. From the
above study, the results can be used for practical purposes or
 68
Table 5. Summary of results as predicted by finite-element analysis (denoted FEA in table headings) with various scaling (LC/LP = 03)
Oil content: %
Single pile
Experimental FEA
model tests (model scale)
20 073 079
40 050 055
60 038 042
at least to predict general trends of the behaviour of a
particular prototype.
Based on the aforementioned data, design recommen-
dations are developed and can be used to study the behaviour
of laterally loaded pile groups in oil-contaminated sand.
Before construction, the oil-contaminated sand layers should
be treated by using a suitable method to increase the soil
strength. Nasr (2014) treated the oil-contaminated sand by
using cement kiln dust for rural road applications. The
percentage of oil content should be carefully calculated since
the friction angles of oil-contaminated sand layers depend on
the oil content. For piles embedded in oil-contaminated sand
under lateral loads, a reduction factor for lateral resistance
should be used to avoid the decrease in soil strength and the
increase in lateral displacement.
SCALE EFFECTS
There are several important factors that invalidate the use
of small-scale models, which had been constructed in sand
and tested at 1g, for accurate determination of deformation
behaviour. These include the particle size of sand relative to
pile diameter, which is referred to as the particle size effect,
side friction on the model container walls, construction
techniques, boundary conditions and the dilatancy of sand at
low stress.
This study was carried out on the model pile with a
slenderness ratio of LP/DP 33 and with surface roughness
conditions to simulate the geometric similarity with proto-
type behaviour (Langhaar, 1951). Moreover, the same sand
bed and relative density in the field were used in the model
tests. The ratio between the model pile diameter (DP) and
the average grain size (D50) is 43, which is higher than the
value of 30 for which there is no important scale effect on
the lateral capacities of piles (Ovesen, 1979). According to
Bransby & Smith (1975) and Balachandran (1996), with
smooth side walls and a relatively wide tank, side friction and
boundary conditions do not have any significant effect on the
results of the reduced scale model. Hence, the inside walls of
the container were polished smoothly to reduce any friction
with the sand as much as possible. Furthermore, the sand has
round grains, which minimise the friction between the sand
and the wall of the test tank. Prakash (1962) reported that the
zone of influence (or zone of interference) extended a dis-
tance of about 34 times the width of the pile group in the
direction of loading. Therefore, the length and the width of
the tank were taken about 125 times and 625 times the
width of the greatest pile group, respectively. Also, to provide
proper rigidity to the model tank and prevent any lateral
movement of the container walls, its sides and top were
strengthened by fitting steel angles. Therefore, it is assumed
that the boundaries of the soil tank have no effect on the
results obtained. The differences in the stress level between
the model tests and the field tests were the imperative factor,
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NASR AND RAO
LCR
Pile group 2  3
FEA Experimental FEA FEA
( prototype scale) model tests (model scale) ( prototype scale)
075 069 074 077
057 041 045 046
043 030 030 034
which invalidates the use of small-scale models that have
been constructed in sand and tested at 1g, for accurate
determination of deformation behaviour. The stress level in
front of the pile in a small-scale model is much smaller than
that in front of the pile in the field. This low stress in granular
soil corresponds to a greater angle of internal friction when
compared to the angle of friction at higher stress level. In this
study, based on the triaxial test results, approximately similar
friction angles for samples of the same oil content were noted
at different confining pressure. Therefore, the results estab-
lished that the friction angle is not significantly influenced by
scale effects.
It is important to make clear that the results observed
herein are relevant for the soil, pile groups and oil type used
in the present research and that further studies are necessary
to generalise such findings. Despite the involvement of scale
effects, this study provides a useful basis for further research
using centrifugal and full-scale models, leading to an
increased understanding of real pile group behaviour under
lateral loads and embedded in oil-contaminated sand.
CONCLUSIONS
The information about the lateral behaviour of pile
groups embedded in oil-contaminated sand is very limited.
Therefore, the lateral resistance load of pile groups embedded
in oil-contaminated sand was investigated using laboratory
model tests as well as finite-element analyses. Based on
the results, factors influencing the group behaviour can
be defined as the percentage of oil content, thickness of
contaminated sand layer and pile group configurations.
Within the framework of the present investigation, the
following conclusions can be drawn.
(a) The results indicated a decrease in friction angle due
to oil contamination. In general, the friction angle
was significantly influenced by the range of oil con-
tamination studied. Thus, the presence of an oil-
contaminated sand layer affects the lateral behaviour
of pile groups and in turn reduces the lateral resistance
load and increases the lateral deflection of pile groups.
(b) The lateral capacity ratio (LCR) and pile group
efficiency () decrease significantly with the increase
of the percentage of oil content. The rate of decrease of
LCR increased when the oil content increased from 00
to 4%; thereafter, the rate of decrease in LCR reduced
significantly.
(c) The maximum bending moment for the middle pile
in the lead row in the group is generally increased with
increasing percentage of oil content. The maximum
bending moment along the pile length increased by
about 40% at an oil content 2% over that in clean sand.
(d) For pile groups embedded in oil-contaminated sand, the
pile group configurations mainly affected the pile group
 LATERALLY LOADED PILE GROUPS EMBEDDED IN OIL-CONTAMINATED SAND 69
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