A case study on computational method of bearing capacity of open-end steel pipe pile

With the advantages of high bearing capacity and efficient construction, the driven open-end steel pipe piles have been widely used for pile foundations in bridge engineering. However, there is no stated computational method for its vertical bearing capacity in the current code for pile foundation design of highway bridges. Based on analyzing the bearing mechanism and the static load test results of the open-end steel pipe piles, a method calculating allowable load capacity of pile is put forward, and the soil plug effect is considered in the method. The verified results show that the suggested method approximates to the actual engineering situation. Finally, the influence of using different partial factors for skin friction resistance and end resistance respectively on bearing capacity of pile is analyzed, that is close to the actual performance.