Crosswise-loaded short and long piles in artificially cemented top sand layers embedded in lightly bonded residual soil

Twenty-six crosswise-loaded short (rigid) and long (flexible) piles were tested in artificially cemented top sand layers embedded in lightly bonded residual soil. The dimensions of the artificially cemented top sand layer around the piles varied from about 2 to 4 times the pile diameter and 0.1 to 0.3 times the pile length. Slope indicators were used to measure horizontal displacements in short and long piles. The field results present an important enhancement in the performance of the short and long piles under crosswise load when the artificially cemented top sand layers increase the total lateral area compressing the lightly bonded residual soil, increasing bearing capacity and reducing the maximum horizontal displacement at any given working load. At failure, a unique linear relation is observed between the crosswise load of both the short and long piles and total lateral area compressing the lightly bonded residual soil. Such finding helps to determine the foundation-residual soil interaction mechanism and provides sound normalization for test results, both considered necessary steps towards the development of a design concept for predicting the crosswise-loaded pile response.