Abstract
An effective tool for studying the behavior of the skin friction of piles in a rock formation is through a numerical analysis. Four pile load experiments were conducted on hard limestone rock samples to describe the behavior of the load transfer solely through the skin friction on reinforced concrete piles with different diameters and lengths. Finite element analysis was performed using PLAXIS 3D software to simulate the models and verify the experimental results. The parameters used to simulate the model were obtained from laboratory experiments on the samples or calculated from empirical formulas. The piles were subjected to an ultimate axial load until reaching failure, which was determined based on loosening of the skin friction. No end bearing resistance was considered because a soft material was placed beneath the pile. The results of this study include a comparison between the load-displacement curves for the experimental and numerical analyses. As the results of the numerical analysis indicate, the calculated results from the numerical study are very close to those measured from the pile load experiments.