Contribution to the forecast of horizontal displacements in continuous fight auger piles in granular soil profile

Abstract This article presents a series of propositions for the prediction of horizontal displacements for continuous fight auger piles in granular soil profiles through modifying the parameters Ay and By from the method proposed by Matlock and Reese (1961). Empirical proposals were also presented for calculating the horizontal soil reaction coefficient (nh) for granular soils. Data from ten horizontal static load tests, conducted in the city of Paulino Neves (State of Maranhão, Brazil) were used to develop and validate the propositions. The data regarding results of nine static load tests (PCH 1 to PCH 9) were used to develop the propositions, whereas results for PCH 10 and other data from other studies (Cases A and B) were used in the validation step. Modifying the parameters used in Matlock and Reese’s method resulted in convergent and coherent predictions for all the propositions assessed in this study. In addition, predictions made for piles used in the validation phase yielded results very congruent with experimental displacements.