What is field load test?
What is field load test?
The field load check is a semi-direct way of calculating the allowable soil bearing pressure to cause a specified volume of settling. For the test, tiles, circular or square, ranging in scale, from 30 to 60 cm and approx. 2.5 cm thickness are used.
The voltage is applied to the plate using a hydraulic hammer.
A cross beam or a steel truss suitably fixed at both ends takes over the jack load reaction. The plate settling is measured by a series of three sensitivity 0.02 mm dial gauges positioned 120 degrees apart. The dial gauges are attached to stand-alone supports that remain undisturbed throughout the study.
In soils that are not homogeneous at least to a depth equal to 1.5 to 2 times the width of the sample base a field load test is not advised.
Field load measurements can not be used to assess the ultimate carrying potential of sandy soils, because the scale impact results in very deceptive findings. Nonetheless, since the experiments are carried out on clay soils, the actual bearing capacity as calculated by the test can be deemed equal to that of the base because the bearing capacity of clay is basically independent of the scale of the footing.
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