What is a steel pile? It is essentially a fabricated shape, rolled section, or piece of sheet pile. Two or more than two, sheet piles are often joined together in a cuboidal shape and then driven as a single pile. Pipe pile suppliers hail steel piles for their load-carrying capacity. In fact, the structure can support up to 100 tons per pile.
Architects and builders use steel piles in the foundations of large and heavy structures.
Types of Steel Piles Used in Construction
1. H-Piles
One of the new technologies created by pipe pile suppliers is the use of rolled steel H-beams as a bearing pile. It generates a large amount of impact force and stress when a pile is firmly driven into the earth strata. H-piles can actually tolerate stress significantly well. H-piles are typically employed to break through rock or other hard strata. The penetration of H-piles can be carried out without employing any additional jetting, coring, or adopting techniques. Even the soil displacement process is made simpler by the H-piles’ narrow cross-section.
2. Pipe Piles
Pipe piles can act as friction heaps or end-bearing piles. These piles are made from seamless, welded steel pipes. These piles can be driven with the aid of open or closed-ended bottoms.
● Open End Pipe Piles –
These pipe piles are typically utilized to pierce hard or rock strata. After being driven, these piles are buried in the ground. Any soil that gets stuck inside the soil is removed using compressed air or special water jetting equipment. The steel pipe is drilled to the necessary depth and then filled with concrete that meets specified specifications.
● Close End Pipe Piles –
In this kind of pipe pile, the open bottom is joined by welding to a conical element made of steel or cast iron (known as the conical shoe). The pipe is filled with concrete once it has been buried in the ground. The pipe piles often range from 0.25m to 1.2m in diameter, whereas the thickness can be anywhere between 8 to 12 mm. This kind of pile functions well for pile foundations larger than 30 inches.
3. Screw Piles
Screw piles are generally made of steel or cast iron. These form a long shaft like structure that terminates in the shape of a helix or a screw base. There are two types of shafts that can be used in screw piles: hollow and solid.
The screw’s base has a diameter between 0.45 to 1.5 meters. An electric motor is used to drive the screw bottom into the ground, allowing for simple stratum penetration. In clay or loose soil, screw piles work quite well. Steel screw piling makes it simple to create a pile foundation in different types of soils.
4. Disc Steel Piles
Cast iron discs are fixed to the base of the disc steel pipe, which has a configuration akin to screw piles. While penetrating, the pile sinks into the ground. So, a hole is constructed at the bottom to make it easier to operate the water jet. Sand or soft soil can accommodate these kinds of mounds. This is considered most suitable because it enables the disc piles to sink during the process of water jetting. As marine structures need a lot of overall penetration, disc piles are more frequently used there.
Advantages of Steel Piles
● Steel piles display exceptionally huge bearing capacity
● These piles can easily break through hard strata, stiff layers, and even boulders
● While driving a steel pile, there’s considerably less volume of soil replaced
● Steel piles can withstand intense working conditions and extreme temperatures
Disadvantages of Steel Piles
● Steel piles are unfit to be used in highly corrosive environments; they may also incur damage from electrolysis
● They fall on the more expensive end of the price range.
● In certain applications, they may fall shorter than friction piles
Buy from the best pipe pile suppliers! Reach out to us at International Pipe & Supply for your next project.