Prismatic face slope piles operating under frost heaving

The effectiveness of piles with reverse surface slope in frost heaving of soil has been the subject of discussion in many papers. In the previous works, the author considered cylindrical piles with an upper reverse taper and calculation method for the piles under these conditions. However, in order to extend the area of their use it is necessary to consider other configurations of piles as well. In this study, prismatic face slope piles are modeled for soil frost heaving conditions; equilibrium equations for calculating prismatic piles with four, six and eight faces are derived. The equilibrium equation for prismatic face slope piles in general form is also given. The equations make it possible to determine geometric parameters of piles ensuring their stability in soil under the action of tangential frost heaving forces. The author analyzes material capacity of cylindrical taper piles and prismatic face slope piles. The piles have the same bearing capacity in thawed soil and operate under the same geological and climatic conditions set before. The square pile with a sloping face shows the lowest material capacity. The proposed approach can be used for prismatic piles with a different number of faces in various conditions.