Transient unsaturated shaft resistance of a single pile during water flow

The pile foundations’ design is commonly based on the soil’s initial in situ condition during field investigations or the assumption of its saturated condition. However, for some regions in tropical weather, a significant part of the pile shaft remains above the groundwater table (i.e., unsaturated condition) during the structure’s lifespan. Only considering a constant moisture condition in the soil (unsaturated or saturated) can overestimate or underestimate the pile design. The soil shear strength governs the shaft resistance of a pile and depends on the soil matric suction, which is significant in the unsaturated zone. In this study, an analytical model is proposed to estimate piles’ unsaturated shaft resistance and encourage the use of unsaturated soil mechanics in engineering practice. The mathematical equation involves well-known parameters from unsaturated soil mechanics theory and simulates the pile shaft resistance variation with its length and time, considering a unidimensional infiltration downwards (e.g., during a rainfall event).