The section and interlocking figure show the steel sheet pile wall made of LARSSEN U-shaped section and the wall made of Z-shaped section with eccentric interlocking.
Steel sheet pile walls are composed of U-shaped (left) and Z-shaped (right) sections plus interlocking details sheet pile manufacturers.
The straight mesh part has high interlocking strength and is suitable for the corresponding tensile force. Applications include, for example, cell cofferdams.
Steel sheet pile wall is made of straight plate part and interlocking details.
Driving requires a certain amount of clearance in the interlocking device, so these joints between sheet piles are not watertight. However, due to their complex shape, water penetration through the joints does require a relatively long path. Ultrafine particles in soil accumulate in interlocking over time, which leads to "self-sealing" effect, which is enhanced by corrosion. According to Section 8.1.20.3 (R 117) of EAU 2004, this natural sealing process can be assisted by installing environmentally friendly synthetic seals in water walls. If sheet-pile walls are required to be particularly waterproof, they can be filled with permanent plastic composites or equipped with prefabricated polyurethane interlocking seals. The materials used have high ageing and weathering resistance, and good tolerance to water, sea water and acid and alkali when necessary. The polyurethane interlocking seals have been installed on the interlocking devices of several piles when they leave the factory. The field threaded joints are sealed with further prefabricated polyurethane seals.
The interlocking device can be sealed with asphalt material to realize waterproof joint. These materials can be used in work or in the field. Water tightness is achieved according to displacement principle: when passing through the next pile, the excess sealant is forced to leave the interlock. The sheet pile driven by impact hammer exerts a smaller load on the seal because the movement is only in one direction. Due to friction and related temperature rise, vibration-driven polyurethane seals have a larger load. Appendix E of DIN EN 12063 can be used to estimate the permeability of sheet pile wall joints.
Welding interlock can realize completely impermeable sheet pile wall. In the case of multiple piles, the interlocking is factory welded, which means that only the remaining interlocking between sheet pile groups must be welded on site. These joints must be cleaned and dried before welding. Sheet-pile walls can also be sealed by hammering wood wedges and then expanded in water. Rubber or plastic cord and filler compounds with expansion and curing properties can also be used.
When sheet piles are no longer properly interlocked with their neighbours, this is called separation. Even if you drive carefully, interlock damage cannot be completely eliminated. Section 8.1.13.2 (R 105) of EAU 2004 recommends that separation be checked to improve the reliability of sheet-pile walls. Visual inspection of the sheet pile wall still visible after driving can be carried out, but the signal transmitter must be used for the wall part buried below the water line, especially when high water tightness is critical, such as enclosing landfills or polluting land.
The following figure shows various composite steel sheet pile walls made of single or double PSP pile segments and intermediate plates. In this structure, the sheet pile wall transfers the load caused by ground pressure and water pressure to the pile, which makes the retaining wall, such as wharf wall, which can withstand high load, to be built.
