8.

Axial Capacity
of Single Piles
CIV4249
1998 Dr. J .P. Seidel
Modified by J .K. Kodikara, 2001
Methods

Pile driving formulae
Static load test
Dynamic or Statnamic load test
Static formulae
Pile driving formulae
e.g. Hiley formula (Energy balance)
Q

= c.W.h .
F (set + tc / 2)
R
u
= working load, W=weight of the
hammer, h= height of the hammer drop
(stroke), F=factor of safety
tc= elastic (temporary) compression
c = efficiency



F
A
s
tc
R
u

Static Load Test
Plunging failure
Load to specified
contract requirement
What is the
failure load?
Davissons Method
Butler and Hoy
Chins Method
Brinch Hanson
etc. etc.
What is the distribution
of resistance?

Approximate methods
Instrumentation
Load
Deflection
Dynamic and Statnamic
Testing Methods
Rapid alternatives to static testing
Cheaper
Separate dynamic resistance
Correlation
Axial Capacity
W
P
u
Q
s
Q
b
P
u
= Q
b
+ Q
s
- W
Base Resistance
Q
b
= A
b
[c
b
N
c
+ P
ob
(N
q
-1) + 0.5BN

+ P
ob
]
minus weight of pile, W
p
but W
p
~ A
b
.P
ob
and as L >>B, 0.5BN

<< W
p
Q
b
= A
b
[c
b
N
c
+ P
ob
N
q
]
and for | > 0, N
q
- 1 ~ N
q
Q
b
Shaft Resistance
Due to cohesion or friction
Cohesive component : Q
sc
= A
s
. o . c
s
Frictional component : Q
sf
= A
s
.K P
os
tan o
P
os
K.P
os
Q
s
= Q
sc
+ Q
sf
= A
s
[ o .c
s
+ K P
os
tan o ]
A
s
Total Pile Resistance
Q
u
= Q
b
+ Q
s
Q
u
= A
b
[c
b
N
c
+P
ob
N
q
] + A
s
[ o .c
s
+K P
o
tan o ]
How do we compute Q
u
when shaft resistance
along the pile is varying?
Mobilization
Shaft
2 - 5mm
Base
10 - 20% diam
Total
Settlement
L
o
a
d

Piles in Clay
Q
u
= A
b
[c
b
N
c
+P
ob
N
q
] + A
s
[ o .c
s
+K P
o
tan o ]
Q
u
= A
b
[c
b
N
c
+P
ob
N
q
] + A
s
[ o .c
s
+K P
o
tan o ]
Q
u
= A
b
c
b
N
c
+ A
s
o .c
s
Q
u
= A
b
[c
b
N
c
+P
ob
N
q
] + A
s
[ o .c
s
+K P
o
tan o ]
Q
u
= A
b
P
ob
N
q
+ A
s
K P
o
tan o
Q
u
= A
b
c
b
N
c
+ A
s
o .c
s
Q
u
= A
b
P
ob
N
q
+ A
s
K P
os
tan o
Undrained
Drained / Effective
Driven Piles in Clay
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
r
a
Au
o
vo
Average curve for sensitivea
marine clay
Average curve for clays of
low-medium sensitivity
Driven Piles in Clay
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
1 5 10 50 100 500 1000
Time after driving in days
B
e
a
r
i
n
g


c
a
p
a
c
i
t
y


i
n


k
N
200 x 215mm conrete
(Gothenberg)
300 x 150mm tapered timber (Drammen)
150mm (8 in) steel tube (San Francisco)
300 x 125mm I-Beam
(Gothenberg)
30
25
20
15
10
5
B
e
a
r
i
n
g


c
a
p
a
c
i
t
y


i
n


t
o
n
s
N
c
Parameter
N
c

Compare Skemptons N
c
for shallow foundations
N
c
= 5(1+0.2B/L)(1+0.2D/ B)
10
9
8
7
6
5
0 1 2 3 4 5
L/d
B
B
e
n
d
i
n
g


c
a
p
a
c
i
t
y


f
a
c
t
o
r


N
c
Adhesion Factor, o
50 100 150 200 250
1000 2000 3000 4000 5000
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0
Figures denote penetration ratio =
Depth of penetration in clay
Pile diameter Key:
Steel tube piles
Precast concrete
piles
Design curve for
penetration ratio >
49 49
49
56
13 15
17
27
33
40
10
5
8 15
38
33
27
39
44
44
39
19
17
19
13
35 44
A
d
h
e
s
i
o
n


f
a
c
t
o
r
Undrained shear strength (c ) lb/ft
2
u
Undrained shear strength (c ) kN/m
2
u
20
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0 100 200
Average Undrained Shear Strength, c , kPa
u
R
e
d
u
c
t
i
o
n


F
a
c
t
o
r

,

o
Aust. Piling Code,
AS159 (1978)
Bored Piles in Clay
Skemptons recommendations for side
resistance
o =0.45 for c
u
<215 kPa
oc
u
=100 kPa for c
u
>215 kPa

N
c
is limited to 9.
A reduction factor is applied to account for
likely fissuring (I.e., Q
b
= A
b
e c
b
N
c
)
Soil disturbance
sampling attempts to establish in-situ
strength values
soil is failed/remoulded by driving or
drilling
pile installation causes substantial
disturbance
bored piles : potential loosening
driven piles : probable densification
Scale effects
Laboratory samples or in-situ tests
involve small volumes of soil
Failure of soil around piles involves much
larger soil volumes
If soil is fissured, the sample may not be
representative
Q
u
= A
b
[c
b
N
c
+P
ob
N
q
] + A
s
[ o .c
s
+K P
os
tan o ]
Piles in Sand
Q
u
= A
b
[c
b
N
c
+P
ob
N
q
] + A
s
[ o .c
s
+K P
os
tan o ]
Q
u
= A
b
P
ob
N
q
] + A
s
K P
os
tan o ]
Overburden Stress P
ob
Q
u
= A
b
P
ob
N
q
] + A
s
K P
os
tan o ]
Meyerhof Method : P
ob
= z
Vesic Method : critical depth, z
c

for z <z
c :
P
ob
= z

for z >z
c :
P
ob
= z
c
z
c
/d is a function of | after installation
- see graph p. 24
Critical Depth (z
c
)
L
z
c
o
vc
W.T.
d
20
15
10
5
0
28 33 38 43
|
z



/

d
c
Bearing Factor, N
q
N
q
is a function of : friction angle, | N
q
is a function of :
Q
u
= A
b
P
ob
N
q
] + A
s
K P
os
tan o ]
What affects | ? In-situ density
Particle properties
Installation procedure
N
q
determined from graphs appropriate
to each particular method
Total end bearing may also be limited:
Meyerhof : Q
b
< A
b
50N
q
tan|
Beware if | is pre- or post-installation:
Layered soils :
N
q
may be reduced if penetration
insufficient. e.g. Meyerhof (p 21)
N
q
factor (Berezantzevs Method)
1000
100
10
25 30 35 40 45
|
N
q
If D/B <4
reduce
proportionately
to Terzaghi and
Peck values
For driven piles : 10 + ' 75 . 0 = '
1
| |
For bored piles : ' = ' | |
1
3
Overburden Stress P
os
Q
u
= A
b
P
ob
N
q
] + A
s
K P
os
tan o ]
Meyerhof Method : P
os
= z
mid
Vesic Method : critical depth, z
c

for z
mid
<z
c :
P
ob
= z

for z
mid
>z
c :
P
ob
= z
c
z
c
/d is a function of | after installation
- see graph p. 24
Lateral stress parameter, K
A function of K
o

normally consolidated or overconsolidated -
see Kulhawy properties manual
see recommendations by Das, Kulhawy (p26)
A function of installation
driven piles (full, partial displacement)
bored piles
augercast piles
screwed piles
Das (1990) recommends the following values for K / K
o
:
Pile Type K / K
o
Bored or Jetted piles 1
Low-displacement, driven piles 1 to 1.4
High-displacement, driven piles 1 to 1.8
Kulhawy (1984) makes the following similar recommendations:
Pile Type K / K
o
Jetted piles 1/2 to 2/3
Drilled shaft, cast-in-place 2/3 to 1
Driven pile, small displacement 3/4 to 5/4
Driven pile, large displacement 1 to 2
K.tano
The K and tano values are often combined
into a single function
see p 28 for Vesic values from Poulos and
Davis
Pile-soil friction angle, o
A function of |
See values by Broms and Kulhawy (p26)
A function of pile material
steel, concrete, timber
A function of pile roughness
precast concrete
Cast-in-place concrete
Pile-soil friction angle
Broms (1966) suggests the following
Pile Material o / |'
Steel o = 20
Concrete 0.75
Timber 0.66
Kulhawy (1984)
Pile Material o / |' Typical analogy
Rough concrete 1.0 Cast-in-place
Smooth concrete 0.8 to 1.0 Precast
Rough steel 0.7 to 0.9 Corrugated
Smooth steel 0.5 to 0.7 Coated
Timber 0.8 to 0.9 Pressure-treated
Example
Driven precast concrete pile
350mm square
Uniform dense sand (| = 40
o
;

= 21kN/m
3
)
Water table at 1m
Pile length 15m
Check end bearing with Vesic and Meyerhof Methods
Pile is driven on 2m further into a very dense layer
| = 44
o
; = 21.7 kN/m
3

Compute modified capacity using Meyerhof
Example
Bored pile
900mm diameter
Uniform medium dense sand (| = 35
o
;

= 19.5kN/m
3
)
Water table at 1m
Pile length 20m
Check shaft capacity with Vesic and Meyerhof Methods
By comparsion, check capacity of 550mm diameter
screwed pile
Lateral load on single pile
Calculation of ultimate lateral resistance
(refer website/handouts for details)

Lateral pile deflection (use use subgrade
reaction method, p-y analysis)

Rock socketed pile (use rocket, Carter et
al. 1992 method)