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Pile capacity in stiff clays - CPT method

La capacité portante des pieux dans les argiles raides - La méthode CPT

K.E.TAND, Professor, K.E.Tand & Associates, Texas, USA

E.G.FUNEGARD, Geotechnical Consultant, Amoco Corporation, Illinois, USA

SYNOPSIS: Pile load tests were perfo rmed on driven piles bearing in stiff o ve rc o ns ol id at e d clay at
6 sites on the coastal plains of the Gulf of Mexico. Cone pene tr at io n tests were performed using an
el ectrical cone penetr om e te r "Fugro type". Four p ublished procedures co rrelating end bearing and
skin friction to cone p e ne tr a ti on test data were analyzed to d e t er m in e the best procedure for p r e ­
dicting pile ca p ac it y at these sites. In addition, the pi le cap a ci ty was predicted using four p r o ­
cedures relating laboratory tests to skin friction and end bearing. The CPT method proposed by
de Ruiter and Beringen (1979) provided the best pr ed ictions of pile capacity.

INTRODUCTION GE OLOGY

Cone pene tr at i on testing "CPT" has been used in
Europe for more than 50 years to pred ict the
axial c a p a ci t y of piles. Its success is p r i ­
ma rily due to the fact that the cone is a model
pile pushed into the subsoil. However, m ost of
the data base for d e te r mi ni ng de sign rules was
ac cumulated using mechani c al cone penetr ometers.
N ottingham (1975) and others have found v a ri a­
tions in the cone bearing and sleeve friction
between me ch a ni ca l and electrical cone p e n e t r o ­
meters. One reason for the d if ferences in
friction between "Begemann t y p e ” mechan ical
cones and "Fugro type" electrical cones is that
soil can enter behind the tip of a mechanical
cone c au sing be aring on the friction sleeve.
Internal friction in the cone and between the
inner and outer rods while conducting mechanical
CPT tests can effect the m easured parameters.
Relative m o v em en t does not occur between the tip
and friction sleeve in electrical cones, and
thus more a ccurate me as u re me nt s are made of
friction and end be aring with an electr ical cone
penetrometer. CPT readings are typically o b ­
tained on 20 cm intervals for mechanical cones,
while con ti n uo us re adings are possible for e l e c ­
trical cones. For these reasons, the au thors
believe that the electrical co ne pe netrometer is
a superior desi gn from the standp oint of qua lity
and qua nt i ty of data obtained.
The sites are located along the Texas and L oui­
siana Gulf Coast Plain (U.S.A.). Five of the
sites were located in the Houston area in Texas
and one site was located in Alexandria, L o u i s i ­
ana. The subsoils are Pleistocene in age, and
consist of interbedded layers of clay, silt and
sand. Soil dep o si ti on occured in distri bu ta ry
channels, flat river de ltas and inter-delta
regions. The sea level was lowered during the
gl acial stages, which re sulted in the soils
being overc on s ol id at e d due to desiccation.
The subsoils at these sites are pre do m in an tl y
stiff clay. The clays are mo d e r a t e l y to hea vily
o verconsol id at e d (OCR 2 to 10) and the secondary
structure typically includes fissures and
s 1 ickens i d e s .
PILE LOAD TESTS
Ten dr iven piles and one 9 pile group were load
tested to failure, or near failure, at the 6
sites. Other load test data was available but
only sites where the subsoils were prima rily
stiff clay and the load tests had been condu cted
to plung ing failure, or near failure as inter­
pr eted by the authors, were selected for this
study.

The authors have collected data from 6 sites

where pile load and CPT tests using an e l e c ­
trical cone have been p erformed in stiff clay.
The purpose of this paper is to compare the pile
capa city p redicted using pu blished CPT design
pr ocedures with load tests to evaluate the best
procedure. Soil borings and laboratory tests
were also performed at these sites. Pile c a p a ­
city was p redicted using shear strength data to
compare CPT and co nventional methods.
Most of the load tests had been performed using
the Quick Load Test for individual piles o u t ­
lined in ASTM D 1143. Load is applied in incre­
ments of 10 to 15 percent of the proposed design
load with a constant time interval between in­
crem ents of 2.5 minutes.
For purposes of this paper, the ulti mate load is
de fined as the m a x i m u m load at plunging failure.

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TA BLE I
PILE LOAD TESTS AND PREDICTED CAPACITY

Site P i le Pile Ultimate c Predicted Pile Cap ac i ty - CPT P redicted Pile C a p a c it y - 'T ’r
S ize Length Load* o
de Sc hmert- To mlin- Wood­
m . m . lx l03 kg. cm Ru i ter mann L.P.C. Tumay son ward Peck Lambda

A-l . 51 29.9 209 2.0 224 198 224 299 127 146 160 195
A- 2 .51 30.5 318 1.5 238 210 233 313 143 164 166 212
A-3 .61 40.5 488 3.0 452 227 404 545 181 224 264 296
A-4 .61 36.6 299 2.2 305 122 226 305 147 179 168 264
B .76 18.6 263 1.4 248 223 399 312 182 233 286 244
C-l #3/00 20.7 134 1.0 100 91 143 108 73 94 114 92
C-2 #2/00 17.7 100 0.8 88 78 119 93 61 78 96 76
D-l .28 13.1 67 0.8 80 51 93 90 45 58 84 85
D-2 .28 13.1 60 0.5 80 51 93 90 45 58 84 85
D-3 .28 13.1 76 0.6 80 51 93 90 45 58 84 85
E-l .36 9.4 91 1.5 90 80 121 96 55 67 86 82
E-2 . 36 13.7 127 1.5 108 107 160 124 73 93 122 122
F-l .46 9.1 159 1.0 165 133 127 181 109 131 165 175

*to co nvert to kips (U.S. measurements) m u l t i p l y values in table by 2. 20

The interpreted ultimate cap ac it y was 17 p er cent refi nery in Texas City. Two step tapered pipes
gr eater than the last me as u re d load for the two were load tested for des ig n of three large pile
piles not tested to failure. groups. The piles were instrumented with tell
tales at the pile tips. The subsoil s t r a t i ­
graphy is stiff to very stiff clay to silty
Site A clay.

This site is located in Baytown, Texas on the

banks of the Houston Ship Channel. Six load Site D
tests were conducted at 2 sites to e valuate the
type of pile best suited for the new bridge. A This site is located on the U ni versity of H o u s ­
test series consisted of a pr ecast conc rete ton campus near down to wn Houston. Two reference
pile, a dr illed shaft, and a steel pipe pile. pipe piles were tested individually, and a 9
Results of the load tests on the dr illed shafts pile group was tested to failure. The piles
are not included in this study. were instrumented with strain gauges and tell
tales. The pile cap ac it i es shown in Table I are
for the 2 reference piles, and average of the 9
The subsoil s t ra ti gr a ph y was 21 mete rs of loose pile group. The subsoil s tr a ti gr ap hy is stiff
to dense sand under l ai n by stiff to very stiff to very stiff clay.
clay. The pile cap ac i ty shown in Table I for
the p re cast co ncrete pile is the p or tion of load
carried by stiff clay as indicated by the in­ Site E
strumented pile. Since the pipe pile had not
been instrumented, the skin friction on the pile This site is located in Alexandria, Louisiana.
in sand was assumed to be equal to the skin Load tests were perfo rm ed on two p r ec as t c o n ­
friction on the instrumented pile. The ca pa c it y crete piles for desi g n of a hi gh wa y overpass
of the pile in stiff clay was then com pu t ed by cros sing a railroad right-of-way. The subsoil
s ub tracting the load carried in friction in the s tr at i gr ap hy is stiff to very stiff clay to
upper sand from the ult i ma te pile load. sa ndy clay.

Site B Site F

This site is located about 60 meters off the This site is located about 32 kilometers east of
Texas City coast in Galve s to n Bay. One pile down t ow n Houston, Texas. Five pr ecast c oncrete
load test was conducted on a pipe pile for the piles were load tested for desi gn of a h ig hway
de sign of a new dock. To simulate co nd itions interchange. Only 2 of the test piles were load
that would exist after d r edging for the dock, tested s u ff ic ie n tl y close to their u ltimate c a ­
the pile was driv en inside a 1.07 meter di ameter pa city that the slope of the load settle ment
steel casing that had been dr iven to 10 me ters curve indicated e nsuign failure. The CPT tests
below the mud line and cleaned out. The pile indicate a dense layer of sandy silt and sand
was instrumented with 6 tell tales prior to in terbedded with hard clay lenses below 9.1
driving. The subsoil s t ra ti gr a ph y was stiff me ters. Use of cone friction to pr e di ct pile
silty clay and clay. c ap ac it y without limiting pile friction greatly
over p re di ct e d c a p a ci t y of the 12.2 meter d eep
piles. On ly the 9.1 meter long pile was used
Site C for this study because it was bea ring primarily
in very stiff sa ndy clay to clay.
The site is located in Amoco Oil Company's

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Predicted Capacity - 1 x 10 Predicted C ap acity - 1 x 10 kg.

d eR uiter Method Lambda Method

Figure 1
PREDICTED PILE CAPACITY - CPT
F our p u b l i s h e d p r o c e d u r e s w e r e u s e d to p r e d i c t
p i l e c a p a c i t y to e v a l u a t e the b e s t m e t h o d .
T h r e e of the m e t h o d s u s e c o n e f r i c t i o n to e s t i ­
ma t e p i l e friction, and one m e t h o d uses cone
b e a r i n g to e s t i m a t e p i l e f r i c t i o n . The results
are t a b u l a t e d on T a b l e I a n d a r e d i s c u s s e d
below.
deRuiter and Beringen Method
This p r o c e d u r e p r e d i c t s p i l e f r i c i t o n in o v e r ­
c o n s o l i d a t e d c l a y to b e 50 p e r c e n t of c o n e f r i c ­
tion. P i l e e n d b e a r i n g is c o m p u t e d a s 45 to 65
p e r c e n t of c o n e b e a r i n g for t y p i c a l o v e r c o n s o l i ­
dated clays. T h e a v e r a g e r a t i o of m e a s u r e d /
p r e d i c t e d p i l e c a p a c i t y is 1 . 0 4 w i t h a c o e f f i ­
c i e n t of v a r i a t i o n of .17.
Figure 2
T he a u t h o r s b e l i e v e t h a t this m e t h o d o v e r p r e ­
d i c t s e n d b e a r i n g in s t i f f c l a y . T a n d and
F u n e g a r d (1986) p r e d i c t t hat e n d b e a r i n g for
d e e p p i e r s in s t i f f c l a y is on 45 to 55 p e r c e n t
of c o n e b e a r i n g .
L PC M e t h o d (Unofficial)
The L a b o r a t o i r e d e s P o n t s et C h a u s s e e s in F r a n c e
is c u r r e n t l y e s t a b l i s h i n g a set of d e s i g n r u l e s
b a s e d on the B u s t a m a n t e - G i a n e s e l l i m e t h o d (1981)
b u t m u c h m o r e d e t a i l c o n c e r n i n g p i l e t y p e s and
installation methods. This p r o c e d u r e uses c o r ­
r e l a t i o n s w i t h c o n e b e a r i n g to e s t i m a t e p i l e
friction. End b e a r i n g on d r i v e n p i l e s in c l a y
is p r e d i c t e d to be 60 p e r c e n t of c o n e b e a r i n g .
The a v e r a g e r a t i o of m e a s u r e d to p r e d i c t e d p i l e
c a p a c i t y is .94 w i t h a c o e f f i c i e n t of v a r i a t i o n
of .27.

B r i a u d (1988) has s h o w n the LPC m e t h o d the m o s t

Schmertmann r e l i a b l e m e t h o d for p r e d i c t i n g p i l e c a p a c i t y in
mixed soils. The d a t a b a s e for B r i a u d ' s p a p e r
This p r o c e d u r e c o r r e l a t e s p i l e to c o n e f r i c t i o n w a s o b t a i n e d u s i n g a m e c h a n i c a l c one, w h i l e an
u s i n g two c u r v e s for d i f f e r e n t p i l e t y p e s . The e l e c t r i c a l c o n e w as u s e d for this d a t a base.
d e R u i t e r a n d B e r i n g e n m e t h o d is u s e d to p r e d i c t
end b e a r i n g . T h e a v e r a g e r a t i o of m e a s u r e d /
p r e d i c t e d p i l e c a p a c i t y is 1.43 w i t h a c o e f f i ­
c i e n t of v a r i a t i o n of .29. R e v i e w of the d a t a PREDICTED PILE CAP A C I T Y - CONVENTIONAL METHOD
indicates that this m e t h o d u nd e r p r e d i c t s c a p a ­
c i t y of t h e s t e e l p i p e p i l e s .
T w o b a s i c m e t h o d s (4 d i f f e r e n t p r o c e d u r e s ) w e r e
u s e d to p r e d i c t p i l e c a p a c i t y u s i n g the r e s u l t s
Tumay and Fayhroo Method of l a b o r a t o r y c o m p r e s s i o t e s t s to e v a l u a t e p i l e
friction. T h r e e p r o c e d u r e s u t i l i z e an a l p h a
This p r o c e d u r e c o r r e l a t e s p i l e to c o n e f r i c t i o n a p p r o a c h to p r e d i c t f r i c t i o n f r o m s h e a r s t r e n g t h
u s i n g a c u r v e t h a t is a f u n c t i o n of c o n e f r i c ­ a nd the f o u r t h u s e s an e m p i r i c a l / e f f e c t i v e
tion. P i l e f r i c t i o n is p r e d i c t e d to be a b o u t 50 stress method. The r e s u l t s a r e t a b u l a t e d on
p e r c e n t of c o n e f r i c t i o n for s t i f f c l a y . End T a b l e I a n d are d i s c u s s e d b e l o w .
b e a r i n g is c o m p u t e d b y the D u t c h m e t h o d m o d i f i e d
by B e g e m a n n (1963) w h e r e e n d b e a r i n g is c o m p u t e d
directly from cone bearing. The a v e r a g e ratio
of m e a s u r e d / p r e d i c t e d p i l e c a p a c i t y is .91 w i t h
a c o e f f i c i e n t of v a r i a t i o n of .18.

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Alpha Methods
Pile capacity was predicted using the alpha
values proposed by Tomlinson (1957), Woodward
(1961), and Peck (1977). These methods corre­
late pile friction to shear strength as computed
from laboratory tests applying a reduction
factor referred to as alpha. End bearing is
computed using bearing capacity theory. The
average ratio of measured/predicted pile capa­
city is 1.76 for Tomlinson's, 1.42 for Wood­
ward's, and 1.19 for Peck's procedures. There
is considerable data scatter.
A reason for the poor predictions using the
alpha method is that the shear strength of
overconsolidated clays is difficult to predict
due to slickensides and fissures typically
observed in stiff clays. Interpretations of
shear strength by different geotechnical engi­
neers can lead to widely varying predictions of
pile capacity.
Lambda Method
Vijayvergiya and Focht (1972) developed an
empi r ica1/effecti ve stress method correlating
passive pressure around the pile to pile fric-
tion by a factor referred to as Lambda. Pas-
sive pressure is computed as 2 times the shear
strength plus the effective overburden pressure,
and Lambda varies with pile length. End bearing
is computed using bearing capacity theory. The
average ratio of measured/predicted pile capa-
city is 1.13 with a coefficient of variation of
.25.
CONCLUSIONS
The deRuiter and Beringen procedure provided the
best prediction of pile capacity for the 8
methods analyzed. A graph of the data is pre­
sent on Figure 1. The average ratio of mea­
sured/predicted pile capacity is 1.04 with a
coefficient of variation of .17.
This CPT procedure predicts pile friction in
overconsolidated clays to be 50 percent of cone
friction, and end bearing to be 45 to 65 percent
of cone bearing. The authors prefer use of
electrical CPT tests to predict pile capacity
because subjective judgment as to interpretation
of shear strength from laboratory tests is not
required. Also, the data base to predict pile
capacity is much greater when using CPT because
a continuous log of soil strength is obtained.
The conventional method that provides the best
prediction of pile capacity is the "Lambda"
procedure. This is an empirical/effective
stress procedure. A graph of the data is
presented on Figure 2. The average ratio of
measured/predicted pile capacity is 1.13 with i
coefficient of variation of .25.
352
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