Ch.

4 PILE FOUNDATIONS

4.6 Pile Groups

A pile foundation usually consists of a group of piles installed fairly close together and
connected by a pile cap, cast on top of the piles. Figure 4.34 presents some typical pile
clusters, for illustrative purposes only, since the designer must make up the group
geometry to satisfy any given problem.

Figure 4.34 Typical pile group patterns: (a) for isolated pile capa; (b) for foundation walls.
When several piles are clustered, it is reasonable to expect that the soil pressures
produced from either side friction or point bearing will overlap as idealized in Figure
4.35.

Figure 4.35 Stresses surrounding a friction pile and the summing effects of a pile group.

Suggested minimum center-to-center pile spacings by several building codes are as

follows:

Where: D = pile diameter; H = diagonal of rectangular shape or HP pile.

Optimum spacing (s) seems to be on the order of (2.5 to 3.5)D or (2 to 3)H for vertical
loads.

Maximum pile spacings are not given in building codes, but spacings as high as (8 or
10)D have been used on occasion.
4.6.1 Group efficiency
The efficiency of a pile group is the ratio of the actual group capacity to the sum of the
individual pile capacities.
 Qu 
Eg 
g

n.Pu
Where: n = number of piles in the group.

4.6.2 Capacity of a pile group

Piles in cohesionless soils at the usual spacings of (2 to 3)D will have a group efficiency
greater than one. The reason given is that in cohesionless soil the pile displacement plus
driving vibrations increase the soil density in a zone in the vicinity of the pile, which is
further increased as other piles are driven nearby.

For piles in cohesive soils and the cap is in ground contact, the group capacity equals the
(block shear + end bearing of the group in plan).

When the pile cap is above ground, as is common for offshore structures, the group
capacity may be the (block perimeter shear + individual point capacities).

In calculating the block shear (c and φ) are used instead of (ca and δ).

The end bearing of the block may be calculated using the general bearing capacity
equation with appropriate depth factor.

In no case is the group capacity to be considered greater than the single pile capacity
times the number of piles in the group (i.e., greater than one).

Figure 4.36 Block failure model for closely spaced piles.

4.6.3 Settlement of pile groups under axial compression
The settlement of a pile group is likely to be much greater than the settlement of an indi-
vidual pile carrying the same load per pile in the group. The soil influence zone under a
pile group due to vertical stress increase is considerably larger than that under a single
pile.

A. In cohesionless soils
Meyerhof (1976) proposed to use an empirical method to estimate the settlement for a
pile group in sand and gravel not underlain by more compressible soil, using SPT-
(N60) values as follows:

0.96 q B .I g f
Sand and gravel: S a
(mm)
N 60

1.92 q B . I g f
For silty sand: S a
(mm)
N 60
Where:
S : settlement of the pile group.
qa : design group bearing pressure (kPa) = group design load divided by group area.
Bg : width of the pile group (m).
N 60 : average SPT-value corrected for both energy ratio and effective overburden
pressure, within a depth of (Bg) below the pile group.
 zp 
If : influence factor for group embedment = 1    0.5
 
 Bg 
zp : pile embedment depth (m).

B. In cohesive soils
Terzaghiand Peck (1967) proposed that pile group settlements be evaluated using an
equivalent foundation situated at (1/3) of the pile length above the pile toe, Figure
4.37.

The load can be assumed to spread within a pyramid of sides sloped at 1H:2V and to
cause uniform additional vertical stress in the underlain soil layers. The vertical stress
increase (Δσ) at any level is equal to the load carried by the group divided by the plan
area at that level.

Consolidation settlement within the underlying cohesive soil layer is calculated based
 on the vertical stress increase in that layer, following the procedure described in
Chapter 3.

Qa
 
 B g  z  L g  z 
Figure 4.37 Pile group as an equivalent foundation, .

4.6.4 Load distribution within pile groups

A. Each pile carries an equal amount of the load for a concentric axial load on the group.
For (n) piles carrying a total load of (Qa), the load (P) per pile is:

Qa
P
n
B. The combined stress equation (assuming a planar stress distribution) is valid for an
eccentrically loaded pile group (or loaded with concentric load and moments), as:

Q a M y .x M x . y
P   2
n  xi  y i
2

Where:
Mx , My : moments about x and y axes, respectively.
x , y : distance from y and x axes to the pile in question.
∑x2 , ∑y2 : moment of inertia of the group, computed as (I = Io + A . d2 ) but, (Io) is
negligible and the (A) term cancels.

x1

1
y1 Mx
Qa
X

My

Figure 4.38 Eccentrically loaded pile group.

C. For a pile group containing raking piles, see Figure 4.39.

 Figure 4.39 Graphical method for determining forces on groups of vertical and raking
piles under inclined loading.

4.7 Negative Skin Friction

Skin friction is developed on a pile shaft due to the relative vertical displacement between
the pile under imposed loads and the surrounding soil. Thus, along pile length where
(ρpile< ρsoil), the developing skin frictions will have opposite sign (negative skin friction),
compared to skin friction at the lower part of pile. Thus, instead of the contributing to pile
sresistance, the friction along upper part of piles will add to the external loads, Figure
4.40.

Pns

Ps,u

Ppu

Figure 4.40 Pile-soil relative displacement and friction stresses distribution with depth.

Ground settlement relative to the pile may be attributed to the following reasons:
1. Weight of superimposed fill. Placement of a cohesive fill over cohesionless soil
deposit, so that pile is pushed downward as fill consolidate. When a cohesionless
fill is placed over compressible cohesive deposit, there is some downdrag in fill
zone, but the principal downdrag will be occur in the consolidated zone.

2. Groundwater lowering.
 3. Disturbance of clay caused by pile driving (particularly large displacement piles in
sensitive clays), leading to reconsolidation of the disturbed clay under its own
weight.

For negative skin friction to develop significantly, the pile should be fixed against
vertical displacement. This condition is fulfilled when the pile point rests on a bedrock or
into a dense sandy layer.

The load transferred to the pile depends on:

1. Pile material.
2. Soil type.
3. Amount and rate of relative movement between the soil and the pile.
4. Elastic compression of pile under the working load.

4.7.1 Evaluation of negative skin friction


For a single pile: P ns   f ns . p.dz
0

1 
For a pile in a group: P ns    f ns . p G.dz  W 
n0 
Where:
fns : negative shear stress along pile shaft, Table 4.20.

= ca  K s . vo . tan  

c'a : drained adhesion between soil and pile.
≈ 0 for normally consolidated clay.
δ' : drained angle of friction between soil and pile.
p : perimeter of pile.
pG : perimeter of group.
 : length of zone of negative skin friction.

W : weight of fill block held in between the piles.

Pns : ultimate negative skin friction load.

Table 4.20 Bjerrum suggested values for negative skin friction prediction.
 Soil δ' Ks fns
Silt 30o 0.45 0.25 σ'vo
Clay with low plasticity 20o 0.50 0.20 σ'vo
Plastic clay 15o 0.55 0.15 σ'vo
Clay with high 10o 0.60 0.10 σ'vo
plasticity

4.7.2 Reducing the negative skin friction

Several methods have been developed to reduce the expected negative skin friction on
deep foundations. These include:

1. Using piles with shafts of small cross-sectional area compared with the points.

2. Driving piles inside a casing with the space between pile and casing filled with a
viscous material and the casing withdrawn.

3. Coating the piles with bitumen.