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Procedia Engineering 111 (2015) 877 – 881

XXIV R-S-P seminar, Theoretical Foundation of Civil Engineering (24RSP) (TFoCE 2015)

Interaction of drilled shafts with rock masses

Mikhail G. Zertsalova *, Mikhail V. Nikishkinb
a
First affiliation, Address, City and Postcode, Country
b
Second affiliation, Address, City and Postcode, Country

Abstract

In the paper the Analysis of the Interaction of Drilled Shafts with soft and middle strength Rock Masses is con-sidered. The
Analysis is based on results of three dimensional numerical modeling of the behavior of drilled shafts under normal compression
loads. Factor dependences (regression equations) for calculations of values of shafts bearing capacity and settlements were
developed. As varying factors in factor dependences the length and diameter of shafts, the deformability of concrete and rocks
and rock quality designation parameter (RQD) were taken. Results of calculations with results of in situ loading tests were
compared.
© 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
© 2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
Peer-review under responsibility of organizing committee of the XXIV R-S-P seminar, Theoretical Foundation of Civil
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Engineering
Peer-review under(24RSP)
responsibility of organizing committee of the XXIV R-S-P seminar, Theoretical Foundation of Civil Engineering (24RSP)

Keywords: Rocks; Rock masses; Bearing capacity of rocks; Settlements of piles; Drilled shafts; Rock – socketed shafts; Rock – socketed piles;
Rock deformability; Rock strength

1. Introduction

A drilled shaft foundation is to be designed and constructed for support of high buildings and bridge structures,
when subsurface consist of soil underlain by rock. By its nature, rocks are highly variable and difficult to
characterize for engineering purposes. The settlement and bearing capacity of rock – socketed shafts depends on
different factors. The results of many investigations show that the main factors influenced on the behavior of shafts
are the following (NCHRP, 2006): mechanical properties of rock mass and interface of shaft and rock, the ratio of

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: zertsalov@mgsu.ru

1877-7058 © 2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of organizing committee of the XXIV R-S-P seminar, Theoretical Foundation of Civil Engineering (24RSP)
doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2015.07.162
878 Mikhail G. Zertsalov and Mikhail V. Nikishkin / Procedia Engineering 111 (2015) 877 – 881

Nomenclature
Ec the modulus of elasticity of the shaft material
RQD rock quality designation
Er the intact rock modulus of elasticity
Em the modulus of deformation of rock mass
cm the coefficient of cohesion of rock mass
ijm the angel of friction of rock mass
L the length of the shaft
D the diameter of the shaft

shaft concrete modulus of elasticity to modulus of deformation of rock mass, the ratio of the socket length to
diameter of shaft.
Analysis of the load – displacement behavior of drilled shaft is impotent step in rational design. Design of sockets
demands to limit settlement to a specified allowable value. The problem of the determination of vertical
displacement at the top of a rock socketed shaft has been studied by many investigators (Osterberg, Gill, 1973; Pells,
Turner, 1979; Donald et al. 1980; Rowe, Armitage, 1987; Kulhawy, Carter, 1992b; Zhang, 2004, Zertsalov et al.
2010) through theoretical and numerical analysis. In reality, the mechanism of the interaction of socketed shaft and
rock mass is complex and at the present can only be modeled accurately through the use of sophisticated numerical
methods, such as finite – element method (FEM).

2. The interaction of drilled socketed shafts with rock mass

At the discussed paper, the results of numerical modeling of the interaction of socketed shaft with rock mass and
presented the method of calculation of axial displacement at the top of the socket under compression load in three
dimensional conditions. Numerical experiments carried out through the use of the FEM program complex ZSOIL.
PCv2013. The library of this program complex includes the special contact element for modeling of the shaft - rock
interface both in the process of elastic deformation and in the process of its failure.
Numerical modeling of the deformation of two shafts with the diameter 2m and the length 5m and 20m were
carried out in the rocks of low and medium strength (two series of experiments). The bearing capacity and the
corresponding settlement at the top of the socket were determined in every experiment for three types of drilled
shafts: the shaft with only shearing resistance at the interface, the shaft with only ultimate base resistance and the
shaft with both shearing and base resistance. Modulus of elasticity of the shaft material Ec = 25000 MPa.
Taking into consideration that the rock mass always contains different types of discontinuities characterized by
RQD, two values of the intact rock modulus of elasticity were chosen for consideration: Er = 50000MPa and Er =
5000MPa. With the use of the graph (Fig.1) offered by (Zhang, Einstein, 2000), for two values of RQD 25% and
75% and two values of modulus of elasticity for intact rock Er mentioned above, four values of modulus of
deformation of rock mass were determined: Em = 200MPa, 1500MPa, 2000MPa and 15000MPa.
 Mikhail G. Zertsalov and Mikhail V. Nikishkin / Procedia Engineering 111 (2015) 877 – 881 879

Fig. 1. ȿm»ȿr =f(RQD) (Zhang, Einstein, 2000)

The Mohr – Coulomb criterion, evaluated the limit state of rock mass:

o
qu 2c tan( 45  1 / 2M ) (1)

Strength parameters cm DQG ijm ZHUH WDNHQ LQ DFFRUGDQFH ZLWK +RHNࡓV UHFRPPHQGDWLRQ +RHN  Fm =
0,03D03D03D03Dijm= 26º, 30º and 36º.
The properties of shaft-rock interface elements were characterized by tangent and normal stiffness - Ks = 100000
KN/m3 and Kn = 400000 KN/m3 and strength parameters - cohesion c_k = 0,15MPa, 0,18MPa, 2,5MPa, 3,0MPa and
¶_k = 36°, 37°, 38°, 39°. This values of strength parameters were taken in accordance with building code ɋɉ
23.13330.2011"Foundation of hydrotechnical constructions"
The numerical calculations, analysis and the treatment of obtained results were carried out by the method of
planning of experiments. The method allows to develop factor dependencies (regression equations) for
determination of response functions - the values of loads applied to the shaft and corresponding deformation at the
characteristic points of the settlement curve of socketed shaft (the start and the finish of the failure of the interface,
the start of the failure of the shaft or the rock mass).
The developing of factor dependencies demands the determination of independent factors which influence
mostly on response functions (the limit load and settlement of the shaft). On the base of the analysis of
corresponding literature the following factors were chosen: RQD, Ec/Er, L/D, where L and D - the length and the
diameter of the shaft.
In accordance with the chosen factors and composed matrix of planning of experiment 24 numerical tests were
carried out. In the process of the experiment the tested shaft was step by step loaded with fixation of the
characteristic points of the settlement curve of socketed shaft. The results of each test allowed constructing of the
curve of settlements for the tested shaft. For example Fig.2 demonstrates the settlement curves of the shaft with both
shearing and base resistance socketed into rock masses characterized by values of modulus of deformation
determined above. The length of the socket is 5m.
880 Mikhail G. Zertsalov and Mikhail V. Nikishkin / Procedia Engineering 111 (2015) 877 – 881

Fig. 2. The curve of settlements of drilled shafts. A – the start of the failure of the interface, B – the end of the failure of the interface, C –
the start of the failure of the rock mass

The graphs (Fig.2) show that in all presented cases the shaft demonstrates the same character of deformation. All
curves have linear segments of deformation, the length of which increases with increasing of the value of modulus
of deformation of rock mass. Nonlinear deformation starts at the same time as the failure of the interface shaft –
rock mass begins. The process of the interface failure and consequently the length of nonlinear segment of the curve
of the deformation depend on the strength of the rock mass, the shaft or the interface. If the strength of the rock mass
or the shaft more than the shear resistance of the interface the load applied to the head of the shaft is transmitted to
the rock mass and to the curve of the settlement the third linear segment is subjoined. For example the curves 1,2,3
(Fig.2) consist of three segments of deformation, but curve 4 consists only of two segments, as far as, in this case,
the failure of the rock mass begins simultaneously with the failure of the interface. The same character of
deformation is observed while modeling the behavior of the other shaft (the length - 20m).
The treatment of the results of numerical calculations allowed developing the regression equations for the
determination of limit loads and settlements. As an example the equations are presented for the case when the
bearing capacity of the socket is made sure by the shear and base resistance.
Load

Y = 10.9 - 6.55 u X1 + 2.45 u X2 + 1.1 u X3 - 1.3 u X1 u X2 + 0.35 u X1 u X3  0.45 u X2 u X3 + 0.2 u X1 u X2 u X3 (2)

Settlement

Y = 14.49 - 0.96 u X1 + 3.53 u X2 + 4.48 u X3 - 1.38 u X1 u X2 - 1.17 u X1 u X3  1.1 u X2 u X3 + 0.04 u X1 u X2 u X3 (3)

where X1 – Ec/Er, X2 – RQD, X3 – L/D.

Thus, these equations allow determining the loads applied to the shaft and corresponding deformations at the
characteristic points of the curve of settlement of the shaft, putting into equations the required values of necessary
initial factors within the limits of their variation. The analysis of graphs (Fig.2) shows that the curvature of the
nonlinear segment allows approximating it by straight line that's why the real curve of settlements can be presented
as polygonal path consists of two or three segments. For example the curve 4 (Fig.2) consists of two parts since the
beginning of the failure of the rock mass coincides with the beginning of the failure of the interface.
It was already above discussed that in this numerical experiments the limit state of the system the shaft - rock
mass was determined in accordance with the Mohr – Coulomb criterion. In reality, any empirical failure criterion,
considered in geotechnical practice, possible to use in numerical calculations.
 Mikhail G. Zertsalov and Mikhail V. Nikishkin / Procedia Engineering 111 (2015) 877 – 881 881

Conclusions

The results of the numerical experiments presented in the paper demonstrate that the obtained regression
equations can be used for the analysis of the interaction of drilled socketed shafts with rock mass.
The combination of the Finite element method with the Method of planning of experiments can be recommended
for the solution of different geotechnical problems.

References

[1] I. B. Donald, S.W. Sloan, H.K. Chiu, Theoretical Analyses of Rock Socketed Piles, Proceedings, International Conference on Structural
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[2] E. Hoek, Putting Numbers to Geology – an Engineering Viewpoint, Felsbau, n3, 1999, pp. 5 - 8.
[3] F. H. Kulhawy, J.P. Carter, Settlement and Bearing Capacity of Foundations on Rock Masses, In Engineering in Rock Masses, F.G. Bell, Ed,
Butterworth – Heinemann, Oxford, England, 1992b, pp. 509 – 529.
[4] J. O. Osterberg, S.A. Gill, Proceedings, 9th Canadian Symposium on Rock Mechanics, Montreal, ON, Canada, 1973, pp. 235 – 262.
[5] P. J. N. Pells, R.M. Turner, Elastic Solution for the Design and Analysis of Rock – Socketed Piles, Canadian Geotechnical Journal, Vol. 1, 16,
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[6] R. K. Rowe, H.H. Armitage, A Design Method for Drilled Piers in Soft Rock, Canadian Geotechnical Journal, Vol. 2, 1987b, pp. 126 – 142.
[7] L. Zhang, H.H. Einstein, End Bearing Capacity of Drilled Shafts in Rock, Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, Vol.
ʋ7, 1998, pp. 574 – 584.
[8] L. Zhang, Drilled Shafts in Rock, Analasysis and Design A.A. Balkema Publishers, 2004, pp.227 -248.
[9] NCHRP synthesis 360, Rock – Socketed Shafts for Highway Structures Foundations, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C.,
2006, pp. 33 – 53.
[10] M. G. Zertsalov, M.V. Nikishkin, D.V. Ustinov. Drilled Shafts Behavior based on Rocks of medium StrengthȼɟɫɬɧɢɤɆȽɋɍɬɫɬɪ
– 94.
[11] ɋɉ 23.13330.2011 «Foundation of hydraulic structures», actualized revision ɋɇɢɉ 2.02.02-85, 2011,pp. 22 – 23.