CHAPTER9

PILE FOUNDATIONS AND EARTH ANCHORS

9.1INTRODUCTION

It is weIl established that eavity expansion solutions ean be used to estimate the end-
bearing eapacity of driven piles in soils. Like eone penetration in soils, the rigorous
analysis of the behaviour of driven piles is diffieult beeause of its highly material
and geometrie nonlinear nature. Although eonsiderable progress has been made
over the last 20 years in the analysis of driven piles in c1ays, the analysis and design
of piles in sand is stilllargely empirical.
In this ehapter, the main approaehes that have been used to apply eavity expan-
sion theory in the analysis of driven piles in soil and roek are diseussed. Although
attention will be foeused on the ultimate eapacity of piles, it is worth noting that
eavity expansion solutions may also be used to predict the displaeement behaviour
of tapered piles (Kodikara and Moore, 1993).

rs
f side shear tres
f

end-bearing normal stress

Figure 9.1: An axiall y loaded driven pile in soil

An axially loaded pile earries the load partly by shear generated along the shaft
and partly by the normal stress generated at the base of the pile, Figure 9.1. The
relative magnitude ofthe shaft and base eapaeities depends on the geometry ofthe
pile and soil profiles. In eohesive soils, the shaft eapacity of a frietion pile may often
275
H.-S. Yu, Cavity Expansion Methods in Geomechanics
© Hai-Sui Yu 2000
 276 PILE FOUNDATIONS AND EARTH ANCHORS

represent 80-90% of the total pile capacity. On the other hand, for granular soils the
total capacity is generally evenly divided between shaft and base.
Apart from pile modelling, it will be demonstrated in the latter part of this chapter
that cavity expansion solutions can also be used to predict the uplift capacity of
plate anchors buried in clay and sand.

9.2 AXIAL CAPACITY OF DRIVEN PILES IN CLAY

As a very high proportion of the overall capacity of a driven pile in c1ay is due to
the shaft friction, considerably more effort has been devoted to developing reliable
methods for estimating values of skin friction for piles in c1ay than has been for
sand.
9.2.1 Shaft capa city of piles: effect of the installation on soil stress

Over the last three decades, the installation of piles into c1ay has been studied by
many as the expansion of a cylindrical cavity in soils (e.g. Randolph et al. , 1979;
Davis et ai., 1984; Nystrom, 1984; Collins and Yu, 1996). This has stemmed from
the observation that when a pile is driven deeply into soil, much of the soil is dis-
placed predominantly outwards in the radial direction, Figure 9.2. In fact, measure-
ments of the radial movements of soil near the pile rnid-depth taken from the model
tests of Randolph et ai. (1979) and field measurements of Cooke and Price (1978)
show that the radial soil displacements can be accurately predicted by cylindrical
cavity expansion solutions.

Zone A: disp!acemenl affecled

bv J!Jound surface

-
Zone B: disp!acemenl are mainly
in Ihe radial direction

Zone C: displacement affected by

pile tip
=
Pile

Figure 9.2: Soil displacement due to pile installation

Although cavity expansion theory does not fully model the behaviour of soils
surrounding a driven pile in Zones A and C, it provides a useful analytical tool for