11.

19 Negative Skin Friction 613

Example 11.15
Consider a 20-m-long steel pile driven by a Bodine Resonant Driver (Section HP
310 3 125) in a medium dense sand. If Hp 5 350 horsepower, vp 5 0.0016 m>s, and
f 5 115 Hz, calculate the ultimate pile capacity, Qu .
Solution
From Eq. (11.110),
0.746Hp 1 98vp
Qu 5
vp 1 SL f
For an HP pile in medium dense sand, SL < 0.762 3 1023 m>cycle. So
(0.746) (350) 1 (98) (0.0016)
Qu 5 5 2928 kN ■
0.0016 1 (0.762 3 1023 ) (115)

11.19 Negative Skin Friction

Negative skin friction is a downward drag force exerted on a pile by the soil surrounding
it. Such a force can exist under the following conditions, among others:
1. If a fill of clay soil is placed over a granular soil layer into which a pile is dri-
ven, the fill will gradually consolidate. The consolidation process will exert a
downward drag force on the pile (see Figure 11.35a) during the period of con-
solidation.
2. If a fill of granular soil is placed over a layer of soft clay, as shown in Figure 11.35b, it
will induce the process of consolidation in the clay layer and thus exert a downward
drag on the pile.
3. Lowering of the water table will increase the vertical effective stress on the soil at
any depth, which will induce consolidation settlement in clay. If a pile is located in
the clay layer, it will be subjected to a downward drag force.

Clay H Sand H
f f
fill fill
z

L L L1
Neutral
Sand
z plane
Clay

(a) (b)

Figure 11.35 Negative skin friction

614 Chapter 11: Pile Foundations

In some cases, the downward drag force may be excessive and cause foundation fail-
ure. This section outlines two tentative methods for the calculation of negative skin friction.

Clay Fill over Granular Soil (Figure 11.35a)

Similar to the b method presented in Section 11.12, the negative (downward) skin stress
on the pile is
fn 5 Krsor tan dr (11.112)
where
Kr 5 earth pressure coefficient 5 Ko 5 1 2 sin fr
sor 5 vertical effective stress at any depth z 5 gfr z
gfr 5 effective unit weight of fill
dr 5 soil–pile friction angle < 0.5–0.7fr
Hence, the total downward drag force on a pile is

Hf pKrgfr H 2f tan dr
Qn 5 3 (pKrgfr tan dr)z dz 5 (11.113)
0 2

where Hf 5 height of the fill. If the fill is above the water table, the effective unit weight,
gfr , should be replaced by the moist unit weight.

Granular Soil Fill over Clay (Figure 11.35b)

In this case, the evidence indicates that the negative skin stress on the pile may exist from
z 5 0 to z 5 L1 , which is referred to as the neutral depth. (See Vesic, 1977, pp. 25 –26.)
The neutral depth may be given as (Bowles, 1982)

(L 2 Hf ) L 2 Hf gfr Hf 2gfr Hf
L1 5 B 1 R 2 (11.114)
L1 2 gr gr

where gfr and gr 5 effective unit weights of the fill and the underlying clay layer,
respectively.
For end-bearing piles, the neutral depth may be assumed to be located at the pile tip
(i.e., L1 5 L 2 Hf).
Once the value of L1 is determined, the downward drag force is obtained in
the following manner: The unit negative skin friction at any depth from z 5 0 to
z 5 L1 is
fn 5 Krsor tan dr (11.115)

where
Kr 5 Ko 5 1 2 sin fr
sor 5 gfr Hf 1 grz
dr 5 0.5–0.7fr
 11.19 Negative Skin Friction 615

L1 L1
Qn 5 3 pfn dz 5 3 pKr(gfr Hf 1 grz)tan dr dz
0 0

L21pKrgr tan dr
5 (pKrgfr Hf tan dr)L1 1 (11.116)
2

If the soil and the fill are above the water table, the effective unit weights should be
replaced by moist unit weights. In some cases, the piles can be coated with bitumen in the
downdrag zone to avoid this problem.
A limited number of case studies of negative skin friction is available in the litera-
ture. Bjerrum et al. (1969) reported monitoring the downdrag force on a test pile at
Sorenga in the harbor of Oslo, Norway (noted as pile G in the original paper). The study
of Bjerrum et al. (1969) was also discussed by Wong and Teh (1995) in terms of the pile
being driven to bedrock at 40 m. Figure 11.36a shows the soil profile and the pile. Wong
and Teh estimated the following quantities:
• Fill: Moist unit weight, gf 5 16 kN>m3
Saturated unit weight, gsat(f) 5 18.5 kN>m3
So
gfr 5 18.5 2 9.81 5 8.69 kN>m3
and
Hf 5 13 m

Axial force in pile (kN)

f  16 kN/m3 0 1000 2000 3000
0
2m Fill

Groundwater Fill
11 m table
sat ( f )  18.5 kN/m3 10
Depth (m)

40 m 20
Pile D  500 mm

30
Clay

40
Rock
(a) (b)

Figure 11.36 Negative skin friction on a pile in the harbor of Oslo, Norway
(Based on Bjerrum et al., (1969) and Wong and The (1995))
616 Chapter 11: Pile Foundations

• Clay: Kr tan dr < 0.22

Saturated effective unit weight, gr 5 19 2 9.81 5 9.19 kN>m3
• Pile: L 5 40 m
Diameter, D 5 500 m
Thus, the maximum downdrag force on the pile can be estimated from Eq. (11.116).
Since in this case the pile is a point bearing pile, the magnitude of L1 5 27 m, and
L21pgr(Kr tan dr)
Qn 5 (p) (Kr tan dr) 3gf 3 2 1 (13 2 2)gfr 4 (L1 ) 1
2
or
(27) 2 (p 3 0.5)(9.19)(0.22)
Qn 5 (p 3 0.5)(0.22) 3(16 3 2) 1 (8.69 3 11)4 (27) 1
2
5 2348 kN
The measured value of the maximum Qn was about 2500 kN (Figure 11.36b), which is in
good agreement with the calculated value.

Example 11.16
In Figure 11.35a, let Hf 5 2m. The pile is circular in cross section with a diameter of
0.305 m. For the fill that is above the water table, gf 5 16 kN>m3 and fr 5 32°. Deter-
mine the total drag force. Use dr 5 0.6fr.
Solution
From Eq. (11.113),
pK rgfH 2f tan dr
Qn 5
2
with
p 5 p(0.305) 5 0.958m
K r 5 1 2 sin fr 5 1 2 sin 32 5 0.47
and
dr 5 (0.6) (32) 5 19.2°
Thus,
(0.958) (0.47) (16) (2) 2 tan 19.2
Qn 5 5 5.02 kN ■
2

Example 11.17
In Figure 11.35b, let Hf 5 2 m, pile diameter 5 0.305 m, gf 5 16.5 kN>m3,
r 5 34°, gsat(clay) 5 17.2 kN>m3, and L 5 20 m. The water table coincides with the
fclay
top of the clay layer. Determine the downward drag force. Assume that dr 5 0.6fclay
r .
 11.20 Group Efficiency 617

Solution
The depth of the neutral plane is given in Eq. (11.114) as
L 2 Hf L 2 Hf gfHf 2gfHf
L1 5 a 1 b2
L1 2 gr gr
Note that gfr in Eq. (11.114) has been replaced by gf because the fill is above the water
table, so
(20 2 2) (20 2 2)
c d 2
(16.5) (2) (2) (16.5) (2)
L1 5 1
L1 2 17.2 2 9.81) (17.2 2 9.81)
or
242.4
L1 5 2 8.93; L1 5 11.75 m
L1
Now, from Eq. (11.116), we have
L21pK rgr tan dr
Qn 5 (pK rgfHf tan dr )L1 1
2
with
p 5 p(0.305) 5 0.958m
and
K r 5 1 2 sin 34° 5 0.44
Hence,
Qn 5 (0.958) (0.44) (16.5) (2) 3tan(0.6 3 34)4 (11.75)

(11.75) 2 (0.958) (0.44) (17.2 2 9.81) 3tan(0.6 3 34)4

1
2
5 60.78 1 79.97 5 140.75 kN ■

Group Piles
11.20 Group Efficiency
In most cases, piles are used in groups, as shown in Figure 11.37, to transmit the structural
load to the soil. A pile cap is constructed over group piles. The cap can be in contact with
the ground, as in most cases (see Figure 11.37a), or well above the ground, as in the case
of offshore platforms (see Figure 11.37b).
Determining the load-bearing capacity of group piles is extremely complicated and
has not yet been fully resolved. When the piles are placed close to each other, a