IV B. Tech.

– I Semester

Advanced Foundation Engineering

Course Code: 16BT70104

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna

Assistant Professor

Department of Civil Engineering

Sree Vidyanikethan Engineering College

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 1
Unit-II

Pile Foundations

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 2

Deep Foundation
• Deep Foundation is used where
the bearing capacity of the soil is
very low.
• If the depth of foundation is
greater or equal to the Width of
foundation, it is known as the
deep Foundation.
• Deep foundations are required to
carry loads from a structure
through weak compressible soils/
fills on to stronger and less
compressible soils/ rocks at
depth, or for functional reasons.

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 3

Pile Foundation

• A timber, steel or reinforced concrete post usually vertical,

used as a structural element for transferring the loads at the
required depth in the deep foundations is called PILE.
• These are the long slender members either driven or cast-in-
situ and may be subjected to vertical or lateral or vertical
plus lateral loads.
• It is a foundation unit that provides support for a structure
by the toe resistance (end resistance) in a competent soil or
rock at some depth below the structure and/or by the shaft
resistance (skin resistance) in the soil or rock in which it is
placed

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 4

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 5
Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 6
Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 7
Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 8
Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 9
Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 10
Pile Load Capacity in Compression
The load capacity of the pile can be estimated by

• Static methods

• Dynamic formulas

• In-situ penetration tests

• Pile load tests

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 11

Static Methods
Pile load carrying capacity depends on various
factors, including:
(1) pile characteristics such as pile length, cross
section, and shape;
(2) soil configuration and short and long-term soil
properties; and
(3) pile installation method.
Qu=Qp+Qs
• Qu=Ultimate failure load
• Qp=Point resistance of the pile
• Qs= Shaft resistance developed by friction between
the soil and pile
Piles resist applied loads through side friction
(shaft or skin friction) and end bearing.

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 12

Unit Skin Friction in clay

Three widely used methods for pile design will be described:

• α – method : load capacity (total stress) of piles in cohesive soils,

• β – method : load capacity (effective stress) of piles in both cohesive

and cohesionless soils.

• ꭙ – method : load capacity of pile depends on length

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 13

α – method
• The method is based on the undrained shear strength (Cu) of
cohesive soils of the undisturbed clay along the embedded length of
the pile.
• The coefficient depends on the nature and strength of the clay, pile
dimensions, method of installation, and time effects.
• In this method, the skin friction is assumed to be proportional to the
undrained shear strength C’ of the cohesive soil

c’=Cumulative average cohesion along the pile shaft

α – adhesion coefficient depending on pile material and clay type.

It is usually assumed that ultimate skin friction is independent of the

effective stress and depth. In reality, the skin friction is dependent on
the effective stress
Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 14
• According to American Petroleum Institute (API)

• NAVFAC DM 7.2 (1984). Proposition for α coefficient depends on type

of pile (Table)

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 15

• Kolk and Van der Velde method
• Coefficient α is based on the ratio of undrained shear strength and
effective stress.

• Simple rules to obtain coefficient α based on su/σ v ′ proposed

standard DNV-OS-J101-2007

Su=undrained shear
strength

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 16

• Charts also available

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 17

ꭙ – method
• empirical method
• proposed by Vijayvergiya and Focht (1972) -estimation of the side
resistance of long steel pipe piles founded in clay
• Used frequently in the design of heavily loaded offshore foundations.
Because these piles are long and slender, the great majority of
capacity is derived from the shaft and, therefore, the end bearing
component can be insignificant.
• This method is not commonly used for land-based piles, and should
only be applied where an assumption of normal consolidation is
appropriate .

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 18

ʎ=friction capacity factor (Friction capacity factor depends
upon embedment length)

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 19

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 20
Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 21
 For normally consolidation clays

For over consolidation clays

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 22

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 27
 Dynamic Pile Formula

W = Weight of hammer
◼ Sanders (1850): •H = Height of fall
• Qu = Pile resistance or Pile capacity
• S =Pile penetration for the last blow
◼ Wellington (1898): Engineering
News Formula
C = A constant accounting for energy loss
during driving
• [1 in. or 25.4 mm for drop hammer]
[0.1 in or 2.54 mm for steam
hammer]

• A factor of safety FS = 6 is recommended for estimating the allowable capacity

• Note: Dynamic pile formula are not used for soft clays due to pore pressure
evolution
 Dynamic Pile Formula: Modified Hiley
Formula
W = Weight of hammer
H = Height offall
Qu = Pile resistance or Pile capacity
S =Pile penetration for the last blow
 =Hammer fall efficiency
Efficiency of blow
C =Sum of temporary elastic compression
of pile, dolly, packing, and ground

Hammer Fall Efficiency:

 Dynamic Pile Formula: Modified Hiley
Formula
Coefficient of Restitution:

Factor of Safety for Hiley’s Formula:

Dynamic Pile Formula: Modified Hiley Formula
Temporary Elastic Compression

R Driving without helmet or dolly but only a cushion or pad

C1 = 1.761
A of 25 mm thick on head.
R
= 3.726 Driving of concrete or steel piles with helmet and short
A dolly without cushion.
R
= 5.509 Concrete pile driven with only 75 mm packing under
A helmet and without dolly.

R.L
C2 = 0.657
A
R
C3 = 0.073 + 2.806
Ap Ap = Overall cross-sectional area of pile at toe in cm2
Dynamic Pile Formula: Simplex Formula for
Frictional Piles
Frictional resistance of the pile is brought into the empirical relationship in
this formula by measuring the total number of blows for driving the full
length of pile.

R Ultimate driving resistance in kN

Np Total number of blows to drive the pile
L Length of pile in meters.
W Weight of hammer in kN.
H Height of free fall in meters.
s Average set i.e. penetration in cm for last blow being the
average of last four blows.
Dynamic Pile Formula: Janbu Formula

Units: kN and m.

RU Ultimate capacity (FS)

 Efficiency factor (0.7 to 0.4, depending on driving conditions)

(
kU = Cd 1+ 1+ c Cd Cd = 0.75 + 0.15( P W ) c = .W.H2
A.E.S
W Weight of hammer/ram
P Weight of pile
H Height of free fall in meters.
Hammer fall efficiency as mentioned for modified Hiley’ s formula
A Area of pile
E Elastic modulus of pile
s Set per blow as for Simplex formula
L Length of pile
Qu –Penetration Tests
• Unit point resistance of driven piles (SPT)

• Unit point resistance of driven piles(CPT)

• (qp)=static cone resistance(qc)
qc = avg(qc over a distance of 3D above and 1D below the level of the pile tip)
Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 36
Qu –Penetration Tests
Unit skin Frictional resistance of driven piles(SPT)
• For displacement piles (fs)= 2Nav
• For H piles (fs)= Nav
Nav=avg field value of N along the length of the pile

Unit skin Frictional resistance of driven piles(CPT)

• For displacement piles (fs)= (qc)/2

• For H piles (fs)= (qc)/4

qc = avg cone resistance along the length of the pile

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 37

Tension Piles or Uplift Capacity
• Tension piles, also known as uplift piles or anchor piles, are a type of pile
foundation that is used to resist uplift forces that might otherwise cause it to be
extracted from the ground.

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 39

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 40
Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 41
Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 42
 Laterally Loaded Piles
• Piles often experience lateral deformations due to multiple sources of
horizontal loading, which include earthquakes, wind, vehicle forces,
wave impact, ship impact and lateral earth pressures. Depending on
the pile geometry, depth and head boundary condition, piles deform
with different curvature distributions.

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 43

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 44
Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 45
Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 46
Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 47
Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 48
Ultimate Lateral Resistance
• Meyerhof’s method The ultimate lateral resistance of rigid pile, Qur is
expressed by Meyerhof et al.(1981) as

Where γ = average unit weight of sand;

d =diameter of pile;
L=embedded length of pile;
Kb =coefficient of net passive earth pressure on pile using an
average angle of skin friction δ = ϕ/3.
ϕ is the angle of internal friction.

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 49

• Ultimate lateral load resistance of flexible pile was presented by
Meyerhof et al. (1988) as

Where Le =effective embedded length of flexible pile

• According to Meyerhof and Yalcin (1984)
Relative stiffness ratio Krs <10-1 to 10-2 then the pile can be consider
as flexible pile.

Where Ep is modulus of elasticity of pile; Ip is moment of inertia of pile;

Eh is horizontal soil modulus at pile tip; L is embedded length of pile.

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 50

• The effective length determines
the pile length, which effectively
transfers the load from the pile
into the soil. If the entire pile is
placed into the resistant soil, in
which the load is transferred by
skin friction, then the effective
length corresponds to the pile
length below terrain

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 51

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 52
Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 53
Pile Group
• Most pile foundations contain group of piles instead of single pile
depending on the column load and the load capacity of a single pile.
Usually, driven piles should be provided in groups and a single pile
should not be used.
• Pile may move laterally during the driving operation, resulting in the
eccentricity of the load, causing additional bending stresses in the
pile, decreasing both the structural capacity and the soil resistance
capacity.

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 54

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 55
Pile Group Capacity

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 56

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 57
Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 58
Load Capacity of Pile Group in Cohesionless soils
• When piles are driven in loose- to medium-dense cohesionless soils, the
soil around the pile is compacted, increasing the group efficiency.
• For dense sands, the driving of piles may reduce group efficiency due to
dilatancy.
• Group efficiency, depends on pile spacing, and may be less than 100% if
piles are spaced closer than 3 d, where d is the diameter of the pile.
• The load capacity of a pile group is obtained from –
Qug = ƞgNQu
• In the case of end-bearing piles, driven in dense sand at a spacing more
than 3 d, where d is the diameter of the pile shaft, group efficiency is
generally much more than 100%. The load capacity of the pile group is
taken as –

Qug = Nqu
• For bored piles in sand and gravel, group efficiency is about 2/3 to 3/4.

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 59

Pile Group Efficiency
• The ratio of the ultimate load capacity of the pile group (Qug ) to the
sum of the individual load capacities of the piles in the group (NQu)
ƞg=Qug / NQu

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 60

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 61
Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 62
Settlement of a Pile Group:
• The settlement of a pile or pile group in clay can be computed from the
principles of consolidation. Settlement of a pile group is more than the
settlement of a single pile, even when the load is the same. This is because
the pressure bulb of the pile group is deeper than that of individual piles,
causing the compression of a larger volume of soil by the pile group.
For pile groups in sand, the settlement is computed as
follows:

where S is the ratio of pile spacing to pile diameter and r is the

number of rows in a pile group.

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 63

Under reamed piles
• These piles are successfully developed by C.B.R.I., Roorkee
(U.P.) for serving as foundations for black cotton soils, filled
up ground and other types of soils having poor bearing
capacity.
• An under reamed is bored cast-in-situ concrete pile having
one or more bulbs or under-reams in its lower portion.
• The bulbs or under-reams are formed by under reaming
tool. The diameter of under reamed pile varies from 20cm to
50cm and that of bulb varies from 2 to 3 times the diameter
• The length of under reamed piles is about 3m to 8m.
• The spacing of piles may vary from 2m to 4m.

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 64

• The load bearing capacity of
under reamed piles can be
increased by adopting piles or
larger diameter or by extending
the length of piles or by making
more bulbs at the base.
• A single under reamed pile has
only one bulb at the bottom.
When two or more bulbs are
provided at the base, It is known
as multiple under reamed pile.
• The vertical spacing between
two bulbs varies from 1.25 to
1.50 times the diameter of bulb.

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 65

• In case of black cotton soils, the
bulbs, not only increase the bearing
capacity, but also provide anchorage
against uplift.
• Figure Shows various stages in the
formation of a under reamed pile.
• The equipment required for the
construction of pile are
• (i) auger boring guide,
• (ii) spiral auger with extension rods,
• (iii) under reamer with soil bucket,
• (iv) concreting funnel.

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 66

• Applications:

• As black cotton soil has a property that gets expand as it comes in

contact with moisture or water and it gets contracted as it is dried out.
Because of this reason, there may be a chance of cracks in the
structure.
• To avoid damage caused by soil volume change, the under reamed pile
used.
• Sometimes, when foundation soil does not have sufficient bearing
capacity, under reamed piles are used to increase the capacity.
• The under reamed piles are suitable when the water level in sandy soil is
high.
• It should be used. When there are lifting forces acting.

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 67

 Batter Piles
• Batter pile shall be used to transfer inclined load and horizontal
forces. In the preliminary design, the load on batter pile is generally
considered to be axial.

• The distribution of load between batter and vertical piles in a group

may be determined graphically or by analytic methods. Due
consideration shall be given to secondary bending as well as pile
cap movement, particularly when the cap is rigid.

• Free standing batter piles are subjected to bending moment due to

their own weight, or external forces from other sources.

• Batter pile in loose fill or consolidating deposits may become

laterally loaded due to settlement of the surrounding soil. In
consolidating clay, special precautions, like provision of permanent
casing, shall be taken.

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 68

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 69
Mini and Micro Piles
• The differences between micropiles and minipiles are minor

• Micropiles are small diameter drilled and grouted friction piles.

• Each pile includes steel elements that are bonded into the bearing soil or rock –
usually with cement grout.

• The bearing stratum is logged during installation drilling to assure that bearing
capacity is adequate.

• Since micropiles are bonded to the rock socket wall, they do not rely on end-
bearing capacity and there is no need to establish competency of rock beyond
bond-depth.

• They can be installed quickly in virtually every type of ground using highly
adaptable mobile drilling equipment.

• These steel piles typically have working capacities up to 250 tons.

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 70

• Advantages
• Micropiles (minipiles) are an economical alternative to large diameter
drilled shaft foundations, especially in difficult ground conditions, karst
geology, or restricted access situations.

• They may be reinforced with a threaded bar to attain the correct

design load capacity.

• Applications
• Micropile systems are preferred to support and stabilize buildings,
bridges, highways, towers and other man-made structures, either as
new foundations or remedial construction.

• They are also frequently used for underpinning and shoring

applications due to their high load capacity and flexible installation
techniques.

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 71

Installation
• Drilled into bedrock, micropiles or minipiles bond to the rock socket wall for
load transfer. Drill rigs for micropiles may be man-portable for cramped
interior installations or up to 40 ton tracked machines for large building sites.
• The casings of the minipiles are advanced as piles are drilled into bedrock.
• Drill rod is removed. The steel casing remains – so each micropile is set in
bedrock.
• A reinforcement load bar is lowered into the casing, for added capacity.
• Cementitious grout is pressure fed into the minipile casing and rock socket
to ensure bonding.
• The casings for the mini piles are lifted to top of bedrock, allows bonding to
the bar.
• Excess steel is cut from the tops of minipiles. Piles are capped to engineer’s
design.
• A select number of piles are load tested to prove the engineering load
design.

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 72

Installation Process

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 73

Mrs. G Gnana Prasanna 74