Foundation Engineering I

CE-325
Pile capacity

Dr. Zafar Mahmood

NUST Institute of Civil Engineering (NICE)
School of Civil & Env. Engineering (SCEE)

1
 Pile capacity 2

In addition to the strength of the pile itself, pile capacity is limited by

soil’s supporting strength.
The load carried by a pile is transmitted to the soil surrounding the
pile by (a) friction or adhesion between the soil and the pile surface,
and/or (b) the load is transmitted directly to the soil just below pile’s
tip.
Qultimate  Qfriction  Qtip

where Qultimate = ultimate (at failure) bearing capacity of a

single pile
Qfriction = bearing capacity furnished by friction or
adhesion between the soil and piles surface
Qtip = bearing capacity furnished by the soil
 Pile capacity 3

Qultimate  Qfriction  Qtip Qultimate

Qfriction  f  Asurface

Qtip  q  Atip
Qfriction
Qultimate  f  Asurface  q  Atip

In case of end bearing piles, the term Qtip will be

predominant, whereas with friction piles, Qfriction will Qtip
be predominant.

Above equation is generalized and applicable for all

soils.
 Piles driven in sand 4

Soil pressure normally increases as

depth increases.

In the special case of piles driven

in sand, however, it has been
determined that the effective
vertical overburden stress of soil
adjacent to a pile does not
increase without limit until a
certain depth of penetration is
reached.

Below this depth, which is called

the critical depth, Dc, effective
vertical stress remains more or less
constant.
 Piles driven in sand – critical depth 5

The critical depth, Dc, is dependent on the field condition

of the sand and the pile’s size.

Tests indicate that critical depth ranges from about 10

pile diameters for loose sand to about 20 pile diameters
for dense compacted sand (McCarthy, 1977).
 Piles driven in sand – skin resistance 6

Effective Hor. Stress s’h Effective Vert. Stress s’v

on pile surface on pile surface

s’h = zK s’v = z

Critical Critical
zK depth depth
Dc Dc

zK.tan()

f.Asurface = (Pile circumference).(Area under s’v diagram).(K).(tan)

f.Asurface = (D).(Area under s’v diagram).(K).(tan)

Value of K is assumed to vary between 0.6 and 1.25, with lower values used
for silty sands and higher values for other deposits (Bowles, 1977).
Piles driven in sand – coeff. of friction 7
 Piles driven in sand
8
End bearing
The bearing capacity of pile
tip (end bearing) is given by
qtip = s’v.Nq*

where
s’v = effective vertical
stress adjacent to pile’s
tip
Nq* = bearing capacity
factor

Nq* is related to angle of

internal friction () of sand
located in general vicinity of
 Pile driven in sand - summary 9

Qultimate  f  Asurface  q  Atip

Skin friction
f  Asurface   D    Area under  v - depth curve   K    tan  

End/tip bearing

  
q  Atip   v  N q  Atip
*
 Example 10.1 (pile driven in sand) 10

Given
A concrete pile is to be driven into a
medium dense to dense sand. The
pile’s dia is 12 in. and its embedded
length is 25 ft. Soil conditions are as
shown in Fig. No groundwater was
encountered, and the ground GWT is
not expected to rise during the life of
the structure.

Required
The pile’s axial capacity if the
coefficient of lateral earth pressure, k,
is assumed to be 0.95, and the factor Book: Soils and Foundations
of safety is 2. By Liu & Evett (6th edition)
Page 318
 Example 10.2 (pile driven in sand) 11

Given
The same conditions as in Example
10.1, except that ground water is
located 10 ft below the ground
surface.

Required GWT
The pile’s axial capacity if the
coefficient of lateral earth pressure,
k, is assumed to be 0.95, and the
factor of safety is 2.

Book: Soils and Foundations

By Liu & Evett (6th edition)
Page 320
 12
Piles driven in clay – skin resistance/adhesion
Qultimate  f  Asurface  q  Atip
In case of piles driven in clays, term “f” in above equation is
adhesion between the soil and the sides of the pile.

Unit adhesion between soil and pile surface can be determined by

multiplying the cohesion of clay, c, by the adhesion factor, .
f  Asurface  c  Asurface
With soft clays, there is a tendency for clay to become in close
contact with the pile, in which case adhesion is assumed to be
equal to cohesion (i.e.  = 1).
In case of stiff clays, pile driving disturbs surrounding soil and may
cause a small open space to develop between the clay and the pile.
Thus adhesion is smaller than cohesion (i.e.  < 1).
Piles driven in clay 13
Skin resistance/adhesion

f  Asurface  c  Asurface
The adhesion factor, ,
can be determined from
unconfined compressive
strength, qu, of clay.

1 ton/ft2 = 95.76 kN/m2

 Piles driven in clay – end bearing 14

Qultimate  f  Asurface  q  Atip

The bearing capacity [q in above equation] at the pile tip can be
evaluated by using the following equation (McCarthy, 2002):

qtip  cN c
where qtip = bearing capacity at pile tip
c = cohesion of the clay located in the general
vicinity of where the pile tip will ultimately rest
Nc = bearing capacity factor and ha a value of
about 9 (McCarthy, 2002)
 Piles driven in clay - summary 15

Qultimate  f  Asurface  q  Atip

Skin friction

f  Asurface  c  Asurface

End/tip bearing
qtip  cN c

Qultimate  cAsurface  cN c Atip

 Example 10.3 (pile driven in clay) 16

Given Qdesign =?
A 12 in. diameter concrete pile is
driven at a site as shown in Figure. The
embedded length of the pile is 35 ft. GSL

Required Clay
Design capacity of the pile, using a
factor of safety of 2. 35 ft g = 104 lb/ft3
qu = 1400 lb/ft2
 Example 10.4 (pile driven in clay) 17

Given Qdesign =?
A 12 in. diameter concrete
pile is driven at a site as GSL
shown in Figure.
Clay
Required 20 ft g = 105 lb/ft3
Design capacity of the pile, qu = 1400 lb/ft2
using a factor of safety of 2.
Clay
15 ft
g = 126 lb/ft3
qu = 4000 lb/ft2
 Example 10.5 (pile driven in clay) 18

Given Qdesign =360 kN

A 0.36 m square prestressed
concrete pile is to be driven in GSL
a clayey soil. The design
capacity of the pile is 360 kN.
Clay
Required
The necessary length of the L=? g = 18.1 kN/m3
pile if the factor of safety is 2. qu = 115 kN/m2
 Pile load test 19

Test-pile loading using hydraulic jack acting

against anchored reaction frame
 20

Test-pile loading using hydraulic jack acting

against anchored reaction frame
 Pile load test 21

Test-pile loading using weighted platform

 Pile load test 22

Two categories of static load tests: (a) controlled stress tests (also
known as maintained load or ML tests) and (b) controlled strain tests.

Driven piles should be tested after the excess pore water pressure
(caused by driving and lateral compression of soil) has dissipated. The
typical delay is 2 days in sands and 30 days in clays.

In controlled stress tests, test load is applied in increments.

Increments of 25, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150, 175 and 200 % of the
proposed load are typically used.

It is better to continue the test until reaching failure.

Each load is maintained until the foundation stops moving or untill

the rate of movement is acceptably small.
 Pile load test 23

The next step is to plot a load versus settlement graph, as shown below.
From this graph, the relationship between the load and net settlement can
be obtained.
Ordinates along the loading curve
give gross settlement.
Subtracting the final net settlement
upon unloading (point A) from
ordinates along the unloading
curve gives the rebound.
Net settlement can then be
determined by subtracting the
rebound from corresponding gross
settlement.
Typical load settlement curves 24

Intermediate,
stiff clay and
sandy soils

Soft clays

Foundation Design
D. P. Coduto
 Interpretation of pile load test 25

Friction pile in Friction pile in stiff clay

soft-firm clay or loose sand

Pile Design & Construction Practice

Tomlinson & Woodward (5th ed.)
 26

Pile bearing on weak porous rock Pile lifted off seating on hard
rock due to soil heave and
pushed down by test load to
new bearing on rock

Pile Design & Construction Practice

Tomlinson & Woodward (5th ed.)
 27

Gap in pile shaft closed up by Weak concrete in pile shaft

test load sheared completely through
test load

Pile Design & Construction Practice

Tomlinson & Woodward (5th ed.)
 Davisson’s (1973) method
28
for interpreting static pile load test
B in ‘mm’ Note: Davisson’s
method seems to
work best with
data from quick
ML tests. It may
produce overly
conservative
results when
applied to data
from slow ML
tests.
 Example – Davisson’s method 29

Given: The load-settlement

data shown were obtained
from a full-scale static load test
on a 400 mm square, 17 mm
long concrete pile (fc’ = 40
Mpa).
Required: Use Davisson’s
method to compute ultimate
downward load capacity.
 Example – pile load test 30

Given:
A 12 inch diameter pipe pile with a length of 50 ft was subjected to a pile
load test. The test results were plotted and the load-settlement curve is
shown in Figure.
The local building code
states that the
allowable pile load is
taken as one-half of
that load that produces
a net settlement of not
more than 0.01 in/ton,
but in no case more
than o.75 inch.
Required:
Allowable pile load
 Mobilization of soil resistance 31

Side-friction resistance & toe-bearing resistance is computed separately,

and then combined to find allowable load capacity.
Side-friction and toe-bearing resistances are mobilized at different
settlements. Some settlement is cause by elastic compression of the
foundation, but most is the result of strains in the soil.
Only 5-10 mm (0.5-1% of pile dia) of
settlement is required to mobilized the
full side-resistance, and load-settlement
curve becomes steep. Whereas
displacement upto 20% of pile dia is
needed for full mobilization of toe-
bearing capacity
However, load-settlement curve for toe-
bearing is not as steep, and often doesn’t
reach a well-defined ultimate value.
 Mobilization of soil resistance 32

The difference between side-friction & toe-bearing response has 3

implications:

1. The load-settlement curve obtained at the head of pile during load test
is composite of side-friction and toe-bearing curves.

2. Because of the shape of load-settlement curve, the unit toe-bearing

resistance, qtip is usually a difficult number to define. This is a strong
contrast to ultimate bearing capacity qult in shallow foundations,
which is based on a much better defined mode of failure. Engineers
have used various methods of defining qtip, which is part of the reason
different analysis methods often produce different results.

3. At settlement of 5-10 mm, virtually all of the side friction will have
mobilized, but only a small fraction of the toe bearing will have been
mobilized. Therefore, so long a sufficient side-friction resistance is
available, it will carry nearly all the service loads, and the toe bearing
becomes the factor of safety.
 Pile groups and spacing of piles 33

Piles are almost always arranged in groups of three or more.

Pile group is commonly tied together by a pile cap, which is attached
to the head of individual piles and cause several piles to act together
as a pile foundation.
If two piles are driven
close together, soil
stresses caused by the
piles tend to overlap,
and the bearing capacity
of the pile group is less
than the sum of
individual capacities.
Typical pile grouping patterns 34

Pile patterns for single footings

Typical pile grouping patterns 35

Pile patterns for single footings

Pile patterns for foundation walls

Pile group 36

Theory and Practice of Foundation Design

SOM and DAS (P-223)
 Effect of pile group – a case history 37

Against an estimated working load Foundation for Charity Hospital Building,

of 15 ton, a single pile was tested New Orleans (Terzaghi 1942)
for a max. load of 30 ton and gave a
settlement of 6 mm.
A max settlement of 6 mm was
anticipated.
After 2 years of construction, the
building had settled 270 mm with a
max. differential settlement of 200
mm.
Investigation revealed, the pressure
bulb below the pile group extended
well into the compressible layer
below sand layer which caused Theory and Practice of Foundation Design
large settlement of the building. SOM and DAS (P-224)
 Efficiency of pile group 38

In case where a pile group is comprised of end-bearing piles resting

on bedrock (or on a layer of dense sand and gravel overlying
bedrock) an efficiency of 1.0 may be assumed (Jumikis, 1971)

An efficiency of 1.0 is also often assumed by designers for friction

piles driven in cohesionless soil.

For a pile group composed of friction piles driven in cohesive soil, an

efficiency of less than 1.0 is to be expected because stresses from
individual piles build up and reduce the capacity of pile group.

Among many equations, converse-Labarre equation is used to

calculate efficiency.
 Efficiency of pile group 39

Group efficiency

End bearing pile Frictional pile

Clayey soil Sandy soil Clayey soil Sandy soil

1.0 1.0 <1 1.0

converse-Labarre equation
Coyle and Sulaiman equation
 Converse-Labarre equation
40
for Pile group Efficiency
 Example – group efficieny 41

Given
A pile group consists of 12
friction piles in cohesive
soil. Each pile’s diameter is
12 in. and center-to-
center spacing is 3 ft. By
means of a load test, the
ultimate load of a single
pile was found to be 100
kips.

Required
Design capacity of pile
group, using the Converse-
Labarre equation.
 Coyle and Sulaiman equation
42
for Pile group Efficiency

For S/D < 3 => Piles in cohesive soils act as a block

For 3  S/D  8 => Eg = 0.06(S/D) + 0.52

[i.e. Eg = 0.7 for S/D = 3 and
Eg = 1.0 for S/D = 8]

For S/D > 8 => Eg = 1.0

where
S = center-to-center spacing of pile
D = diameter of pile
Eg = pile group efficiency
 Coyle and Sulaiman equation
43
for Pile group Efficiency

S/D < 3
Piles in cohesive soils act as a block

Qg = 2D(W+L)f + 1.3×c×Nc×W×L
 Settlement of pile foundations 44

Settlement in sand

S  S0  B B
12
(U.S. Dept. of Navy, 1982)

where
S = group settlement
S0 = settlement of single pile (from pile load test)
B = smallest dimension of the pile group
B = diameter of the tested pile
 Settlement of pile foundations 45

Settlement in clay
In deep clay Through soft clay into stiff clay

Uniformly
distributed
load

Uniformly
distributed
load