Pile Foundation

Samuel G.
 Summary: Pile Foundation

• Foundation: It is the lowest part of structure which

provides a base for the super structure.

Foundation is provided for the following four main purpose :

1. To distribute the weight of the structure over large area of
the soil beneath.
2. To load the substratum evenly and thus prevent unequal
settlement.
3. To provide a level surface for building operations.
4. To take the structure deep into the ground and thus increase
its stability, preventing overturning .
 Summary: Pile Foundation

TYPES OF FOUNDATIONS

Shallow Foundation Deep Foundation

• immediately placed beneath
the super structure
• to distribute the structure
loads horizontal area near
the surface
Eg. Isolated Footing
Mat Foundation
• good bearing capacity is
not available near the
ground
• long and slender member
• used to transmit foundation
loads to deeper soil
Eg. Piles
Piers / Wells / Caissions
 Summary: Pile Foundation
When to Use Deep Foundations?

 Structural loads are heavy. Eg. Sky scrapers

 Settlements in the case of shallow foundations exceed tolerable
limits (serviceability limit states)
Need large uplift capacity
 There are uplift, overturning, lateral forces. Eg. Electricity and
Communication towers,
 Piles become economical in some cases than shallow
foundations such as rafts. Eg. In cases where the excavation in
shallow soil is difficult
 Summary: Pile Foundation

What are the general purpose of pile foundations ?

 to transmit a foundation load to a solid soil

stratum;
 to support a foundation by friction of the piles
against the soil;
 to resist a horizontal or uplift load;
 to compact a loose layer of granular soil.
Summary: Pile Foundation
Summary: Pile Foundation
Summary: Pile Foundation
Summary: Pile Foundation
Summary: Pile Foundation
Summary: Pile Foundation
 Summary: Pile Foundation

Types Of Piles

function or use composition and material installation

• Steel Piles • Driven

• End-bearing piles •Concrete Piles • Cast-in-Situ Piles
• Friction piles •Timber Piles
•Composite Piles
 Summary: Pile Foundation

Pile based on function or use

 Types Of Piles

B. Classification of pile with respect to

type of material

i. Timber
ii. Concrete
iii. Steel
iv. Composite piles
 Timber Pile

Timber piles are made of tree trunks with the

branches trimmed off.
Timber Pile
 Concrete Piles
Based on where the pile shaft is cast concrete piles
may be divided into two basic categories:
(a) precast piles and
(b) cast-in-situ (Bored) piles.
 Concrete Piles

Cement Concrete Piles

Cement concrete piles mainly classified into
two types in the construction of concrete
piles are :-
 Cast- in- place
 Pre-cast

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Cast–in-place pile

19
Concrete Piles
Caisson

20
Concrete Piles
Bar cage

21
Concrete Piles

22
Concrete Piles

23
 Steel Pile
Steel piles cross-sections

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Steel Pile
H-PILES
Steel Pile
H-PILES
Steel Pile
CYLINDERICAL
Steel Pile
TAPERED
Steel Pile
 Composit Pile
Protecting timber piles from decay

b) By extending
pile cap below
water level
a) By pre-cast
concrete upper
section above
water level.

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COMPOSITE PILE
C. Classification of pile based on the
method of installation
Driven piles,
Cast-in-situ piles

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 Load Transfer Mechanism
Two Mechanisms Qu

Side Friction, Qs
(skin friction)
Toe-bearing Resistance, Qp
(end bearing resistance) Qs

 The total ultimate load Qu is expressed as the

sum of these two, that is,

Qu = Qb + Qf= qbAb + fsAs (1.1)

Qb
 Load Transfer Mechanism
 Consider the pile is loaded to failure by gradually increasing
the load on the top.
 If settlement of the top of the pile is measured at every, a load
settlement curve can be obtained.
Q1=50 kN
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q
Q2=100 kN

Settlement
Q3=200 kN

Q4=400 kN
 Load Transfer Mechanism

Side friction- increase

Base resistance -zero

The total load Q1 is distributed as friction

load within a length of pile L1. The lower
section A1B of pile will not be affected by
this load.
 Load Transfer Mechanism

Side friction- increase

Base resistance -zero

As the load at the top is increased to Q2, the

axial load at the bottom of the pile is just
zero.The total load Q2 is distributed as
friction load along the whole length of pile
 Load Transfer Mechanism

Side friction- Maximum

Base resistance -Increase

If the load put on the pile is greater than Q2, a

part of this load is transferred to the soil at
the base as point load and the rest is
transferred to the soil surrounding the pile. L.
 Load Transfer Mechanism

Side friction- Ultimate

Base resistance –
Increase & fails by
Punching shear

The friction load attains an ultimate value Qf,

say Qm, at the top and the point load, Qp , still
goes on increasing till the soil fails by
punching shear failure
 Definition of Failure Load

 The methods of determining failure loads based on load-

settlement curves are described in subsequent sections.
 However, in the absence of a load settlement curve, a failure
load may be defined as that which causes a settlement equal
to 10 percent of the pile diameter or width (as per the
suggestion of Terzaghi) which is widely accepted by
engineers.
 Cont…

 However, if this criterion is applied to piles of

large diameter in clay and a nominal factor of
safety of 2 is used to obtain the working load,
 Factor of Safety

 In almost all cases where piles are acting as structural

foundations, the allowable load is governed solely from
considerations of tolerable settlement at the working load.
 The working load for all pile types in all types of soil may be taken
as equal to the sum of the base resistance and shaft friction
divided by a suitable factor of safety. A safety factor of 2.5 is
normally used. Therefore we may write

(working load) =Qa=(Qb+Qf)/2.5 (1.2)

 METHODS OF DETERMINING ULTIMATE LOAD
BEARING CAPACITY OF A SINGLE VERTICAL PILE

 The ultimate bearing capacity, Qu; of a single vertical pile may

be determined by any of the following methods.

1. By the use of static bearing capacity equations.

2. By the use of SPT and CPT values.

3. By field load tests.

4. By dynamic method.
 GENERAL THEORY FOR ULTIMATE BEARING CAPACITY

 According to Vesic (1967), only punching shear failure

occurs in deep foundations irrespective of the density of the
soil so long as the depth-width ratio L/d is greater than 4
where L = length of pile and d = diameter (or width of pile).
 The total failure load may be written as follows

(1.3)
 Bearing Capacity Equation
Qu
 The total ultimate load Qu is expressed as the sum
of these two, that is,

Qu = Qb + Qf= qbAb + fsAs

Qb=Base Resistance Qs

fs=Shaft Resistance
Ab =Area of Base

As=surface area of the length of the pile

Qb
 The general equation for the base resistance

Cohesion less Soils Cohesive Soils

c=0 and l/2gdNg becomes ∅= 0, Nq = 1 and Ng= 0

insignificant for deep foundations.

Cb = undrained shear strength of

q'o = effective overburden clay at the base level
pressure at the base of the pile
 Critical Depth
 The ultimate bearing capacity Qu in cohesionless soils

 both the point resistance qb and the skin resistance fs are functions of

the effective overburden pressure q’o in cohesionless soils

increase linearly with the depth of

embedment, L, of the pile.
with the L/d ratio remains constant beyond a
particular depth.
 Let LC be the depth, which may be called the

critical depth, beyond which both qb and fs

 Tomlinson's Solution For Qb In Sand
• Driven Piles The theoretical Nq factor is a function of f. .

(Tomlinson, has shown that Nq values established by Berezantsev et al.,

(1961) which take into account the depth to width ratio of the pile

For a given f=35,

Nq =50

q'o=Lg
maximum base resistance qb
is 11000 kN/m2
MEYERHOF'S METHOD OF DETERMINING Qb FOR PILES IN SAND
Meyerhof (1976) takes into account the critical depth ratio (L/d) for
estimating the value of Qb

Nc and Nq as a function of ∅

For a given f=30,

Nq =60

Clay Soil (∅= 0)

Nc =9
 Cont…
 Meyerhof prescribes a limiting value for qb, based on his
findings on static cone penetration resistance. The expression
for the limiting value, qbl, is
 VESIC'S METHOD OF DETERMINING Qb
• The unit base resistance of a pile in a (c -f) soil may be expressed
as (Vesic, 1977)
 VESIC'S METHOD OF DETERMINING Qb
 As per Vesic, the base resistance is not governed by the vertical
ground pressure q'o but by the mean effective normal ground

stress sm expressed as
 JANBU'S METHOD OF DETERMINING Qb
 The bearing capacity equation of Janbu (1976)

Janbu's equation for N*q is

 COYLE AND CASTELLO'S METHOD OF ESTIMATING Qb IN SAND

 Coyle and Castello (1981) made use of the results of 24 full scale pile
load tests driven in sand for evaluating the bearing capacity factors.
 Which may be expressed as

Qb=q’oN*qAb
Where

q'o - effective overburden pressure at the base level of the pile

N*q = bearing capacity factor

The Ultimate Skin Resistance Of A Single Pile In Cohesionless Soil
• Skin Resistance (Straight Shaft)
 The ultimate skin resistance in a homogeneous soil is
expressed as
 Cont…
• The effective overburden pressure does not increase linearly with
depth and reaches a constant value beyond a particular depth

Lc, called the critical depth which is a function of f.

• The skin resistance fs also to remain constant beyond depth

Lc .The magnitude of Lc may be taken as equal to 20d.

• As per the present state of knowledge, the maximum skin friction

is limited to 110 kN/m2 (Tomlinson, 1986).
Poulos and Davis Meyerhof
 SKIN RESISTANCE Qf BY COYLE AND CASTELLO METHOD (1981)
• They developed a chart giving relationships between Ks and f
for various L/d ratios

The angle of wall friction d

is assumed equal to 0.80f.
The value of Ks can be
obtained
 SKIN RESISTANCE OF A SINGLE PILE IN CLAY SOIL
• Skin Resistance by a-Method
 The ultimate skin resistance in clay soil
Qf=acuAs

a = adhesion factor
cu = undrained shear strength of clay at the base level

For layered clay soils