GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING

DESIGN-2

PILE FOUNDATION
 Introduction
A pile is a slender, structural member installed
in the ground to transfer the structural loads
into deeper, competent soil layers at some
significant depth below the base of the
structure.
Structural loads include axial loads, lateral
loads, and moments.
Another term commonly used in practice for
pile foundations is deep foundations.
Structures that cannot be supported
economically on shallow foundations are
normally supported by pile foundations.
 …Introduction
 Subsurface conditions, structural
requirements, site location and features, and
economics generally dictate the type of
foundation to be employed for a given
structure.
 Pile foundations are commonly installed for
bridges, buildings, towers, tanks, and
offshore
structures.
…Introduction
 …Introduction
Pile foundations are used when:
The soil near the surface does not have sufficient
bearing capacity to support the structural
loads.
The estimated settlement of the soil exceeds
tolerable limits (i.e., settlement greater than
the serviceability limit state).
Differential settlement due to soil variability or
non-uniform structural loads is excessive.
The structural loads consist of lateral loads,
moments, and uplift forces, singly or in
combination.
Excavations to construct a shallow foundation
 Classification of Piles
 Piles are generally classified into the
following categories according to:
1. The mode of load transfer and
functional behavior
2. The use
3. Composition or materials of
construction.
4. The method of construction
(Installation)
 …Classification of Piles
 Classification based on mode of load transfer
and functional behavior
a. End-Bearing Piles: these piles penetrate
through the soft soil or water and their
bottoms rest on a hard stratum and
transmits the load to it.
b. Friction Piles: These piles transfer the
load
through skin friction between the
embedded
surface of the pile and the surrounding
soil.
c. Combined End-Bearing and Friction
 …Classification
 Classification of Piles
of Piles Based
on Use
a. Uplift Piles: These piles anchor down the
structure
subjected to uplift or overturning
movement.
b. Batter Piles: These piles are driven at an
inclination to resist inclined loads and are
used to resist lateral forces in case of
retaining walls, abutments etc.
c. Compaction Piles: They are used to
compact loose granular soils in order to
increase their bearing
capacity.
 … Classification of Piles
 Classification of piles according to their
composition or material of construction.
 Timber Piles
 Concrete Piles
Pre-Cast Concrete Piles
Cast-in situ Concrete Piles
 Steel Piles
 Plastic Piles
 Composite Piles
 … Classification of Piles
 Classification based on method of
construction(installation)
 Driven Piles: These piles are driven into
the soil by
applying blows of a heavy hammer on
their tops.
 Driven and Cast In-Situ Piles: These
piles are formed by driving a casing with a
closed bottom end into the soil. The casing
is later filled with concrete.
 Bored and Cast In-Situ Piles: These
piles are formed by excavating a hole into
 Pile Installation
 Piles can either be driven into the ground
(driven piles) or be installed in a predrilled
hole (bored piles or drilled shafts).
 A variety of driving equipment is used in
pile installations.
 The key components are the leads and the
hammer. The leads are used to align the
hammer to strike the pile squarely.
 Hammers can be simple drop hammers of
weights between 2.5 and 15 kN or modern
steam/ pneumatic hammers.
11
 Key components of pile-
12
driving operation
 … Pile Installation
 The method of installation needs careful
consideration because it irreversibly changes
the soil stress and strain states and can create
intolerable noise and vibration during
construction.
 The maximum installation stress for piles driven
from the top must not exceed the compressive
or tensile strength of the pile material.

13
 Load Capacity of Single Pile
 Accurate estimation of pile load capacity is a
difficult task because it is difficult, if not
impossible, to account for:
 The changes in stress and strain states from
installation effects,
 The variability of soil types, and
 The differences in the quality of construction
practice.
 Therefore, calculations of pile load capacity are
approximations and rely heavily on empiricism or
semi empiricism (part mechanics, part empirical).
 … Load Capacity of Single Pile
 The ultimate load capacity, Qult, of a pile is
conventionally taken as consisting of two
parts:
 One part is due to friction, called skin
friction or shaft friction or side shear,
Qf,
The other is due to end bearing at the
base or tip of the pile or pile toe, Qb.
 If the skin friction is greater than about
80% of the end bearing load capacity, the
pile is deemed a friction pile and, if the
reverse, an end bearing pile.
… Load Capacity of Single Pile
 … Load Capacity of Single Pile
 From statics, the ultimate load capacity is:

 Where W pis the weight of the pile. In many cases,

the weight of the pile is included in the dead load
or neglected for piles of small cross-sectional areas
(<0.07 m2).
 The conventional allowable load capacity is
expressed as

 FS is a gross factor of safety usually greater than

2. In practice, the application of a factor of
safety greater than 2 is thought of as sufficient
to limit settlement to about 25 mm.
 … Load Capacity of Single Pile
A variety of methods are available to
determine Qf and Qb. The commonly used
methods are:
 Pile load test
 Statics—α- and β-methods
 Pile-driving formulas
 Pile Load Test
The purposes of a pile load test are:
 To determine the load capacity of a single
pile or a pile group.
 To determine the settlement of a single pile
at working loads.
 To verify estimated load capacity.
 To satisfy regulatory agencies.
 … Pile Load Test
 In a typical (conventional) pile load test, the
test pile is driven to the desired depth,
loads are applied incrementally, and at the
end of each load increment, the load and
settlement are recorded
 The axial loads can be applied by stacking sandbags on
a loading frame attached to the pile.
 If, the pile must be instrumented with
sensors or strain gages
 The conventional pile load test gives the
combined skin friction and end bearing
resistance. They cannot be separated easily
(The load transfer information is not
 … Pile Load Test

21
Figure A pile load test
setup.
 … Pile Load Test

Figure Load–
settlement curves.
 … Pile Load Test
 Schematic variations of pile load test plots
are shown in Figure above.
 The ultimate load is not always well
defined. Load–settlement curve (a) in
Figure 6 shows a well-defined ultimate
load, while curve (b) does not.
 To obtain the ultimate load from curve
(b), various empirical procedures have
been suggested. One simple method is to
find the intersection of the tangents of the
two parts of the curve. The value at the
23
ordinate of the intersection (C in Figure)
is Qult.
 ... Pile Load Test
 The allowable load capacity is found by
dividing the ultimate load by a factor of
safety, usually 2.
 An alternative criterion is to determine the
allowable pile load capacity for a desired
serviceability limit state, for example, a
settlement of 1% of the pile diameter.
 The settlement at the allowable (working)
load capacity is readily determined from the
load–settlement plot
 Example 1 interpreting pile load test data
The results of a load test on a 0.45-m-diameter
pile are shown in the table below. The
displacements were measured at the pile head.
Determine:
a) The ultimate pile load capacity,
b) The allowable load for a factor of safety of
2, and
c) The allowable (service) load capacity at 1%
Displacement
(mm)pile displacement.
0.0 1.3 2.5 5.1 7.6 10.2 12.7 15.2 17.8 20.3
20 35 67
Load (kN) 0 0 0 087010701250140015001600
22.9 25.4 27.9 30.5 33.0 35.6 38.1 40.6 43.2 45.7 47.0
1700 1750 1780 1810 1830 1860 1870 1890 1890 1900 1905
Strategy Plot a graph of displacement versus load
Solution
 Step 1: Plot a pile head displacement–load
graph.
 Step 2: Determine the ultimate pile load
capacity.
Qult =1780 kN
 Step 3: Determine the allowable pile load
capacity.

 Step 4: Determine the pile load capacity at

1% pile diameter; Pile diameter =450 mm
 Desired pile head displacement = 450 *
0.01=4.5mm
Qa = 510 kN
 Methods Using STATICS for Driven Piles
α-Method:
 Is based on a total stress analysis
(TSA)
 Is normally used to estimate the
short-term load capacity of piles
embedded in fine-grained soils.
 Skin Friction-In the α-method, a
coefficient, αu, is used to relate the
undrained shear strength, su, to the
adhesive stress (fs) along the pile
 Methods Using Statics …
α-Method:
 The skin friction, Qf, over the
embedded length of the pile is the
product of the adhesive stress (fs = αu
su) and the surface area of the shaft
(perimeter x embedded length). Thus,

 Randolph and Murphy (1985) recommended

that fs be estimated using the lower of the
following two expressions:
 Methods Using Statics …
α-Method
b) End Bearing: The end bearing capacity is
found by analogy with the conventional
failure mode of shallow foundations and is
expressed as

 Nc is a bearing capacity coefficient,

 Ab is the cross-sectional area of the base of the
pile.
 (su)b is the undrained shear strength at the base
of the pile
Several expressions have been proposed for
Nc.
 Methods Using Statics …
β-Method:
 Is based on an effective stress analysis
(ESA)
 Is used to determine:
 The short-term and long-term pile load
capacities of coarse-grained soils
 The long term load capacity of fine-
grained soils.
a) Skin Friction is found using Coulomb’s
friction law, where the frictional stress is
given by
fs =μ’x = ’xtanϕ’i
 β-Method …
 The skin friction is expressed as

 The lateral effective stress is proportional to

the vertical effective stress () by a
coefficient K. Therefore, the above Eq. can
be written as:

 We can replace the two coefficients K and

tan ϕ’i by a single factor β to yield
 β-Method …
 For normally consolidated fine-grained soils
and coarse-grained soils

 For over consolidated fine-grained soils,

 The following expressions for β are

recommended:
Fine-grained soils (Burland, 1973)

Coarse-grained soils
 β-Method …
b) End Bearing the end bearing capacity is
calculated by analogy with the bearing
capacity of shallow footings and is
determined from

is the base resistance stress,

 Nq is a bearing capacity coefficient that
is a function of ϕ’,
 is the vertical effective stress at the
base, and
 Ab is the cross-sectional area of the base.
 β-Method …
 There is expressions for Nq.
 Janbu (1976),

 ψp (called the angle of pastification) varies from

to .
 Janbu recommended that for soft, compressible
soils, ψp < , while for dense, coarse-grained soils,
ψp < .
 Muni Budhu
 •
α-
Method expressions
RY
• is the lower of the two

A
(TSA) •
•

M
•
U M
β-
•
S
• For fine-grained soils
(Burland, 1973)
Method •
(ESA) • The eq proposed by Janbu to
determine Nq:
Example-2 Determine the ultimate bearing
capacity of the 600mm diameter concrete,
bored pile given in the figure below

Solution
 Geometric parameters
 Perimeter p=ΠD=3.14*0.6= 1.88m
37  Base area A=
 Calculate the ultimate load capacity
Skin friction
 As layer 1 and layer 3 are clay layers we use
total stress analysis ( but for layer 2 as its
sandy layer we use effective stress analysis (
Qfi=
 For layer 1 Qf= =0.8*60*1.88*4=360.96KN
For layer 2 Qf
Where = =0.28867
= The overburden pressure at the center of
2nd layer.
38
=*+ */2=*+ *6/2=102.57Kpa
Then Qf
= =333.988KN
For layer 3 Qf= =0.58*100*1.88*5=545.2KN

End bearing

L/D= 15/.6=25 & =100>25……

*100*0.2862=257.58
Then pile capacity is
=+ +

39
=360.96+333.988+545.2+257.58=1497.728KN
1. Precast concrete piles 40 cm in diameter are
required to be driven for a building foundation. The
design load on a single pile is 445kN.Determine the
length of the pile if the soil is loose to medium dense
sand with the given friction angle 33° and the sand
layer extends to a greater depth. The water is at the
ground
Solutionlevel. The saturated unit weight of soil is
equal
Step 1toGeometric
19kN/m3.parameters
Use F.S=2.5
 Perimeter p=ΠD=3.14*0.4= 1.256m
 Base area A=

40 ΠD*D/4=3.14*.4*.4/4=0.1256m2
 Step 2 skin friction
 As the soil profile have only one layer and as it is
sandy layer we need to use effective stress analysis (
 Qf
Where = =0.2957
= The overburden pressure at the center the
layer.
= ()*l/2=* l/2 =4.595l Kpa
 Then Qf
= =1.71 KN

41
 Step 3 End bearing

Where
=38.366
= The overburden pressure at the end point of the
pile.
= ()*l=* l =9.19l Kpa
 Then =38.366*9.19l*0.1256=44.2844l KN

42
 Step 4 pile capacity
 The pile capacity is =
== 445*2.5=1112.5KN
 Therefore = = 1.71 + 44.2844l = 1112.5
Solving 1.71 + 44.2844l = 1112.5
The value of l is 15.657 and -41.5518
 As length is never been negative we can take
15.657 as our length of pile
 For workability as well as to be in the
conservative side length of the pile is taken as

43
16m
1. A square precast concrete pile of 40 * 40 cm in
section is required to be driven for a building
foundation. The design load on a single pile is
500kN. Determine the length of the pile if the soil
has two layers (the 1st layer is clay which extends
up to 7m below the ground level and the second
layer is sand which extend up to great depth). The
ground water is located at 7m below the ground
level.
Clay layer =18kN/m3, ,=0.6
Sand layer:- =19kN/m3, =30 °
Use F.S=2.5

44
 Point Bearing Capacity of piles resting on Rock
 Sometimes piles are driven to an underlying
layer of rock. In such cases, the engineer
must evaluate the bearing capacity of the
rock.
 The ultimate unit point resistance in rock
(Goodman, 1980) is approximately

 Where
qu = unconfined compressive strength of
rock
45
ϕ’ = drained angle of friction
 …Point Bearing Capacity of piles
resting on Rock
 The Unconfined Compressive Strength of
rock can be determined by laboratory tests
on rock specimens collected during field
investigation.
 Precaution should be used in obtaining the
proper value of qu, because laboratory
specimens usually are small in diameter.
 As the diameter of the specimen increases,
the unconfined compressive strength
decreases- a phenomenon referred to as the
scale effect.
46
 Hence, it is recommend that
…Point Bearing Capacity of piles resting
on Rock

 A factor of safety of at least 3 should be

used to determine the allowable point
bearing of piles in rock. Thus,

47
 Pile-Driving Formulas
 A number of empirical equations have been
proposed to relate the energy delivered by a
hammer during pile driving and the pile load
capacity.
 One of the earliest equations is the ENR
(Engineering News Record) equation, given
as

 Where
 WR is the weight of the ram
h is the height of fall
 S is the penetration per hammer blow, and
 C is a constant (for drop hammers, C > 25 mm
and for steam hammers, C > 2.5 mm).
 ...Pile-Driving Formulas
 The above Eqn. does not account for energy
losses due to the elastic compression of the
pile. This equation can be modified using an
efficiency factor, ; that is,
 Pile Groups
 In most practical situations, piles are used in
groups.
 They are arranged in geometric patterns
(squares, rectangles, circles, and octagons) at
a spacing, s (c/c), not less than 2D (where D
is the diameter or width of the pile).
 The piles are connected at their heads by a
concrete pile cap, which may or may not be
in contact with the ground.
 If the pile cap is in contact with the ground,
part of the load will be transferred directly to
the soil.
…Pile Groups
 …Pile Groups
 Because of anticipated alignment problems,
some building codes do not permit the use of
less than three piles under major columns and
less than two under foundation walls.
 Typical arrangement of pile groups are as
shown below;

ASTU Foundation Engineering II

 …Pile Groups
 The load capacity for a pile group is not
necessarily the load capacity of a single pile
multiplied by the number of piles.
 In fine grained soils, the outer piles tend to
carry more loads than the piles in the center
of the group.
 In coarse-grained soils, the piles in the
center take more loads than the outer piles.
 The ratio of the load capacity of a pile group,
(Qult)g, to the total load capacity of the piles
acting as individual piles, (nQult), is called
the efficiency factor, ηe; that is,
Individual Vs Block Failure Mode

Figure: Block failure mode.

 Block vs Single Failure Mode
 Block failure may occur when the spacing of
the piles is small enough to cause the pile
group to fail as a unit.
 The group load capacity for block failure
mode is
ESA:
TSA:
 Single pile failure mode or punching
failure mode is that each pile mobilizes its
full load capacity. Thus, the group load
capacity is
 EXAMPLE : Pile Group Load Capacity in Layered Clays

Q:-A pile group consisting of 9 driven piles, each 0.4 m

in diameter, is arranged in a 3x3 matrix at a spacing of
1.2m. The piles penetrate a medium clay soil (Layer
1) of thickness 8 m and are embedded 2m in a stiff
clay (Layer 2). The soil properties are:
Layer 1:
Layer 2:

Calculate the single and group allowable load capacity

for a factor of safety of 2. Groundwater level (GWL) is
at 2 m below the surface but can rise to the surface
EXAMPLE : Pile Group Load Capacity in Layered Clays
Strategy: You need to calculate the
ultimate load capacity assuming (a)
block failure mode and (b) single pile
failure mode. Use a sketch to illustrate
the problem.
Single capacity
TSA:
ESA:
Group capacity
TSA:
ESA:
 Solution
Step 1: Draw a sketch and calculate the geometric
properties.

Step 2: Calculate the ultimate load capacity using TSA.

Calculate the overburden pressure at the center of the
pile length. Assume groundwater rises to the surface.
 Medium clay:
 Stiff clay:
Step 3: Calculate the skin frictional stress.

Medium clay:

Use fs=18kPa (minimum value)

Stiff clay:

Use fs=41kPa (minimum value).

Then Qf = fs x perimeter x length
 The calculations of Qf are done using a table, as
follows, or a spreadsheet.
Step 4 End bearing–stiff clay:

Block mode

Single pile mode

 Group load capacity:

 Block mode

 Single pile mode

There for Single pile mode governs.

Step 3: Calculate the ultimate load capacity
using an ESA.

 End
bearing
Group load capacity:
Block mode

Single pile mode

Single pile mode governs.

Step 4: Decide which failure mode and conditions
govern.
 Elastic Settlement of Piles
The elastic settlement of a single pile depends
on
 The relative stiffness of the pile and the soil
 The length-to-diameter ratio of the pile
 The distribution of elastic modulus of the soil
along the pile length.
 Various analyses have been proposed to
calculate the settlement of single piles and
pile groups.
 The settlement consists of three components
—skin friction, end bearing, and elastic
shortening.
 …Elastic Settlement of Piles
 The total settlement of a pile under a vertical
working load Qw is given by

 se(1) = elastic settlement of pile

 se(2) = settlement of pile caused by the load at
the pile tip
 se(3) = settlement of pile by the load
transmitted along the pile shaft
 If the pile material is assumed to be elastic,
the deformation of Q
the
 Q
pile
L shaft can be
 wb wf 
evaluated, sin   accordance with the
e1
 
A E
fundamental principles b p of mechanics of
 Where
…Elastic Settlement of Piles
 Qwb = load carried at the pile point under
working load.
 Qwf = load carried by friction resistance under
working load
 Ab = area of cross section of pile
 L = Length of pile
 Ep = modulus of elasticity of the pile material
 The magnitude of ξ will depend on the nature
of the distribution of the unit friction resistance
f along the pile shaft
 …Elastic Settlement of Piles
 The settlement of a pile caused by the load
carried at the pile point may be expressed in
the form s  qwb .D  1   2  I
 s  wb
e 2  E  
s
Where
 D = width or diameter of pile
 qwb= point load per unit area at the pile
point = Qwb/Ab
 Es = modulus of elasticity of soil at or below
the pile point
 μ = Poisson’s ratio of soil
 Iwb= influence factor = 0.85
 …Elastic Settlement of Piles
 The settlement of a pile caused by the load
carried by the pile shaft is given by a relation
 Qwf  D 
s   
e 3  pL
 
 1  I
 E 

s wf
  s 
Where p= perimeter of the pile
L = embedded length of pile
Iwf = influence factor
Q term
 It is to be noted that the pL is
wf
average value of f along the pile shaft.
 The influence factor, Iwf, has a simple
empirical relation.
I 2  0.35
L
wf
D
 Elastic Settlement of Group Piles
 The settlement of a group pile under a similar
working load increases with the width of the
group (Bg) and the center-to-center spacing of
the piles (s).
 The simplest relation for the settlement of
group piles was given by BVesic
g (1960), as
follows
s g e   .se
D

Where sg(e) = elastic settlement of group piles

Bg = width of group pile section
D = width or diameter of each pile in
 Elastic Settlement of Group Piles
Example 3 The allowable working load on a
pre-stressed concrete pile of 21m long that has
been driven in to sand is 502KN. The pile is
square in shape with side 0.4m. the skin
resistance carries 350KN of the allowable load
and point bearing carries the rest. Determine
the elastic settlement of the pile
Use =21*10^6 Kpa, =25*10^3 Kpa, =0.35,
Solution
Area of the pile, A=l*l=0.4*0.4=0.16m2,
Perimeter, P=4*l=4*0.4=1.6m
Qult=502KN, Qb= 152KN, Qf= 350KN
 Elastic Settlement of Group Piles
 Settlement due to elastic shortening of pile
 Q  Q L
 b
 f 
 
152  0.62 * 350* 21 0.00231m 2.31mm
s  
e1 A E (0.16) * (21*10^6)
b p

 Settlement due to end bearing

q Qb / Ab 152 / 0.16 950 KPa
b
q .D
s    b  1   2 s  I
e 2  E   wb
s
950 * 0.4  2
  1  0.35  0.85 0.011337m 11.337mm
(25 *10^3)  
 Elastic Settlement of Group Piles
 Settlement of the pile due to shaft resistance

 Qf  D 
s   
e 3  pL
 
 E 

 1  I
s wf
where, , I wf 2  0.35
21
0.4
4.53599
  s 

 350   0.4 
s      1  0.35* 4.535 0.000491m 0.49mm
e 3  1.6 * 21   25000 

 Total settlement
=14.138mm
 Consolidation settlement of Group Piles
 Sometimes, a pile group may be embedded
above a soft clay layer & transfer sufficient
load to it (soft clay) to cause consolidation
settlement.
 To estimate the consolidation settlement, the
full design load is assumed to act at a depth
of 2/3L & is then distributed in the ratio of 2:1
(V:H).
 The increase in vertical stress at a depth z in
the soft clay layer shown in Figure below is
given by:
… Consolidation settlement of Group Piles
 … Consolidation settlement of Group Piles
 Consolidation settlement of each layer
caused by the increased stress is given by:
 Cc H i    oi    i 
sc i     log  
 1  eo i     oi  

 The total consolidation settlement of the group piles

sc g   sc i 
is then
 Pile Spacing
 If two piles are driven close together, soil
stresses caused by the piles tend to
overlap, and the bearing capacity of the
piles consisting of two piles is less than
the sum of the individual capacities.
 If the two piles are moved farther apart,
so that individual stresses do not overlap,
the bearing capacity of the pile group is
not reduced significantly from the sum of
the individual capacities.
 Thus piles should be spaced relatively far
apart.
Minimum c/c spacing of piles Based on EBCS-7

Where D-average pile

diameter,
Du-base diameter of
 Negative skin friction
 Piles located in setting soil layers (e.g., soft clays or
fills) are subjected to negative skin friction called
down drag.
 The settlement of the soil layer causes the friction
forces to act in the same direction as the loading on
the pile.
 Negative friction imposes additional loads on the
pile rather than providing resistance.
 The net effect is that the pile load capacity is
reduced, and pile settlement increases.
 … Negative skin friction
 The allowable load capacity is given as:
 … Negative skin friction
 Negative skin friction is the force developed between
the surface of a pile or pile groups driven into a hard
stratum and the adjoining soil, because of the
relative movement between the two bodies in a
direction to increase the loading on the pile and pile
groups.
 This phenomenon develops when a compressible soil
layer like clay, silt, peat, mud, etc. settles, on account
of consolidation which may be initiated by lowering
the ground water level or by increasing the
overburden pressure.
 … Negative skin friction
 Due to the consolidation
process of the
compressible layer, the soil
strata above this layer
move downward and as the
piles are driven into the
hard stratum, they are
prevented from downward
movement.
 Hence a relative
movement between the
piles and the surrounding
soil takes place, producing
a drag or negative skin
friction.
 Example: Negative Skin Friction Due to a Fill

 Determine the allowable load capacity of the 0.4m-diameter

pile shown in Figure. The fill is recent and unconsolidated.

To eliminate negative skin friction, a steel shell is proposed
around the pile within the fill. The groundwater level is at 1
m below the fill in the soft clay but is expected to rise to the
surface. A factor of safety of 2 is required.
Example: Negative Skin Friction Due to a Fill
 … Example: Negative Skin Friction Due to a Fill
Strategy The trick here is to think about what would
happen or is happening to the soft clay. Under the load
of the fill, the soft clay will settle, dragging the pile
down. Therefore, we have to consider negative skin
friction imposed by the soft clay. You should use an
ESA.
Solution
Step 1: Determine b, Nq, and other relevant
parameters.

Clay
Sand
 … Example: Negative Skin Friction Due to a Fill
Step 2: Calculate the negative skin friction for
the clay layer.
Assume the groundwater will rise to the
surface and the top fill layer will not have
negative skin friction.

At center of the clay later:

=8.7*4+7.7*3=59.9 kPa
=
0.27*59.9*1.26*6=118.2kN
Step 4: Calculate the skin friction and end
bearing in sand.

At center of sand layer:

Step 5: Calculate the allowable load capacity.

=610.3kN
 Pile caps
 A pile cap is a structure usually of reinforced
concrete, which serves to spread the vertical
and horizontal loads and any overturning
moment from the superstructure to all the
piles in the group.
 Pile cap is used to transfer loads from a
column or wall to an underlying group of
piles.
 To ensure stability against lateral forces, a
pile cap must include at least three piles;
otherwise it should be connected by the
beams to adjacent caps.
 Pile caps
 Pile caps should be arranged in such a manner
that the centroid of pile group coincides with the
line of action of load, to ensure that all piles carry
an equal load and avoid tilting of group in
compressible bearing stratum.
 The forces that have to be considered in the
analysis and design of a pile cap are
 Reaction from the piles (considered as series
of concentrated loads)
 Column loads and moments
 Weight of the cap
 Weight of overlaying soil, if the cap is below
the ground surface.
... Pile caps
Determination of pile reaction
For determining pile reaction the following usual practices
will be followed:
a) Concentric Axial Load
 For concentric axial load Q acting on the pile cap, the load
in the pile group is assumed to be distributed equally.
 If Q (the vertical force acting on the pile group) is applied at
the neutral axis of the pile group, then the force on a single
Q:
pile will be as follows
Pi 
n
where:
Pi = vertical component of the load on any pile from the
resultant load Q
n = number of vertical piles in the group
Q = total vertical load on pile group
b) Eccentric Load
 For eccentric loading conditions, i.e. pile cap
loaded with force P and moment M, one uses
the flexural formula in which planar stress
distribution is assumed:
Structural Design and Constructional
Requirements
 The structural design of pile cap is similar to
the design of reinforced concrete footings.
 The critical sections for moment, punching
shear and bond stress (development length
of reinforcement) are taken to be at the same
locations as defined for isolated footings.
 The critical section for bending moments
and bond shall be calculated at the face of
column or pedestal.
 The critical section for Punching shear will
be at a distance d/2 (WSD) or 1.5d(ULSD)
from face of column.
Critical footing sections for moment and shear
Structural design and constructional requirements.
Example:
A group of Vertical piles are subjected to an
eccentric force Q of 2600kN as shown in
figure. Determine the maximum and the
minimum forces on the piles. Q is located 0.2
m from the x-axis and 0.15 m from the y-axis.
Solution
1. Calculate Moment generated by the
eccentric force
Mx = Q ey=2600 (-0.2) = -520 KN
My = Q ex=2600 (0.15) = 390 KN
2. Calculate vertical load per pile: Q/n=
2600/12 = 217 kN
 MX*Yi My*Xi
Pile Xi X i2 Yi Y i2 Mx MY Q/n (ΣYi2) (ΣXi2) Pi (KN)
a1 -0.9 0.81 1.35 1.82 -520 390 217 -58 -54 105
a2 -0.9 0.81 0.45 0.20 -520 390 217 -19 -54 143
a3 -0.9 0.81 -0.45 0.20 -520 390 217 19 -54 182
a4 -0.9 0.81 -1.35 1.82 -520 390 217 58 -54 220
b1 0 0 1.35 1.82 -520 390 217 -58 0 159
b2 0 0 0.45 0.20 -520 390 217 -19 0 197
b3 0 0 -0.45 0.20 -520 390 217 19 0 236
b4 0 0 -1.35 1.82 -520 390 217 58 0 274
c1 0.9 0.81 1.35 1.82 -520 390 217 -58 54 213
c2 0.9 0.81 0.45 0.20 -520 390 217 -19 54 252
c3 0.9 0.81 -0.45 0.20 -520 390 217 19 54 290
c4 0.9 0.81 -1.35 1.82 -520 390 217 58 54 329
6.48 12.15
Thus the maximum force is 329 kN and the minimum
forces is 105 kN
 Laterally Loaded Piles
 Structures founded on piles are often
subjected to lateral loads and moments in
addition to vertical loads.
 Lateral loads may come from wind, traffic,
seismic events, waves, docking ships, and
earth pressures.
 Moments may come from:
The eccentricity of the vertical force,
Fixity of the superstructure to the piles,
and
The location of the lateral forces on the
pile with reference to the ground surface.
 …Laterally Loaded Piles
 When a pile is subjected to lateral
forces and moments, the pile tends to
bend or deflect, as illustrated in
Figure below.
 …Laterally Loaded Piles
 The deflection of the pile causes strains in the
soil mass.
 To satisfy equilibrium, the soil must provide
reactions along the length of the pile to
balance the applied loads and moments.
 Because soil is a nonlinear material, the soil
reaction is not linearly related to the pile
deflection.
 At every point along the length of the pile, a
nonlinear relationship between soil resistance
(p) and pile deflection (y) exists, as illustrated
in Figure.
 … Laterally Loaded Piles
 In designing laterally loaded piles, we need to
know the pile deflection, particularly the pile
head deflection, to satisfy serviceability
requirements and the bending moments for
sizing the pile.
 The pile head deflection depends on:
 Soil type, and loading condition
 Pile installation,
 Pile flexibility (or pile stiffness),
 How the pile is attached to the
superstructure and pile cap.
 A pile that is attached to the pile cap such
 … Laterally Loaded Piles
 The mechanism of failure depends on:
 The length-to-diameter or -width ratio,
 Soil type, and
 The fixity of the pile head.
 Free head piles tend to fail by rotation.
 Lateral loads and moments applied to a free head pile
are initially resisted by the soil near ground level.
 For very small pile deflections, the soil behaves
elastically, and as the deflection increases the soil
yields, and then permanent soil displacement occurs.
 The soil resistance is shifted to the lower part of the
pile as yielding progressively occurs from the top to
the bottom of the pile.
 … Laterally Loaded Piles

 Fixed head piles tend to fail by translation.

 Piles in general are neither fixed head nor free
head.
 They have undermined fixity somewhere
between free head and fixed head conditions.
 Laterally loaded piles, particularly group piles,
are difficult to analyze, mainly because of the
complexity of the soil–structure (pile) interaction.
 … Laterally Loaded Piles
 The displacements and rotations are in the
directions of the resultant lateral load and resultant
moment.
 The response of a pile group to lateral loads and
moments is influenced by
 Geometry of the group.
 Pile–soil interaction.
 Stiffness or flexibility of the piles.
 Load conditions.
 Individual pile response.
 Pile group response resulting from individual pile
responses.
 …Laterally Loaded Piles

 Piles and pile groups are typically

designed to sustain lateral loads by the
resistance of vertical piles, by inclined, or
batter, piles, or by a combination.
 Lateral loads or eccentric loading produce
overturning moments and uplift forces on
a group of piles.
 Inclined Piles
 Depending on the degree of inclination, piles
driven at an angle with the vertical can have
a much higher lateral-load capacity than
vertical piles.
 To minimize construction problems, pile
batters should be less than 1 horizontal to 2
vertical.
 … Inclined Piles
 Evaluation of the load distribution in a pile
group consisting of inclined piles or combined
vertical and batter piles is complex because
of the 3-dimensional nature and
indeterminancy of the system.
 A variety of computer solutions has become
available and allows a rational evaluation of
the load distribution to inclined group piles.
 Piled raft foundation (PRF)
 Piled raft foundation (PRF) is a union of
pile and raft working together through
interaction of soil-pile, pile-raft, soil-raft and
pile-pile to provide adequate bearing capacity
and controlled settlement.
 Piled raft foundation, is used to transfer load
of super structure to competent soil layer.
 This foundation is an economical option for
heavy and high-rise buildings found on poor
soil deposits to reduces the total and
differential settlement to acceptable limit.

… Piled raft foundation (PRF)
 Thank you!!!

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