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Analysis of 2 Columns Combine Pile Cap Due To Single Pile Failure

Experiment Findings · July 2018

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.34061.44004

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 Analysis of 2 Columns Combine Pile Cap Due To Single Pile Failure
Sufi SyahiraAzhar
Faculty of Civil Engineering, UniversitiTeknologi Malaysia, Malaysia

sufisyahira@gmail.com
ABSTRACT. This paper presents the analysis of pile failure for 2 columns combine pile cap. The aim of this
study is to evaluate the optimum numbers and optimum location of replacement piles.forseveral common piles
group arrangements resulting from the failure of a single pile in a pile group using Microsoft Excel. Results
from the studyshow that the recommended number of replacement pile depends on the pile group efficiency
factor adopted. This factor is applied in cases where the spacing of piles is generally reduced to less than three
times the pile dimension due to the insertion of replacement piles within the pile group, thus the overall load
carrying capacity of the pile group is reduced. Meanwhile, the optimum location of these replacement piles is
directly influenced by the actual location of the failed pile and the initial net pile group eccentricity as well as
the net column service load and also the pile spacing adopted. Thus, this study contributes by developing
Optimum Replacement Pile Location Charts for several common pile group arrangements that usually
adopted in practice. These charts can be used on site to locate the optimum position of replacement piles against
actual net pile group eccentricities that recorded on site, as well as taking into account the net column service
loads and pile spacing adopted

Keywords:Pile Failure, Replacement Pile, Combine Pile Cap

INTRODUCTION

Foundation is the lowest part of the structure which carries and transfers the load to the ground. It is the most
important part of the building and needs to be conducted or install carefully. There are several types of
foundation that been used in construction depending on a number of factors. Pile foundations are used when a
solid bearing stratum such as rock is deeper than about 3m below the base level of the structure. The pile loads
are either transmitted to a stiff bearing layer or transmitted to the soil by friction along the pile. The piles may be
precast or driven into the ground, or they may be the cast in-situ types which are bored. However, there is
always a tendency of the foundation to fails due to any possible factors and may cause the delay of other
construction works.

Problem statement

Pile failures during driven are things that commonly happens on site which may cause the delay of the project.
This failure will render pile groups and the subsequent pile caps as „unsafe‟ to sustain column loads due to
eccentric moments which causes loads distributed to piles to be greater than that of the pile working load
capacities. The practical solution usually embraces on site to rectify this problem is by installing replacement
pile/s. This may help to reduce the intensity of loads distributed to all piles to values lower than the pile working
load capacities.
However, questions on the number and location of these replacement piles to be driven for each pile
group arrangements such that previous pile cap designs are stillapplicable has to be tackled. Moreover, in order
to determine the numbers and optimum location of these replacement piles,several things need to take concern
of which is the net pile group eccentricity prior to driving of replacement piles and the net service load of a
column supported by a particular pile group arrangement as well as the pile spacing. Hence, this study will
develop a solution that may help site engineer to identify the location of replacement pile and also the number of
piles that needs to be added to ensure that the new group of the pile is sufficient to support the structure.

Objectives

The purpose of this study is to solve the problem in the analysis of combine pile cap due to failure during driven
of pile activities that occur on site. In order to achieve this aim, several case objectives have been issued which
is:

I. To analyze the combined pile cap due to single pile failure ant any location.
II. To produce computer programmes using Microsoft Excel software that can analyze the 2 column
combine pile cap
III. To determine the number of replacement pile due to pile failure
 IV. To establish Optimum Replacement Pile Location Chart that can be utilized on site to locate optimum
replacement pile location with reference to failed pile location

Scope of Study
This study is carried out to analyze pile cap due to pile failure. In order to successfully achieve the objectives,
the scope of the study is limited to:
The design of pile cap on the code of practice EUROCODE 2: MS. EN 1992-1-1-2010.
The analysis of pile cap is limited to square pre-cast reinforcement concrete pile.
The analysis of pile cap is for 2 column combine pile cap.
The analysis pile cap is for single pile failure at one time only.
Moment and vertical load only will be taken into account in this study.

LITERATURE REVIEW
Pile foundation is a system that transfer loads to a deeper and competent soil layer. It is required when the soil
bearing capacity is not sufficient for the structure to withstand. A pile foundation consists of two components
which are pile cap and single or group of piles. Piles transmit the loads from structures to the hard strata, rocks
or soil with high bearing capacity. These piles are long and slender members which its length can be more than
15m. Pile foundations for several of structures are often subjected to simultaneous vertical and lateral loading.
The supporting capacity of a group of vertically loaded piles can be considerably less than the sum of the
capacities of single piles. It spreads out the load from the superstructure parts to the group of piles so that the
load will sustain equally among those piles. From the results of site investigation, pile foundation may be
considered when it shows that the shallow soil is unstable and weak or if the magnitude of the estimated is not
acceptable.
The pile can also be used in normal ground conditions to resist horizontal loads and it is a convenient
method of foundation for works over water, such as jetties or bridge piers. The classifications of piles are
depending on its function. End bearing piles are used to transfer load through water or soft soil ground to a
suitable hard bearing stratum. The pile behaves as an ordinary column and should be designed as such.
Ultimate bearing capacity (qf) is the ultimate load that the pile can support when loaded without failure
or excessive settlement. The bearing capacity of a pile depends on 3 factors which arethe type of oil through
which pile is embedded, a method of pile installation and also the dimension of the pile. ). The minimum factor
of safety required is 2 to 3 allowable value to give the safe loads. The determination of the axial capacity of the
piles can be verified using pile load test or using pile formula that gives resistance from the energy of the
driving force and the final set or penetration of the pile per blow
The numbers of piles required are determined from the requirement that the pile load should not exceed
the single pile capacity. The number of piles depends on the summation of service load and the self-weight of
the pile cap divided by the pile capacity. The service load is obtaining from the axial load from column divided
by safety factor of 2 to 3 and the self-weight of the pile cap is assuming about 10% of services load. The design
of pile spacing and also the location of each pile are needed in order to reduce the tendency of pile cap failure.
The spacing of piles in a group depends upon many factors such as overlapping of stresses adjacent piles, cost of
foundation and the efficiency of the pile group
Arrangements of piles are the most significant factor appears after pile spacing. The efficiency of the
pile group is evaluated for the most common geometric arrangements used in practice. Pile under pile cap
should be arranged symmetrically in both directions. The load from wall and column should be centered at the
geometric center of the pile cap in order to transferred load evenly to each pile. The arrangement may affect the
group efficiency of the pile.
Pile cap design depends on the number of piles used, the arrangement of piles and the shape of piles.
The arrangement of pile might affect the size of the pile cap. Besides, the size of pile cap also may affect the
settlement of the soil. The thickness of the smaller pile cap is normally governed by deep beam shear. While the
thickness of large pile cap is governed by direct shear.
Pile cap failure might occur when the designated piles of the pile caps are insufficient enough to resist
the applied load. One of the factors of pile cap failure is when one of the designated piles from the group of the
pile is failed. The pile may fail during the installation process due to exposure to failure during the process.
Other than that, failures during driving of piles are the common issues on site. However, contract specifications
disallow field driving of piles until the contractor‟s methods and equipment are approved by the design
engineer. The approval is necessary to prevent the damage of piles or soil when driven. Furthermore, the
designer need promptly evaluate to determine the effect on the overall design when the pilings are suspected of
either sustaining structural damage or failure to develop the required capacity. As a result of this problem, the
actual pile capacity which depends on both the location of the failed pile and type of damage of the pile will be
decreased. Therefore, additional or replacement of pile is needed in order to recover the reduction of designated
pile capacity.
METHODOLOGY

From this study, Microsoft Excel is chosen to fulfill the objective of this study. Microsoft Excel is the simplest
software to do the calculation as it is flexible and convenient compared to other software. By using this
software, user able to identify the changes when they change some input data. A program will be created to
perform the calculation as the user only need to input data such as pile size, concrete grade,and loading. This
template also expected to suggest the suitable size of pile cap and optimum location of addition pile.
The initial stage of the analysis of pile cap is the user needs to insert the information required such as
load, the dimension of pile and columns, etc. From the information inserted, the Microsoft Excel will generate
the data and analyze each pile in the group. The dimension of pile cap and number of piles needed will be
provided as well as the location of the pile. During the construction work on site, the pile may fail during the
driven process, thus the pile cap should be reanalyzed to ensure the pile cap is safe. In the second stage, users
need to insert the value of eccentricity of each pile and state which pile is failed in order to justify that the pile
cap system is theoretically failed due to pile failure. The pile cap is indicating fail when the load acting on each
pile exceeds the pile capacity. The next stage is the main part of the process which on the reanalysis of pile
capacity by recalculating the load on pile cap. The user needs to input the preferable location of replacement
piles based on the suggested net location and the system will reanalyze the pile capacity of each pile in the
system by taking consideration of eccentricity. A chart of the optimum net coordinate of replacement pile is
produced in this stage. The last stage is for the pile failure checking after replacement of pile.to ensures the new
pile group is safe and sufficient.

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

Initially, the specification design data such as an ultimate load from the column, size of the pile, concrete
strength and so on are input from users. As the result from the input data, the program will generate the output
data by calculating the dimension of pile cap and number of the pile that should be used in the pile cap system.
This program is determined can only be used for pile group of 4 until pile group of 9.If the number of piles
required is more than 9, the data need to be revised. After the number of piles required for the pile cap system is
generated, the program will automatically calculate the maximum service load for each pile and compare with
the working load capacity of the pile. The load carried by each pile should not exceed the working load capacity
of the pile. If the output of the calculated program is “FAIL”, the pile cap data need to be revised and if the
output is “OK”, the pile cap is considered as theoretically safe.The figure below shows the location of pile and
columns with zero eccentricity that generated from the system.

Figure: The location of pile and column with zero eccentricity for pile group 7

Pile Failure Analysis

One of the piles from the pile group is considered fail during the pile installation. The users need to insert the
location of the failed pile and the eccentricity value for each remaining piles. The moving of pile due to
eccentricity must be indicated by negative and positive direction. For example, if the pile moving in the x-
direction, the negative or positive inserted represent the pile to move at left or right and While for y-direction,
the user needs to insert negative or positive sign in the value to indicate whether the pile eccentric below or
above the original position.Based on the input data, the program will determine the position of the pile after pile
failure with and without eccentricity and also the centroid of the pile group before pile failure and after pile
failure with considerations of eccentricity. After that, the program will do the analysis to determine the pile
capacity of each pile after pile failure. Thus, the results of this calculation are that when one of the pile has
failed, the remaining piles are theoretically failed due to the distribution of load on each pile exceeds the
working load capacity of the pile. Moreover, the presences of eccentricity produce moment at each pile and
causing the piles to have an uneven distribution of load.The figure below shows that when one of the piles
failed, the remaining piles are theoretically failed with the presence of moment in both x and y-direction and the
centroid of pile group also move from its original position.
Max. service load per pile, F = (N+W/n) ± Mx(y)/Ix ± My(x)/Iy

Fpile 1 = FAIL ± FAIL ± FAIL = FAIL > 300 FAIL

Fpile 2 = 318.85 ± -128.60 ± -23.07 = 424.39 > 300 FAIL
Fpile 3 = 318.85 ± -19.41 ± -51.10 = 389.37 > 300 FAIL
Fpile 4 = 318.85 ± -15.26 ± -1.48 = 335.59 > 300 FAIL
Fpile 5 = 318.85 ± -20.45 ± -41.35 = 297.95 < 300 OK!
Fpile 6 = 318.85 ± -89.78 ± -29.69 = 258.76 < 300 OK!
Fpile 7 = 318.85 ± -93.94 ± -17.85 = 207.07 < 300 OK!
Fpile 8 = NONE ± NONE ± NONE = NONE > 300 NONE
Fpile 9 = NONE ± NONE ± NONE = NONE > 300 NONE

Load Balance Checking = 1913.11 1913.11

Figure: Pile Capacity Checking After Pile Failure

Figure: The Location of Pile with Addition of Eccentricity

Replacement of Pile

In order to solve this problem, the failed pile need to be replace with another pile.From the analysis based on
reduction factor of 20%, the number of pile obtain from ratio service load and new working load is 8 which
means the replacement pile will be two (2) piles. Thus, the reanalysis will include the two (2) replacement piles.
The program will then produce a procedure to replace the pile by providing the number of piles and the net
eccentricity. From the net eccentricity the program will then produce the net location for both replacement
piles.Figure below shows the centroid of pile group after pile failure and also the number of replacement pile
required.
 Pile Replacement Procedure
Recommended Net Replacement Pile Coordinates
ex ey
X coordinates = -350.00
Pile Group Centroid (after pile (mm) (mm)
Y coordinates = 1002.27
failure):Before Pile Replacement) 58.33 -167.05

Ultimate Column Load = 2650

Replacement Pile Position X coord. Y coord.
Total Service Load (Incl. Self weight pilecap) = 1913.11
Pile Replacement #1 -350.00 0.00 *
Total Service Load/n = 6.63 Pile Replacement #2 0 1002.27 *
Pile Replacement #3 0 0 *
Net Coordinates -350 1002.27
The Pile Capacity Is Reduced About 20%

New Pile Capacity = 240

ex ey
Pile Group Centroid (After Pile
(mm) (mm)
Replacement)
No of Pile Replacement = 2 0.00 0.00

Figure: The Pile Replacement Procedure

As shown in the figure above the program then will generate the recommended replacement pile
coordinate based on the centroid and location of the failed pile. The user may propose their own location for
each replacement pile based on the recommended net location. However, the combination location to locate the
replacement piles must equal to the net location of the recommended pile to obtain zero moments at both axes.
Based on this study, the optimum location means that the net location of replacement pile cause the eccentric
centroid of pile group reposition to the original position (0,0).Usually, the location of each replacement pile
obtain by dividing the net coordinate into two, one of the x coordinates will be added with a size of pile cap and
other will be deducted with the size of the pile. This method proposes to locate the replacement pile as to ensure
the location of the replacement pile inside the boundary of the existing pile to minimize the addition of the pile
cap dimension. The program will reanalyze the system with new data inserted. After the reanalysis process, the
user needs to check the suitability of the replacement piles to avoid overlapped replacement pile with the
existing piles. Thus, the coordinate of replacement pile needs to be changed if the overlapped happened.

Figure: Location of Pile after Pile Replacement

Optimum Net Coordinates of Replacement Pile Location Chart

From this program, a chart of optimum net coordinates of replacement piles will be developed. The objectives of
this chart are as stated before. Different location of pile failure may produce different chart based on the net
eccentricity and the location of failure. The chart is produced by taking the eccentricity as the manipulated
variable while the net location of replacement piles is taken as responding variable. From this study, the net
location of replacement piles graph which is a linear graph is produced where the eccentricity is inversely
proportional to the net location of replacement piles. Figure (a) below shows how the net location of
replacement pile is determine from the chart based on net eccentricity for pile failure at Pile 1.
 (a)

(b) (c)

(d) (e)

(f) (g)

Figure: Optimum Net Coordinate of Replacement Piles Chart for (a) Failure at Pile 1,(b) Failure at Pile 2,(c)
Failure at pile 3,(d) Failure at pile 4,(e) Failure at pile 5, (f) Failure at pile 6,(g) Failure at pile 7
 Conclusion

The effect of pile failure on the behavior of pile group subjected to axial load has been investigated in this paper
by using computer program assist. Overall, the objectives of this study have been achieved successfully. The
solution to overcoming the single pile failure is by replacing the failed pile with two number of piles suggested
by the program. Moreover, this program is also able to reanalyze the pile cap due to single pile failure at any
location and determine the location of the pile.
The development of the net location of the replacement of pile chart can be used as a guide for the user
to propose new location of replacement piles without the need to recalculate. The outcome of this program is to
help the engineer solve the problem of single pile failure at the site without much delay. This program also can
be used for pile group of 4 until 9. To conclude, the objectives of this study has been achieved

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Mohammad Salleh Yassin, R. A. (2015). Design of Foundations. Reinforced Concrete Design to EUROCODE
2, 319-334.

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