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Lec 10 Pile Capacity
Lec 10 Pile Capacity
1
Pile capacity 2
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.
zK.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 = ’v.Nq*
where
’v = effective vertical stress
adjacent to pile’s tip
Nq* = bearing capacity factor
Skin friction
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.
qtip = cNc
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 has a value of about 9
(McCarthy, 2002)
Piles driven in clay - summary 15
Skin friction
f Asurface = c Asurface
End/tip bearing
qtip = cNc
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 = 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 = 105 lb/ft3
Design capacity of the pile, qu = 1400 lb/ft2
using a factor of safety of 2.
Clay
15 ft
= 126 lb/ft3
qu = 4000 lb/ft2
Example 10.5 (pile driven in clay) 18
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.
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
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
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
1. The load-settlement curve obtained at the head of pile during load test
is composite of side-friction and toe-bearing curves.
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
Group efficiency
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
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
Q g = 2D(W+L)f + 1.3×c×Nc×W×L
Settlement of pile foundations 44
Settlement in sand
S = S 0 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