50th Ghana Institution of Engineering (GhIE) Annual Conference,

Akosombo, Ghana, March 2019

Pile Capacity Testing on Micro Pile Foundation:

The Case of A Solar Farm.

Presenter: Michael Yaw Anyang (PE-GhIE)

Authors: M.Y. Anyang, D.S. Boadu, B.D. Atarigiya & N. K. Allotey

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 Introduction
• Alternative natural energy sources is becoming more
preferred in the world today.
• Typically, the use of sunlight energy.
• This is normally achieved by erecting ground solar panels
• The panels are often supported by driven piles, screw
piles, drilled piers or shallow foundations.
• In the design of these pile foundations, it is required to
know the capacity of the pile system.
• This study highlights the methods and discusses results
of a pile pull-out and lateral test conducted to aid in the
design of solar panel steel supported structure.

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 Pile Capacity Test Theory
• The structural resistance of the pile to compression,
buckling, shear and bending when subjected to axial or
lateral loads is important.
• The bearing capacity of the soil material in which the pile
operates, the settlement and heave characteristics are also
important.
• The ground failure will cause the pile to fail in operation.
• The pile should also bear enough capacity against pull out
and lateral displacements when in operation.
• The limit states necessary to be considered in the design of a. bearing resistance b. compression resistance
piles according to the EN-1997-1 are as illustrated. c. buckling resistance d. pull-out resistance
e. tension resistance f. lateral resistance
g. bending resistance h. shear resistance

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 Pile Capacity Test Theory
• Pile pull-out design load is estimated as maximum load obtained from pull-out tests due to pile pull-
out failure.
• This is taken as the load value where progressive upward movement occurs at constant load, or at a
displacement of 15% of the pile-width.
• Pile lateral capacity is estimated as load equivalent to a displacement of 10% of the pile width.
• The pull-out and lateral pile test procedures are outlined in the ASTM D3689/D3689M - 07; and
ASTM D3966/D3966M - 07; Standard Test Methods for Deep Foundations under Static Lateral Load.
• ASTM D3966 and EN 1997 Part 1 do not give clear recommendations on estimating pile lateral
strengths from pile load tests.
• In this study, the chosen 10% of pile width estimate is based on that recommended by EN 1997 Part 1
Clause 7.6.1.1(3) for compression-loading.
• This recommendation has been used for pile lateral strength determination on other projects as
noted by Yadav & Dey (2013).

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 Pile Capacity Test Theory
• From the recommendations provided in EN 1997-1, the characteristic pile pull-out and lateral strengths
can be evaluated from pile load tests as:

 ( Rt , m )mean ( Rt , m )min 
 
Rk ,t = min  , 
 x x 
 1 2 
where
• x1 and x2 are correlation factors related to the number of piles tested.
• They are applied respectively to the mean and the lowest values of the measured pull-out and lateral
resistances as shown in table below.
• For cases where the number of test piles is greater than five (5 No.), the characteristic pile pull-out and
lateral strengths are the lower of the mean or minimum value, which would be the minimum value.
n (no. of piles 1 2 3 4 ≥5
x1 1.4 1.3 1.2 1.1 1.0
x2 1.4 1.2 1.05 1.0 1.0

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 Methodology
• As a requirement for choosing pile testing locations, EN 1997 Part 1 Clause 7.5.1(5) P notes that;
• If load tests are carried out on two or more test piles, the test locations shall be representative of
the site of the pile foundation and one of the test piles shall be located where the most adverse
ground conditions are believed to occur.”
• Based on the client’s requirement, 2 no. pile tests were to be conducted per every one (1) hectare.
• This is to capture as much variation as possible in pile strengths over the entire site.
• The pull-out and lateral pile testing were conducted in accordance with ASTM D3689/D3689M – 07
and ASTM D3966/D3966M – 07 respectively.
• The following required pile design parameters were estimated from the pull-out and lateral pile load
tests
• Pile pull-out and lateral capacity design loads.
• Pile-soil stiffness.

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 Methodology
• The test facility designed for the pull-out test is as
shown.
• It included a 2 m long steel C-section
• installed with the aid of the bucket of a 30 ton
excavator or percussion rig using the SPT hammer
• loaded with a 25 ton hydraulic jack, connected to a
10,000 psi hydraulic pump with 3,000 psi pressure
gauge and hose.
• This was supported by a reaction system made of an
steel I-section
• on top of concrete blocks arranged on both sides of
the driven pile.
• Generally, the embedded depth achieved ranged
from 0.9 – 1.5 m.

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Methodology
• For the lateral test;
• An excavator was used as the reaction load
• Together with a loading system comprising of
a jack placed between the wheels of the
backhoe and the steel pile member.
• The displacement measuring system included
a 25 mm displacement gauges
• Clamped magnetically on metal bases and
connected to the C-section.

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Methodology-Micro Pile Pull out test
• The quick test procedure described in ASTM D3689/D3689M was used for the pile pull-
out testing.
• Loads were applied in increments of 5% of the anticipated failure load of about 16 kN.
• For each loading increment, the load was kept constant for 8 minutes to ensure the
system had reached equilibrium.
• Load with corresponding displacement readings were recorded for at times of 0.5, 1, 2,
4 and 8 minutes.
• Testing was terminated mainly based on pull-out shear failure.
• At this point, displacements could be observed to be progressive and more than the
estimated limiting displacement of 15% of the pile width.

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Estimation of Pile Design Parameters
• Pile pull-out design load was estimated as the
load value where progressive upward
movement occurred at constant load, or at a
displacement of 15% of the pile-width.
• Initial pile axial stiffness was estimated as the
average slope of the initial portion of the pile
pull-out load-displacement response
• Pre-failure pile axial stiffness was estimated as
the average slope of the portion of the pile pull-
out load-displacement response before shear
failure.

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 Estimation of Pile Design Parameters
• The minimum load of the tested piles is taken as the
Initial Pre-Failure
characteristic pile pull-out load. Pull-Out
ID Stiffness Stiffness
Load (kN)
• Based on this, Rk , t = 1.6 kN for the site. (kN/m) (kN/m)
PT 01 4.7 2089 128
• It is instructive to note that although all tests did not PT 02 1.6 300 -
have the same exact embedded depth.
PT 03 4 750 200
• The lowest pull-out was not measured for the least PT 04 3.2 14300 250
embedded depth. PT 05 6.4 1250 400
• This is a function of the variability of the ground PT 06 11.2 9000 800
medium. PT 07 2.4 1250 550
PT 08 6.4 600 420
• That is the reason why capturing ground variability is
important for ensuring safe pile designs. PT 09 3.2 1700 570
PT 10 4 750 420
• Furthermore, the initial stiffness was noted to range
between 300 – 14300 kN/m, and the pre-failure
stiffness between 128 – 800 kN/m.

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Estimation of Pile Design Parameters
• Pile lateral capacity was estimated as load
equivalent to a displacement of 10% of the pile
width.

• This recommendation has been used for pile

lateral strength determination on other projects
(Yadav & Dey, 2013).

• Generalized pile lateral stiffness was estimated

as the general slope of the lateral load –
displacement loading curve.

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Estimation of Pile Design Parameters
• Similar to the pile pull-out case Lateral Load
Overall
ID Stiffness
• The minimum load of the tested Capacity (kN)
(kN/m)
PT 01 3.5 561
piles should be taken as the
PT 02 2.7 500
characteristic pile lateral load. PT 03 2.8 550
• Based on this, Rk , t = 2.3 kN for the PT 04 2.6 300
PT 05 2.5 200
site. PT 06 2.7 225
• The overall secant stiffness was PT 07 2.9 1000
PT 08 2.8 625
noted to range between 200 – 1000
PT 09 2.3 200
kN/m. PT 10 3.5 450

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Conclusion
• This paper highlighted the methods and discussed results of a pile pull-out and
lateral test conducted to aid in the design of solar panel steel supported
structure.
• Results from the pile pull-out tests provided:
• Characteristic pull-out load of 1.6 kN.
• Characteristic lateral load of 2.3 kN.
• The measured initial and pre-failure pile head stiffness have also been
reported.

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 Thank you

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