Soil Mechanics-II

CE-324
Chapter : Pile Foundations

1
 Pile foundation 2

• Single pile capacity • Pile settlement

– Piles driven in sand – Pile settlement in sand
– Piles driven in clay – Piles settlement in clay
• Pile driving formulas • Drilled shafts
• Pile load tests – Drilled shafts in sand

• Negative skin friction – Drilled shafts in clay

– Settlement of drilled shafts
• Pile group
– Pile group in sand
– Pile group in clay
Strongly recommended for this chapter (eBook shared):
Soils and Foundation 6th Edition by Liu and Evett (Chapter 10 & 11)
Types of piles 3
 Pile foundations 4

End bearing piles

Piles are structural members that are made of
steel, concrete or timber.

They are used to build pile foundations, which

are deep and which cost more than shallow
foundations.

When one or more upper soil layers are highly

compressible and too weak to support the
load transmitted by the superstructure, piles
are used to transmit the load to underlying
bedrock or a stronger soil layer.
 Pile foundations 5

Frictional piles

When bedrock is not encountered at a

reasonable depth below the ground surface,
piles are used to transmit the structural load
to the soil gradually.

The resistance to the applied structural load is

derived mainly from the frictional resistance
developed at the pile-soil interface.
 Pile foundations 6

Lateral load on piles

When subjected to horizontal forces, pile

foundations resist by bending, while still
supporting the vertical load transmitted by
the superstructure.

This type of situation is generally encountered

in the design and construction of earth-
retaining structures and foundations of tall
structures that are subjected to high wind or
to earthquake forces.
 Pile foundations 7

Piles in expansive soils

Expansive and collapsible soils may extend to
a great depth below the ground surfaces.

Expansive soils swell and shrink as their

moisture content increases and decreases
respectively, and the pressure of the swelling
can be considerable.

Shallow foundations are not suitable for such

conditions.

Pile foundations are alternative and are

extended beyond the active zone of swelling
and shrinking.
 Pile foundations 8

Piles in collapsible soils

Soils such as loess are collapsible in nature.

When the moisture content of these soils increase, their

structures may break down.

A sudden decrease in the void ratio of soil induces large

settlements of structures supported by shallow foundations.

In such cases, pile foundations may be used. Piles in such cases

are extended into stable soil layers.
 Pile foundations 9

Uplifting forces on foundations

The foundations of some structures (e.g.

transmission towers, offshore platforms,
and basement mats below the water table)
are subjected to uplifting forces.

Piles are sometimes used for these

foundations to resist the uplifting forces.
 Pile foundations 10

Erosion effects on foundations

Bridge abutments and piers are

usually constructed over pile
foundations due to soil erosion.

Shallow foundations are not

suitable for such conditions.
 Steel piles 11

Steel piles generally are either pipe piles or rolled steel H-section piles.
Pipe piles can be driven into ground with their ends open or closed.
General facts about steel piles
Usual length: 15 – 60 m (50 – 200 ft)
Usual load: 300 kN – 1200 kN (67 – 256 kip / 33 – 128 ton)
Advantages Disadvantages
• Easy to handle with respect to • Relatively costly
cutoff and extension to the
desired length • High level of noise during pile
driving
• Can stand high driving stresses
• Subject to corrosion
• Can penetrate hard layers such
as dense gravel and soft rock • H-piles may be damaged or
deflected from the vertical
• High load-carrying capacity during driving through hard
layers or past major
obstructions.
 Concrete piles - precast 12

Two categories: (a) precast piles (b) cast-in-situ piles

General facts about precast concrete piles
Usual length: 10 – 15 m (30 – 50 ft)
Usual load: 300 kN – 3000 kN (67 – 675 kip / 33 – 337 ton)

Advantages
• Can be subjected to hard Disadvantages
driving
• Difficult to achieve proper cutoff
• Corrosion resistant
• Difficult to transport
• Can be easily combined with a
concrete superstructure
 Concrete piles – precast prestressed 13

Precast piles can be prestressed by use of high-strength steel pre-stressing

cables.
During casting of piles, the cables are pre-tensioned to about 900-1300
MN/m2 (130-190 ksi), and concrete is poured around them.
General facts about precast prestressed concrete piles
Usual length: 10 – 45 m (30 – 150 ft)
Max length: 60 m (200 ft)
Max load: 7500 – 8500 kN (1700 – 1900 kip / 850 – 950 ton)
Advantages and disadvantages are same as those of precast piles
 Concrete piles – cased cast-in-situ 14

Cast-in-situ piles are built by making a hole in the ground and then filling
it with concrete. These piles are divided into two broad categories: (a)
cased, and (b) uncased.
General facts about cased cast-in-situ concrete piles
Usual length: 5 – 15 m (15 –50 ft)
Max length: 30 – 40 m (100 – 130 ft)
Usual load: 200 –500 kN (45 – 115 kip / 22 – 57 ton)
Max Load: 800 kN (180 kip / 90 ton)

Advantages
• Relatively cheap Disadvantages
• Allow for inspection before • Difficult to splice after concreting
pouring concrete
• Thin casing may be damaged
• Easy to extend during driving
 Concrete piles – uncased cast-in-situ 15

Cast-in-situ piles are built by making a hole in the ground and then filling
it with concrete. These piles are divided into two broad categories: (a)
cased, and (b) uncased.
General facts about uncased cast-in-situ concrete piles
Usual length: 5 – 15 m (15 –50 ft)
Max length: 30 – 40 m (100 – 130 ft)
Usual load: 300 –500 kN (67 – 115 kip / 33 – 57 ton)
Max Load: 700 kN (160 kip / 80 ton)
Disadvantages
Advantages • Voids may be created if concrete
is placed rapidly
• Initially economical
• Difficult to splice after concreting
• Can be finished at any elevation
• In soft soils, the sides of the hole
may cave in, squeezing the
concrete
16
Bored pile – defect 17
 Dilemma of Bored and Driven Piles 18

• In American/Australian literature, the word “pile”

would generally mean “the driven system”. For
“bored piles”, they use the term “drilled piers/drilled
piles/caissons/drilled shafts”.

• Engineers unknowingly, tend to use the theories of

driven piles for bored piles, in Pakistan, on many
projects.
 19
Why Bored Piles are too Common in Pakistan ?

• These are labor-intensive, and labor is cheap in

Pakistan

• The expertise is well-developed

• The longer time required for construction is socially

accepted by the clients

• The pressure of development is not enormous on the

construction industry
 Changes in soils during pile construction 20

The construction of shallow foundations do not significantly alter the

underlying soils, so pre-construction soil properties also reflect post-
construction conditions.
The process of constructing deep foundations changes the
surrounding soils, e.g., driven piles push the soil aside as they are
driven into ground, thus inducing large horizontal stresses in soil.
These changes alter engineering properties of soil, which means the
pre-construction soil tests may not accurately reflect the post-
construction conditions.
Sometimes these changes are beneficial, while on the other hand
they are detrimental. However, they introduce complexity into load
capacity analysis.
 Changes in clays 21

As a pile is driven into ground, the soil below the toe must move out
of the way.

This motion causes both shear and compressive distortions.

Additional distortion occurs a result of sliding friction along the side of
the advancing pile.

These distortions are greatest around large displacement piles, such

as closed-end steel pipe piles.

The remolding of the clay changes its structure and reduces its
strength to a value near the residual strength.
Current analysis techniques are based on the peak strength. An
analysis based on the residual strength might be more reasonable,
but no such method has yet been perfected.
 Changes in clay 22

Nature of variation of
undrained compressive
strength, cu, with time
around a pile driven into
soft clay
 Changes in clays
23
Compression and excess pore water pressure
Pile driving also compresses the adjoining soils.
If saturated clays are present, this compression generates excess pore
water pressure.
The ratio of the excess pore water pressure, ue, to the original vertical
effective stress, v’, (i.e. ue/v’) may be as high as 1.5 to 2.0 near the
pile, gradually diminishing to zero at a distance of 30 to 40 pile radii
(see figure on next slide).
The greatest compression occurs near the pile toe, so ue/v’ in that
region may be a high as 3 to 4 (Airhart et al., 1969).
These high pore water pressure dramatically decrease the shear
strength of the soil, which makes it easier to install the pile, but
temporarily decrease its load-bearing capacity.
 Changes in clays
24
Compression and excess pore water pressure

Book: Foundation Design

By Coduto, Page 496
 Changes in clays
25
Compression and excess pore water pressure
In most cases, the excess pore water pressure that develop
around a single isolated pile completely dissipate in less than
one month, with corresponding increase in load capacity (see
figure on next slide).

However, in pile groups, the excess pore water pressures

develop throughout a much larger zone of soil and may require
a year or more to dissipate.
 Changes in clays
26
Compression and excess pore water pressure

Book: Foundation Design

By Coduto, Page 497
 Changes in clays
27
Loss of contact between pile and soil
Piles wobble/vibrate/shake during driving, thus creating gap
between them and the soil.

Soft clays will probably flow back into this gap, but stiff clays
will not.

Tomlinson (1987) observed such gaps extending to a depth of

8 to 16 diameters below the ground surface.

Piles subjected to applied lateral loads also can create gaps

near the ground surface. Therefore, the side friction in this
zone may be unreliable, especially in stiff clays.
 Changes in sand 28

Soil compression from advancing pile also generates excess pore

water pressure in loose saturated sands.
These excess pore water pressure dissipate very rapidly due to
higher hydraulic conductivity (permeability) of sands.
Thus the full pile capacity develops almost immediately.

Some local dilation (soil expansion) can occur when driving piles
through very dense sands.

Dilation temporarily generates negative excess pore water pressure

that increase the shear strength and make the pile more difficult to
drive. This effect is especially evident when using hammers that
cycle rapidly.
 Changes in sand (contd.) 29

The impact/vibrations from pile will cause particle rearrangement,

crushing, and densification.

In loose sand, these effects are especially pronounced, and

engineers sometimes use piles purely for densification.

However, dense sands will likely require predrilling or jetting to

install the pile.

The sand in the center of pile groups is influenced by more than one
pile, and therefore becomes denser than sand near the edge of the
group. This, in turn, probably causes the center piles to carry a large
share of the total downward load.
 Drilled shafts 30

The construction methods for drilled shafts foundations are

completely different from those for piles.

Piles cause the increase in lateral earth pressure, whereas drilled

shaft construction causes decrease in lateral earth pressure.
Pile driving compresses the soil below the toe, while drilled shaft
construction does not.

Pile and drilled shafts may not develop the same side-friction and
toe-bearing resistance, even when the foundation dimensions are
identical.

If the boring is left open for an extended period, too much expansion
occurs and the load capacity can be significantly reduced.
 Drilled shafts (condt.) 31

In clays, the process of drilling the hole also alters the soil
properties because the auger smears and remolds the clay. This
can reduce the shear strength and the side-friction resistance.

Drilling mud used during construction can also affect the side-
friction resistance because mud may become embedded in the
walls of boring.
 Pile capacity 32

In addition to the strength of the pile itself, pile capacity is limited by

soil’s supporting strength.

The load carried by a pile is transmitted to the soil surrounding the

pile by (a) friction or adhesion between the soil and the pile surface,
and/or (b) the load is transmitted directly to the soil just below pile’s
tip.
Qultimate  Qfriction  Qtip
where Qultimate = ultimate (at failure) bearing capacity of a single pile
Qfriction = bearing capacity furnished by friction or adhesion
between the soil and piles surface
Qtip = bearing capacity furnished by the soil just below
the pile’s tip.
 Pile capacity 33

Qultimate  Qfriction  Qtip Qultimate

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.

Above equation is generalized and applicable for all

soils.
 Piles driven in sand 34

Soil pressure normally increases as

depth increases.

In the special case of piles driven

in sand, however, it has been
determined that the effective
vertical overburden stress of soil
adjacent to a pile does not
increase without limit until a
certain depth of penetration is
reached.

Below this depth, which is called

the critical depth, Dc, effective
vertical stress remains more or less
constant.
 Piles driven in sand – critical depth 35

The critical depth, Dc, is dependent on the field

condition of the sand and the pile’s size.

Tests indicate that critical depth ranges from about 10

pile diameters for loose sand to about 20 pile diameters
for dense compacted sand (McCarthy, 1977).
 Piles driven in sand – skin resistance 36

Effective Hor. Stress ’h Effective Vert. Stress ’v

on pile surface on pile surface

’h = zK ’v = z

Critical Critical
zK depth depth
Dc Dc

zK.tan()

f.Asurface = (Pile circumference).(Area under ’v diagram).(K).(tan)

f.Asurface = (D).(Area under ’v diagram).(K).(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 37
 Piles driven in sand
38
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

Nq* is related to angle of

internal friction () of sand
located in general vicinity of
tip where the pile will
ultimately rest.
 Pile driven in sand - summary 39

Qultimate  f  Asurface  q  Atip

Skin friction

f  Asurface  D Area under  v - depth curve K  tan  

End/tip bearing

q  Atip   v  N q  Atip
 *
 Example 10.1 (pile driven in sand) 40

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 338
 Example 10.2 (pile driven in sand) 41

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.

Book: Soils and Foundations

By Liu & Evett (6th edition)
Page 320
 Piles driven in clay – skin resistance/adhesion 42

Qultimate  f  Asurface  q  Atip

In case of piles driven in clays, term “f” in above equation is
adhesion between the soil and the sides of the pile.

Unit adhesion between soil and pile surface can be determined by

multiplying the cohesion of clay, c, by the adhesion factor, .
f  Asurface  c  Asurface
With soft clays, there is a tendency for clay to become in close
contact with the pile, in which case adhesion is assumed to be
equal to cohesion (i.e.  = 1).
In case of stiff clays, pile driving disturbs surrounding soil and may
cause a small open space to develop between the clay and the pile.
Thus adhesion is smaller than cohesion (i.e.  < 1).
Piles driven in clay 43
Skin resistance/adhesion
f  Asurface  c  Asurface
The adhesion factor, ,
can be determined from
unconfined compressive
strength, qu, of clay.

1 ton/ft2 = 95.76 kN/m2

 Piles driven in clay – end bearing 44

Qultimate  f  Asurface  q  Atip

The bearing capacity [q in above equation] at the pile tip can be
evaluated by using the following equation (McCarthy, 2002):

qtip  cN c
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 45

Qultimate  f  Asurface  q  Atip

Skin friction

f  Asurface  c  Asurface

End/tip bearing
qtip  cN c

Qultimate  cAsurface  cN c Atip

 Example 10.3 (pile driven in clay) 46

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) 47

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) 48

Given Qdesign =360 kN

A 0.36 m square prestressed
concrete pile is to be driven in GSL
a clayey soil. The design
capacity of the pile is 360 kN.
Clay
Required
The necessary length of the L=?  = 18.1 kN/m3
pile if the factor of safety is 2. qu = 115 kN/m2
 Pile load test 49

Test-pile loading using hydraulic jack acting

against anchored reaction frame
 50

Test-pile loading using hydraulic jack acting

against anchored reaction frame
 Pile load test 51

Test-pile loading using weighted platform

 Pile load test 52

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.

In controlled stress tests, test load is applied in increments.

Increments of 25, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150, 175 and 200 % of the
proposed load are typically used.

It is better to continue the test until reaching failure.

Each load is maintained until the foundation stops moving or untill

the rate of movement is acceptably small.
 Pile load test 53

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 54

Intermediate,
stiff clay and
sandy soils

Soft clays

Foundation Design
D. P. Coduto
 Interpretation of pile load test 55

Friction pile in Friction pile in stiff clay

soft-firm clay or loose sand

Pile Design & Construction Practice

Tomlinson & Woodward (5th ed.)
 56

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

Pile Design & Construction Practice

Tomlinson & Woodward (5th ed.)
 57

Gap in pile shaft closed up by Weak concrete in pile shaft

test load sheared completely through
test load

Pile Design & Construction Practice

Tomlinson & Woodward (5th ed.)
 Davisson’s (1973) method
58
for interpreting static pile load test
B in ‘mm’ Note: Davisson’s
method seems to
work best with
data from quick
ML tests. It may
produce overly
conservative
results when
applied to data
from slow ML
tests.
 Example – Davisson’s method 59

Given: The load-settlement

data shown were obtained
from a full-scale static load test
on a 400 mm square, 17 m long
concrete pile (fc’ = 40 Mpa).
Required: Use Davisson’s
method to compute ultimate
downward load capacity.
 Example 10.8 – pile load test 60

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 61

Side-friction resistance & toe-bearing resistance is computed separately,

and then combined to find allowable load capacity.
Side-friction and toe-bearing resistances are mobilized at different
settlements. Some settlement is cause by elastic compression of the
foundation, but most is the result of strains in the soil.
Only 5-10 mm (0.5-1% of pile dia) of
settlement is required to mobilized the
full side-resistance, and load-settlement
curve becomes steep. Whereas
displacement upto 10% of pile dia is
needed for full mobilization of toe-
bearing capacity
However, load-settlement curve for toe-
bearing is not as steep, and often doesn’t
reach a well-defined ultimate value.
 Mobilization of soil resistance 62

The difference between side-friction & toe-bearing response has 3

implications:

1. The load-settlement curve obtained at the head of pile during load test
is composite of side-friction and toe-bearing curves.

2. Because of the shape of load-settlement curve, the unit toe-bearing

resistance, qtip is usually a difficult number to define. This is a strong
contrast to ultimate bearing capacity qult in shallow foundations,
which is based on a much better defined mode of failure. Engineers
have used various methods of defining qtip, which is part of the reason
different analysis methods often produce different results.

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 63

Piles are almost always arranged in groups of three or more.

Pile group is commonly tied together by a pile cap, which is attached
to the head of individual piles and cause several piles to act together
as a pile foundation.
If two piles are driven
close together, soil
stresses caused by the
piles tend to overlap,
and the bearing capacity
of the pile group is less
than the sum of
individual capacities.
Typical pile grouping patterns 64

Pile patterns for single footings

Typical pile grouping patterns 65

Pile patterns for single footings

Pile patterns for foundation walls

Pile group 66

Theory and Practice of Foundation Design

SOM and DAS (P-223)
 Effect of pile group – a case history 67

Against an estimated working load Foundation for Charity Hospital Building,

of 15 ton, a single pile was tested New Orleans (Terzaghi 1942)
for a max. load of 30 ton and gave a
settlement of 6 mm.
A max settlement of 6 mm was
anticipated.
After 2 years of construction, the
building had settled 270 mm with a
max. differential settlement of 200
mm.
Investigation revealed, the pressure
bulb below the pile group extended
well into the compressible layer
below sand layer which caused Theory and Practice of Foundation Design
large settlement of the building. SOM and DAS (P-224)
 Efficiency of pile group 68

In case where a pile group is comprised of end-bearing piles resting

on bedrock (or on a layer of dense sand and gravel overlying
bedrock) an efficiency of 1.0 may be assumed (Jumikis, 1971)

An efficiency of 1.0 is also often assumed by designers for friction

piles driven in cohesionless soil.

For a pile group composed of friction piles driven in cohesive soil, an

efficiency of less than 1.0 is to be expected because stresses from
individual piles build up and reduce the capacity of pile group.

Among many equations, converse-Labarre equation is used to

calculate efficiency.
 Efficiency of pile group 69

Group efficiency

End bearing pile Frictional pile

Clayey soil Sandy soil Clayey soil Sandy soil

1.0 1.0 <1 1.0

converse-Labarre equation
Coyle and Sulaiman equation
 Converse-Labarre equation
70
for Pile group Efficiency
 Example 10.11 – group efficiency 71

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
72
for Pile group Efficiency
For S/D < 3 => Piles in cohesive soils act as a block

For 3  S/D  8 => Eg = 0.06(S/D) + 0.52

[i.e. Eg = 0.7 for S/D = 3 and
Eg = 1.0 for S/D = 8]

For S/D > 8 => Eg = 1.0

where
S = center-to-center spacing of pile
D = diameter of pile
Eg = pile group efficiency
 Coyle and Sulaiman equation
73
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 74

Settlement in sand

S  S0 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 75

Settlement in clay
In deep clay Through soft clay into stiff clay

Uniformly
distributed
load

Uniformly
distributed
load
Example 10.15 – pile foundation settlement in clay 76

Given: A group of friction piles in deep clay is shown. Total load on

piles reduced by weight of soil displaced by foundation is 300 kips.
Required: Approx. total settlement of pile foundation
.
 Drilled shaft foundations 77

Straight-shaft Belled

Qultimate  Qfriction  Qtip

Drilled shafts 78
Drilled shafts 79
80
Drilled shafts 81
Drilled shafts 82
Advantages of drilled shafts - video 83
Advantages of drilled shafts - video 84
 Drilled shafts in cohesive soils 85

Skin/surface friction

Qfriction  f  Asurface
f   z cuz
z is an empirical
adhesion factor
for soil at depth z
and cuz is the z = 0
undrained shear
strength at depth
z.
 Drilled shafts in cohesive soils 86

Skin/surface friction
(O’Neill and Reese, 1999)

where patm is atmospheric pressure (14.7 psi or 2117 psf or 101.3

kPa), fs is the skin frictional stress, and su is undrained shear strength.
Note: skin friction for top 1.5 m (5 ft) and the last one-diameter
length of the shaft are neglected in clays
Foundations & Earth Retaining Structures
by M. Budhu (Page 290)
 Drilled shafts in cohesive soils 87

End bearing

10
Qbase  qbase  Abase
8
qbase  cu N c
6
Nc

0
0 40 80 120 160 200
Undrained shear strength, su or cu (kPa)
 Drilled shafts in cohesive soils 88

End bearing

10
Qbase  qbase  Abase
8
qbase  cu N c
6
Nc

0
0 1000 2000 3000 4000
Undrained shear strength, su or cu (psf)
 Example 11.1 – drilled shaft in clay 89

Given
A 1-m diameter drilled shaft is constructed in clay with a 2-m base.
Soil conditions and a sketch of foundation are shown in Figure.

Required
Maximum
allowable axial
design load on the
foundation using
a factor of safety
of 2.5.
 Drilled shafts in cohesionless soils 90

Skin/surface friction
(O’Neill and Reese, 1999)
Clean sands
 Drilled shafts in cohesionless soils 91

Skin/surface friction
(O’Neill and Reese, 1999)
Gravels and sandy gravels
Drilled shafts in cohesionless soils 92

End bearing
 Example 11.2 - drilled shaft in sand 93

Given Pile dia = 1 m

A 1-m diameter drilled shaft is
constructed in sand. Soil conditions
and a sketch of foundation are
shown in Figure. Sand
 = 16.76 kN/m3
N60 = 10
Required 7m
Maximum allowable axial design
load on the foundation using a
factor of safety of 2.5.
Sand
3m
 = 18.95 kN/m3
N60 = 30