Foundation Engineering I

CE-325
Pile capacity
Dr. Zafar Mahmood
NUST Institute of Civil Engineering (NICE)
School of Civil & Env. Engineering (SCEE)
1

Pile capacity

In addition to the strength of the pile itself, pile capacity

is limited by soils 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 piles 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

Pile capacity
Qultimate Qfriction Qtip

Qultimate

Qfriction f Asurface
Qtip q Atip
Qultimate f Asurface q Atip
In case of end bearing piles, the term Qtip
will be predominant, whereas with friction
piles, Qfriction will be predominant.
Above equation is generalized and
applicable for all soils.

Qfriction

Qtip

Piles driven in sand

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,

Piles driven in sand critical depth

5

The critical depth, Dc, is dependent on the

field condition of the sand and the piles 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 Effective Hor. Stress Effective Vert. Stress
6

h on pile surface

zK
zK.tan()

h = zK
Critic
al
depth
Dc

v on pile surface

v = z

Critic
al
depth
Dc

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

Piles driven in sand coeff. of

friction
7

Piles driven in sand

End bearing
The bearing capacity of
pile tip (end bearing) is
given by
qtip = v.Nq*
where
v = effective
vertical stress
adjacent to piles
tip
Nq* = bearing
capacity factor
Nq* is related to angle

Pile driven in sand - summary

9

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)

10

Given
A concrete pile is to be driven
into a medium dense to dense
sand. The piles 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 piles axial capacity if the
coefficient of lateral earth
pressure, k, is assumed to be
0.95, and the factor of safety

Book: Soils and

Foundations
By Liu & Evett (6th

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
The piles axial capacity if
the coefficient of lateral
earth pressure, k, is
assumed to be 0.95, and the
factor of safety is 2.

GWT

Book: Soils and

Foundations
By Liu & Evett (6th

12
Piles driven in clay skin resistance/adhesion

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
f

A
surface
surface
the adhesion factor, .
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

Piles driven in clay

Skin resistance/adhesion

13

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

14

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 ha a
value of about 9 (McCarthy, 2002)

Piles driven in clay - summary

15

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)

16

Given
A 12 in. diameter concrete pile
is driven at a site as shown in
Figure. The embedded length
of the pile is 35 ft.
Required
Design capacity of the pile,
using a factor of safety of 2.

Qdesign
=?
GSL
Clay
35 ft

= 104 lb/ft3
qu = 1400
lb/ft2

Example 10.4 (pile driven in clay)

17

Qdesign
=?
GSL

Given
A 12 in. diameter
concrete pile is driven
at a site as shown in
Figure.
Required
Design capacity of the
pile, using a factor of
safety of 2.

Clay
20 ft

15 ft

= 105 lb/ft3
qu = 1400
lb/ft2
Clay
= 126 lb/ft3
qu = 4000
lb/ft2

Example 10.5 (pile driven in clay)

18

Given
A 0.36 m square
prestressed concrete
pile is to be driven in a
clayey soil. The design
capacity of the pile is
360 kN.
Required
The necessary length of
the pile if the factor of
safety is 2.

Qdesign =360
kN
GSL
Clay
L
=?

= 18.1
kN/m3
qu = 115
kN/m2

Pile load test

19

Test-pile loading using hydraulic jack acting

against anchored reaction frame

20

Test-pile loading using hydraulic jack acting

against anchored reaction frame

Pile load test

21

Test-pile loading using weighted platform

Pile load test

22

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

Pile load test

23

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

Typical load settlement curves

24

Intermedia
te, stiff
clay and
sandy soils
Soft
clays

Foundation Design
D. P. Coduto

Interpretation of pile load test

25

Friction pile in
soft-firm clay or loose
sand

Friction pile in stiff clay

Pile Design & Construction

Practice
th

26

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
th

27

Gap in pile shaft closed

up by test load

Weak concrete in pile

shaft sheared
completely through test
load

Pile Design & Construction

Practice
th

Davissons (1973) method

for interpreting static pile load test

B in mm

28

Note:
Davissons
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 Davissons method

29

Given: The loadsettlement data shown

were obtained from a
full-scale static load test
on a 400 mm square, 17
mm long concrete pile
(fc = 40 Mpa).
Required: Use
Davissons method to
compute ultimate
downward load capacity.

Example pile load test

30

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:

Mobilization of soil resistance

31

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
Only 5-10 mm (0.5-1% of pile
strains in the soil.
dia) of settlement is required to
mobilized the full side-resistance,
and load-settlement curve
becomes steep. Whereas
displacement upto 20% 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 doesnt reach a well-

Mobilization of soil resistance

32

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 toebearing 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

Pile groups and spacing of piles

33

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

Typical pile grouping patterns

34

Pile patterns for single footings

Typical pile grouping patterns

35

Pile patterns for single footings

Pile patterns for foundation walls

Pile group

36

Theory and Practice of Foundation

Design

Effect of pile group a case

history

Against an estimated
working load of 15 ton, a
single pile was tested for a
max. load of 30 ton and
gave a settlement of 6 mm.

37

Foundation for Charity

Hospital Building, New
Orleans (Terzaghi 1942)

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

Theory and Practice of Foundation

Design

Efficiency of pile group

38

In case where a pile group is comprised of endbearing 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

39

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

for Pile group Efficiency

40

Example group efficieny

Given
A pile group consists
of 12 friction piles in
cohesive soil. Each
piles diameter is 12
in. and center-tocenter 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

41

Coyle and Sulaiman equation

for Pile group Efficiency

42

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

Coyle and Sulaiman equation

for Pile group Efficiency

S/D < 3
Piles in cohesive soils act as
a block
Qg = 2D(W+L)f +
1.3cNcWL

43

Settlement of pile foundations

44

Settlement in sand

S S0 B B

12

where

(U.S. Dept. of Navy,

1982)

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
distribute
d load
Uniformly
distribute
d load