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ENCE 461
Foundation Analysis and
Design

Static Analysis of Pile Capacity (Part II)

Other Topics in Pile Capacity

Upward Load
Capacity

Pile Group
Effects

Pile
Settlement

Upward Load Capacity

Foundations in uplift do not have the same shaft

capacity they have in compression, thus the uplift
capacity is smaller than the compression capacity
of the shaft

Shaft friction should be set at 75% of the computed

values for uplift; safety factors are different also

Enlarged bases of drilled shafts also offer

additional uplift capacity

Only applicable to clays, since sands would usually

collapse

Difficult to quantify

Upward Load Capacity of Belled

Shafts


s u N u  zD 
B B 

P upward a 
4F
Db
N u 3.5 9 Unfissured Clays
Bb
Db
N u 0.7 9 Fissured Clays
Bb
2
b

2
s

Upward Load Capacity of Belled

Shafts

Variables for uplift capacity

(Pupward)a = allowable upward load capacity

su = undrained shear strength in soil above the base

zD = total stress at the bottom of the base

Bb = diameter of the enlarged base

Bs = diameter of the shaft

Db = depth of embedment of enlarged base into

bearing stratum

Uplift of base only

Example of Uplift
Capacity

Given

Find

Drilled Shaft as shown

Uplift capacity of shaft

Assume

Factor of safety = 5

Very stiff clay at toe is

fissured

Include weight of foundation

Compute Shaft Friction and Nu

Layer
Start

Layer
1
2
3
4
5

Perimeter
Top Segment to be
Ignored
Toe Segment to be
Ignored

0
5
12
37
50

Layer Thickness,
fs, As, sq.
su, psf alpha psf
End
ft.
ft.
5
5 1600
0
0 31.42
12
7 1600 0.55 880 43.98
37
25 1400 0.55 770 157.08
50
13 4000 0.48 1920 81.68
60
10 4000
0
0 62.83
Total

fsAs,
kips
0
38.7
120.95
156.83
0
316.48

6.28
5
10

Different from compression

Db
60
N u 0.7 0.7 8.49
Bb
5

Compute Total Stress and Uplift

Resistance of Soil
 zd 105 12108 25109 236467 psf
2
2

su N u zD 
B b  B s 

P upward a 
4F
2
2

4000 8.46467
5 2 
4 5 1000

P upward a 132 kips
Note use of total stress for this analysis
For pressure injected footings, formula (which is different) uses
effective stress

Compute Weight of Foundation

and Total Uplift Capacity
2

25



2
2
2
W f 

58.5
1.50.150
4
4
W f 30 kips
30317 0.75
132186 kips

P upward a 
5
Note that uplift capacity of bell not included in factor of safety

Group Effects

Piles are generally

used in groups; drilled
shafts are frequently
so

Group capacity can be

less than the sum of
the individual
capacities of the piles,
depending upon a
number of factors

Stress Zones in
Supporting Soils

Basic Relationships in Group

Capacity

Basic relationship

P ag 
N P a

Pag = allowable axial (down or up) capacity of group

 = group efficiency factor

N = number of piles in group

Pa = allowable axial (down or up) capacity of single

pile

Considerations

Drilled shafts vs. driven piles

Cohesive vs. cohesionless soils

Individual vs. block failure

Individual vs. Block Failure

Effect of Pile Spacing

Drilled Shaft Group Capacity

Block failure is most likely for all soil types

Cohesionless soils

Use  = 0.7 for spacings = 3B; this increases linearly

to  = 1 for spacing = 6B and is 1 above this

Cohesive soils

P ag 2 D
B g L g  s u1B g L g s u2 N
D
B
*
N c 5
1 
1 9
5B
5L

*
c

Drilled Shaft Group Capacity

Cohesive soils variables for equation

Pag = allowable downward load capacity

Bg = width of pile group

Lg = length of pile group

D = depth of embedment of pile group

su1 = weighted average of undrained shear strength in

clays over depth of embedment

su2 = average undrained shear strength between the

bottom of the pile group and a depth of 2Bg below the
bottom

N*c = bearing capacity factor

Driven Pile Group Capacity

Cohesionless soils

If spacing > 3B, group

capacity can be greater than
the sum of the individual
capacities, so  =1 for this
spacing

Cohesive soils

Use same method as for

drilled shafts

Settlement

Most methods for designing deep foundations

insure that settlement does not exceed " (13
mm)

There are certain situations where it is necessary

to know the settlement of a deep foundation

Structures sensitive to settlement

Toe bearing predominates

Downdrag loads are present

Compressible strata are present

Need an equivalent spring for finite element analysis

Equations for Settlement

Straight Shafts

P 

2  G' L tanh
L
5 L G' L
1

ln

BGL


8GL
E B

For straight shafts only, no underreaming

From Randolph and Wroth (1978)

Equations for Settlement

Belled Shafts
P 

1

2 G' L 

1 tanh
L B b 
5 L G' L
1

ln

BGL


8GL
E B

Equations for Settlement

Variables

L = embedded length of pile shaft

P = applied load at pile head
 = settlement for load
 = Poisson's Ratio for Soil
 = interaction factor of upper with lower soil layer =
0.85Bb/B

E = elastic modulus of pile

GL = soil shear modulus at depth L = EL /(2(1 + 

G'L = average soil shear modulus = E'L /(2(1 + 

B = shaft diameter
Bb = diameter of underreamed bell for drilled shafts

Example of Settlement

Pile: 1.5' (18") diameter, driven

closed ended
Assume to be filled with concrete
after driving

Find: Load-settlement curve of pile

Compute Soil Moduli and

Poisson's Ratio

Clay layer

Es = 1000 tsf = 2000 ksf

 = 1.0 (Jaky's Equation)

G = 2000/(2(1+1)) = 500 ksf

Sand Layer

Es = 1800 ksf



 

 



 

Define Other Variables

Solve Problem

Other Variables

Modulus of elasticity of pile (concrete, f'c = 4 ksi) =

57000 (4000)1/2 = E = 3,605,000 psi = 519,119 ksf

B = 1.5'

Solution to Problem

 = .03787813536 1/ft.

 = 3.184118300

 = .00004048955619 P (for variable pile load, ft.)

  !r design load of 197.4 kips)

Solution to Example Problem

Pile Load, kips

Settlement, inches

Comments to Randolph and

Wroth Solution

Solution is a linear one, thus it does not take into

consideration non-linear effects

A good initial estimate of settlement of piles

If structure is very sensitive to settlement, the

best solution is to use a computer program using
the Randolph and Wroth method as a check

Load Transfer Curves

Based on laboratory and field tests

Take into consideration non-linearities of pilesoil systems

Most research is for drilled shafts; driven piles

use other methods (Randolph and Worth, Vesi
,
Fellenius, etc.)

Most based on the work of O'Neill and Reese

Load Transfer Curves for Clay

Load Transfer Curves for Sand

Example of Load
Transfer Curve

Given

Find

Drilled Shaft as shown

Settlement at allowable
downward load

Assume

Ps = 394 kips

P't = 706 kips

Pa = 440 kips

f'c = 3 ksi, E = 3,100 ksi

Use of Load Transfer Curves

Choose a trial settlement for analysis

Compute mobilised shaft and toe resistance for

that settlement using load-transfer curves

Since load-transfer curves only take soil

mobilisation and deflection into considerations,
the estimated elastic deflection of the pile must
be added

If two trials bracket the actual allowable load, use

linear interpolation to determine settlement at
design load

First Trial:
= 0.2"

394 + 176 = 570 kips > Pa = 440 kips
P't = (0.25)(706) = 176 kips

Ps = (1)(394) = 394 kips

use 1.0

0.25

= 0.2/60
= 0.3%

= 0.2/24
= 0.8%

Second Trial:
= 0.1"

392 + 71 = 433 kips < Pa = 440 kips
Ps = (.92)(394) = 362 kips

P't = (0.1)(706) = 71 kips

use 0.92

0.1

= 0.1/60
= 0.2%

= 0.1/24
= 0.4%

Pile Elastic Compression

Include Pile Elastic Compression

 = 0.2":  "#

"
 $%&'()*   #$

 = 0.1": #

 "#

"
 "$%&'()* " " $

+,-.+,/+,&/0!.&+!,%!.!/&&.1,&&
..!23..!)

)* $

4!&&'&'&/+5&+!,21!3+.+)+/&%&!
/+&,5&/2/)

Group Settlements

Pile group settlements can be treated in a similar

manner to those of shallow foundations

Settlements can be divided into two types

Immediate settlements settlements shortly after

foundation loading, especially in sands

Consolidation settlements in clays, same mechanism

as with shallow foundations

Methods

Immediate settlements group settlement factor

Long-term consolidation equivalent mat method

Group Settlement Factors

g  g f 

Definition

 = group settlement

gf = group settlement factor

= (Hw/B) (sands)

g f 1 
i1

B i (clays)
 si

Hw = width of pile group

n = number of piles in group

si = distance from pile i to location in group where settlement is to be
calculated
B = pile diameter

ONLY FOR
IMMEDIATE
SETTLEMENTS

&&.1,&!+,-.0+.

Equivalent Mat Method

1.

2.

3.

4.

Replace group with a mat along

the embedded pile length L;
this depth is 2/3 of L for
friction piles and L for end
bearing piles
Distribute the load from the mat
to the underlying soil by
Boussinesq theory or the 60
degree method
Calculate settlement of soil
layers below the mat by onedimensional consolidation
theory; any soil above the mat
is assumed to be incompressible
Multiply the calculated
settlement by 0.8 to account for
the rigidity of the group

Example of Group Settlement

Pile: 1.5' (18") diameter, driven

closed ended
Assume to be filled with concrete
after driving

Find: Immediate settlement

of 3 x 3 pile group, Hw = 22.5'
Individual settlement = 0.0204"

Group Settlement Example

Compute group settlement factor for sands

Compute group settlement

gf = (Hw/B) = (22.5/1.5) = 3.87

g = (0.0959)(3.87) = 0.371"

This method is to be used with immediate

settlements; for long term consolidation, use
equivalent mat method with Terzaghi's
consolidation theory

Questions