1/22/2021 Pile Cap Design - Structural Guide
Structural loads, structural analysis and structural design are simply
explained with the worked example for easiness of understanding.
Element designs with notes and discussions have added to get
comprehensive knowledge. Also, construction materials, shoring system
design, water retaining structures, crack width calculations, etc. have
discussed in addition to other aspects.
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CATEGORIES FOUNDATION DESIGN
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Classification of UB Section as per BS 5950
Pile Cap Design
BY PRASAD ·
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Settlement of Shallow Foundations
► Bridge (3) Pile caps are constructed to hold the pile
► Construction (11) and superstructure together at the
► Design (7)
ground level or below the ground level
► Design and Construction (26)
while transferring loads of the
► Design Loads (5)
superstructure to the foundation.
► Design to BS 5950 (4)
► Design to BS 8110 (11) Generally, pile caps are constructed to
► Design to EC2 (11)
connect one pile, two piles, three piles,
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▼ Foundation Design (16) four piles or a group of files. Dimensions
» Borehole investigation and Borehole of the pile caps are decided based on the
layout planning
loads and connecting arrangement of the
» Design Combined Footing
superstructure and the pile foundation.
» Design of Pad Footing
» Design of Piles [design a detailed guide] Pile caps can be designed using the truss
» Design of Strip Footings
analogy or using the bending theories.
» Driven Pile Foundations Design and
Construction Mostly, up to the four numbers of piles
» Eccentrically Loaded Foundations are connected by a pile cap to support
» How to Determine Foundation Type
the concentrated load from the
» Mat Foundation Types, Design and
superstructure, truss theory is used to
Construction
design the pile caps.
» Pile Cap Design
» Pile Design [Things to be Remembered]
Equations derived considering the strut
» Pile foundations - Design, Construction
and tie model are available to calculate
and Testing Guide
the area of reinforcement.
» Pile Ra Foundations
» Settlement of Shallow Foundations
The following figure indicates the typical
» Skin Friction of Soil [ why it important ]
equations that can be used to calculate
» Types of Foundations [ a detailed study]
the area of tension reinforcements. It was
► Geotechnical Design (8)
copied from the book Reinforced
► Materials (23)
concrete design to BS 8110.
► Post Tension (2)
► Retaining Structures (11)
► Seismic Design (8)
► Servisibility Design (15)
► Special Designs (25)
► Structural Detaling (14)
► Structural Failures (4)
► Testing (12)
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When there are more piles, the design
could be done using finite element
so ware which makes the analysis easier.
In general, the gap between the piles is
kept at 2.5 times the diameter of the
piles. It is done to avoid the interaction of
one pile on others.
In addition to the calculation of the
tension reinforcements, di erent shear
checks like punching and vertical line
shear shall be done. When there are
more than two piles, the selection of the
critical shear perimeter shall be done
very carefully. The guideline given in BS
5400 can be used to select the shear
perimeter.
Worked Example:
Design of Pile Cap
Consider the design of a pile cap
supporting two pile and a single column
on the pile cap.
Data
Pile Diameter 600mm
Design Load 3000 kN
Cover to the reinforcement 50mm
Grade of concrete 30
Characteristic strength of steel as 500
N/mm2
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Size of the column on the pile cap
500x500mm
Calculate the dimensions of the pile cap
consider 150mm o set from the pile and
space between piles as 2.5 times pile
diameter.
Width = 500 + 150 + 150 = 800mm
Length = 2.5 x 600 + 250 + 250+ 150 + 150
= 2150mm
Consider depth of 1000mm and main bar
diameter as 20mm
E ective depth, d = 1000-50-20/2 = 940
mm > 750mm; (2.5×600/2) Ok.
Consider truss theory
Tension Force, T = Nl / 2d
T = 3000 x 0.75 / (2 x 0.94 ) = 1197 kN
As = T / 0.87fy
As = 1197 x 1000 / (0.87 x 500 ) = 2752
mm2
Provide 7 T25 (As provided = 3430 mm2 )
Check for Punching Shear
V = 3000 x 103 / ( 4 x 500 x 940) = 1.596
N/mm2
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Vall = 0.8 (fcu)0.5 = 0.8 x (25)0.5 = 4 N/mm2 <
5 N/mm2
Hence, punchig shear is Ok
Check for Vertical Line Shear
The critical section of the pile shall be
considered as 20% of the diameter of the
pile inside of the face of the pile. The
following figures extracted from the code
(BS 8110) provide a clear location to be
considered for shear design.
When this section is considered as a
critical section and the spacing between
the piles is less than or equals to three
times the pile diameter, enhancement
(2d/av) for Vc can be considered. Here, av
is the distance from the face of the
column to the critical section.
In this example, we considered only two
piles as shown in the following image.
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Vc and be calculated from Table 3.8 of BS
8110 based on the 100As/bd value.
100As / bd = 100 x 3430 / ( 1000 x 940 ) =
0.365
Vc = 0.446 N/mm2
Enhanced shear capacity ; (2d/av)Vc
(2d/av)Vc = ( 2 x 940 / 320 ) x 0.446 = 2.62
N/mm2
Desing shear stress = 1500 x 103 / (1000 x
940) = 1.596 N/mm2
Hence Ok.
Calculate Area of Distribution Steel
Consider the minimum reinforcement
requirement.
100As / Ac = 0.13
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As = 0.13 x 1000 x 1000 / 100 = 1300 mm2 /
m
Provide T16@150 mm c/c (As Provided =
1340 mm2
Area of Horizontal Binders
Provide 25% of the design
reinforcements
As binder = 0.25 x 2752 = 688 mm2
Provide T12@150 (As provided = 754
mm2 )
Similarly, other types of pile caps can
also be designed following the same
procedure. However, when the number
of piles is increasing in a pile cap, the
manual calculation becomes more
complicated. Computer packages could
be used for ease of design while verifying
the design outcome with simple
calculations.
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