Deep Foundation – Axial Load Capacity Pile Foundation vs.
Shallow Foundation
Static Load Tests Soil property unknown after driving
Analytic Methods Excessive pore water pressure during
Dynamic methods driving of piles
Integrity of pile
Load distribution along pile Pile load as function of pile displacement
Load deformation relationship of piles Direction of pile loading
Determining Axial Capacity of Piles
Load Test
Static Analysis – Based on estimated
strength and stress Static Load Test
Dynamic Analysis – based on energy or
wave equation
Static pile load test Definition of pile failure load
Types of pile loading tests Static Load Tests
Most reliable method to determine capacity
Very expensive & takes a lot of time
Lower FS can be used
Most effective when
Large project with many pile (Lower FS)
Erratic soil conditions
Pile in soft clay
Structure sensitive to settlement
Uplift Capacity
Before construction- test pile program
Proof testing during construction
Bearing Capacity of Piles in sand
Analytic Methods
End Bearing of Piles (Sand) According to Meyerhof (sand)
Bearing capacity factor of piles(Sand) Failure mechanism at pile point (Sand)
Comparison of cone resistance and pile Comparison of SPTN-value and pile point
point resistance (Sand) resistance (Sand)
Critical depth of pile end bearing (Sand) Lateral pressure against pile shaft (sand)
Pile shaft capacity (sand) Lateral pressure against pile shaft (Sand)
Critical depth of pile shaft resistance
(Sand) Bearing capacity of piles in clay
Similar to end bearing, there is a
critical depth for shaft resistance. A
conservative estimates is Lc = 15 D
Skin friction resistance along pile shaft
Failure surface at pile point in clay (Clay)
Beta Method Alpha method
(Effective stress analysis in clay) (Total stress analysis in clay)
Pile driving → Δu ↑ (≈ 4
~ 6 Cu), the soil becomes f s = αcu
remolded after Δu
dissipated
f s = βσ v '
β = (1 − sin φ r ) OCR tan(φ r )
Lambda-method (clay) Bearing Capacity of Drilled Shafts
Bearing capacity of drilled shaft is less
Displacement of soil than that of pile
caused by pile driving
results in a passive lateral 1. The previous methods are usually
earth pressure calibrated using load test results
(Vijayvergiya & Focht, 2. Empirical formulas using in situ tests are
1972)
developed from load test
Load transfer from pile to soil as function
of pile displacement Negative skin friction along piles
Pile driving equipment
Dynamic Methods
Dynamic pile test Stress wave analysis, rigid base
Stress wave analysis, soft base Detection of pile defect by dynamic test
Determination of dynamic pile bearing
capacity Engineering News Formula
Wh
Qa =
Fs (S + c )
C=1.0 for single acting hammer
• Work poor, but used a lot because of
convenient
•We can run a pile test at the site and relate to
this formula
Elastic compression of pile Pile driving formulae (definition)
Pile driving formulae Wave Equation
Consider
Complete hammer system
Pile characteristics
Soil Characteristics
Estimate
Pile stress during driving
Bearing capacity as a function of blow per
count
CAPWAP (Case Pile Wave Analysis
Pile Dynamic Analyzer (PDA) Program)
Measure strain and velocity in pile Case method is a simplification with an
during driving empirical factor
Case method analyses: Wave equation is more precise but suffers
Simplification of true dynamics of pile from weak estimates of the actual energy
driving & associated response of soil delivered by hammer
Determine the pile capacity from wave The hammer & accessories are replaced with
trace data force-time & velocity-time data obtained from
The method include an empirical damping PDA
factor Jc, that can be determined from an The analysis produces Ru (ultimate resistnce
on-site static load test in the soil “springs” and q (the quake), and Jc.
Failure modes of horizontally loaded piles Lateral pile resistance in sand
Lateral pile resistance in clay (rotational Lateral pile resistance in clay (pile failure
mode) mode)
