Shaft friction of piles in clay

-a simple fundamental approach

Dr. J O H N BURLAND, Head, Geotechnical Division, Building Research Station
Introduction
Many engineers hold t h e v i e w that t h e
factors controlling the behaviour o f a pile
and i t s maximum l o a d carrying c a p a c i t y
are too complex to study in a fundamental
way and t h a t o u r understanding m u s t o f
necessity stem from an empirical approach
based o n carrying o u t load t e s t s . H o w ever, j u s t a s t h e r e a r e dangers i n t h e
purely t h e o r e t i c a l a p p r o a c h s o t o o a r e
there dangers i n empiricism w h i c h takes
no account o f well-established fundamentals. The art o f ground engineering lies i n
the a b i l i t y t o c o m b i n e t h e established
principles o f soil mechanics w i t h experience and judgement.
This p a p e r outlines an approach t o t h e
calculation o f the shaft resistance o f piles
in clay using simple effective stress principles. A l t h o u g h t h e m e t h o d i n v o l v e s a
number o f simplifying assumptions i t appears t o account for many of the observed
features o f pile behaviour and m a y prove
useful f o r estimating shaft resistance and
negative s k i n f r i c t i o n i n n e w o r unusual
ground conditions.

Conventional method of analysis

The conventional method o f estimating

the load carrying capacity o f a pile makes
use o f the undrained strength o f the clay
in the calculation o f both the end bearing
capacity and the shaft bearing capacity.
The ultimate bearing capacity o f the pile
base Out, is given t o a sufficient accuracy
by t h e formula:
N - .c
c
Q b A b
(1)
where A i s the area of the base

strength a g a i n s t d e p t h b e c a u s e o f t h e
scatter o f t h e results. O n t h e basis o f a
large number o f tests i t has been possible
to assign ranges o f a values t o particular
types o f pile in various ground conditions
(see f o r example Tomlinson ( 1 9 6 3 ) a n d
(1971)).
Whereas t h e u s e o f undrained strength
for calculating t h e e n d bearing c a p a c i t y
of a p i l e appears j u s t i f i e d t h e r e s e e m s
little fundamental justification f o r relating
shaft adhesion t o undrained strength f o r
the following reasons:
(1) t h e major shear distortion i s confined
to a relatively t h i n zone around t h e
pile shaft (Cooke and Price (1973)),
Drainage either to o r from this narrow
zone w i l l therefore take place rapidly
during loading;
(2) t h e installation o f a p i l e , w h e t h e r
driven o r cast-in situ, inevitably must
disturb a n d remould t h e ground a d jacent to the pile shaft;
(3) q u i t e a p a r t f r o m t h e d i s t u r b a n c e
caused b y the pile there is no simple
relationship b e t w e e n t h e undrained
strength a n d drained strength o f the
ground.
There c a n b e n o d o u b t a b o u t t h e i m portanoe i n design o f empirical relationships b e t w e e n c a n d E p r o v i d e d t h e y
are applied t o t h e s a m e p i l e t y p e a n d
similar ground conditions f o r w hi ch t h e y

were e s t a b l i s h e d . H o w e v e r, t h e r e a r e
dangers in extrapolating them t o n e w and
untried situations. I n these circumstances
an understanding o f t h e underlying p r i n ciples is essential and requires a treatment
of p i l e behaviour i n t e r m s o f effective
stresses. T h e e ff e c t i v e s t r e s s approach
outlined h e r e i s b y n o m e a n s t h e o n l y
possible one b u t i t has the virtue o f being
very simple.

Principle o f effective stress

In a p a p e r dealing w i t h t h e effective
stress behaviour o f piles i t i s a s w e l l t o
be quite clear what is meant by "effective
stress". Soil may b e visualised as a c o m pressible skeleton o f s o l i d particles e n closing v o i d s w h i c h , i n t h e c a s e o f a
fully saturated soil, are filled w i t h w a t e r.
Shear stress T can o n l y be carried b y the
skeleton, However, the total normal stress
,r o n a n y plane i s t h e s u m o f t w o c o m ponentsthe pressure in the pore water u
and the stress carried by the solid particles
and termed t h e effective s t r e s s T h e
effective stress i s given b y t h e difference
between a n d u i.e.
0.1=cr_a
(
2
)
The s h e a r strength o f s o i l s i s largely
Fig. 1. Relationship between 13 ( = K . tan
0) and 0 , for a normally consolidated
clay

1.0

N, i s a bearing capacity f a c t o r
usually taken as 9.0
and c u

i s the undrained strength o f the

clay beneath the base.
Although care i s needed i n measuring
cu, particularly in stiff fissured clays ( B u r land, Butler and Dunican ( 1 9 6 6 ) ) , i t s use
appears t o b e justified f o r t w o reasons.
Firstly, failure usually takes place through
the soil s o m e distance beneath t h e base
and disturbance during installation o f the
pile w i l l u s u a l l y n o t g r e a t l y a f f e c t t h e
major p a r t o f t h e c l a y i n v o l v e d i n t h e
shearing process. This i s particularly true
for large diameter bored piles w h e r e t h e
base resistance f o r m s a substantial p r o portion o f the total resistance o f the pile.
Secondly, in the long-term the soil beneath
the b a s e w i l l normally experience a n i n crease in effective stress and a consequent
increase i n strength. Hence the undrained
bearing capacity represents a safe l o w e r
limit.
It i s customary t o relate t h e average
shaft adhesion c,, t o t h e mean undrained
strength d o w n the shaft E by an empirical
coefficient a = c/5. T h e v a l u e o f a can
vary from as l o w as 0,3 t o as high as 1.5
depending o n t h e s o i l a n d t h e t y p e o f
pile. Even f o r a g i v e n s e t o f conditions
a can have a wide range o f values. Moreover, i t is often no easy matter t o choose
a v a l u e o f E f r o m a p l o t o f undrained
30

08

06

02

15

20

25 3 0

35

40

40

o
30

Timber - Drammen clay

Concrete
Timber
Port K h o r r a m s h a h r c l a y
Steel

F1=0 4

0
0

20

x.

10

0
10

1 0 0

Effective overburden p r e s s u r e - KN/m2

Fig. 2. Comparison between results of pile

test of Port Khorramshahr clay. (LL 48;
P1 23; Sensitivity 2.5 - 3.0; a=0.43 - 0.79)
and Drammen Clay (LL 39; PL 20;
Sensitivity 4-8; a = 1 . 6 )
determined b y the frictional forces arising
during s l i p a t t h e c o n t a c t b e t w e e n t h e
soil particles, T h e s e a r e clearly a f u n c tion o f t h e normal stress transmitted b y
the s o i l skeleton rather than o f t h e t o t a l
normal stress. T h e maximum s h e a r r e s istance 1-, o n a n y plane through t h e c o i l
is therefore given by:
Ti = C l + (cyu) tan 0, (-=-- J r a l tan 95)
(3)
where c , i s the effective cohesion
and c b ' i s the effective angle of friction.
For present purposes i t i s assumed t h a t
the groundwater is static, although this is
not fundamental t o t h e theory, a n d t h a t
the p o r e pressure a t a n y p o i n t i s g i v e n
by t h e d e p t h o f t h e p o i n t b e l o w t h e
ground w a t e r level

Shaft friction in terms of

effective stress
During installation o f a n y p i l e t h e soil
immediately adjacent t o the shaft w i l l b e
disturbed a n d remoulded t o a greater o r
lesser extent a n d excess p o r e pressures,
which may b e either positive o r negative,
will b e s e t u p i n t h e ground around t h e
pile. I n t h i s paper the following assumptions are made:
1. B e f o r e loading t h e excess p o r e pressures s e t u p d u r i n g installation a r e
completely dissipated.
2. B e c a u s e t h e zone o f m a j o r distortion
around the shaft is relatively thin loading t a k e s p l a c e u n d e r drained c o n d i tions.
3. A s a result of remoulding during installation t h e soil h a s n o effective cohesion. Hence the shaft friction i s at any
point is given by
Ts 0 - l b tan 8
( 4 )
where ,T, i s t h e horizontal e ff e c t i v e
stress acting o n t h e pile
and 3
i s the effective angle of friction between t h e clay a n d
32

the pile shaft.

4 T h e f u r t h e r simplifying assumption i s
made t h a t 0-1 i s proportional t o t h e
vertical effective overburden pressure*
p, i.e.
= K - p
( 5 )
Assumption ( 4 ) i s perhaps the most questionable a n d requires c l o s e examination
and possible refinement. Nevertheless i t
represents a s i m p l e a n d l o g i c a l starting
point. Equation ( 4 ) therefore becomes:
p - K tan 8

Equation ( 6 ) i s n o t n e w a n d h a s b e e n
used b y Zeevaert (1959), Eide, Hutchinson
and L a n d v a ( 1 9 6 1 ) , Johannessen a n d
Bjerrum ( 1 9 6 5 ) , C h a n d l e r ( 1 9 6 8 ) a n d
others.
The quantity K - tan 8 m a y be denoted b y
/3 s o t h a t
K - tan 6

( 7 )

It c a n b e seen t h a t if,3 i s similar t o t h e

empirical f a c t o r a , t h e i m p o r t a n t difference being that p is related t o the fundamental effective stress parameters K and
8.
The magnitude o f t h e e a r t h pressure
coefficient K d e p e n d s o n t h e s o i l t y p e ,
the s t r e s s h i s t o r y o f t h e s o i l a n d t h e
method o f installing the pile. The value o f
8 depends o n the soil t y p e and the properties o f the pile surface. Evidently p can
take o n a w i d e range of values. Nevertheless i t is possible t o make reasonable estimates o f K and I and hence 13.
Average values o f 13 c a n a l s o b e o b tained e m p i r i c a l l y f r o m p i l e t e s t s p r o vided a sufficient length o f time has been
allowed a f t e r installation a n d t h e t e s t s
have been carried o u t sufficiently s l o w l y.
In these cases:

P=
*p =

yw-h) w h e r e 7 , i s t h e b u l k
density o f the soil, d i s the depth b e l o w
ground level, 7,, i s t h e density o f w a t e r
and h is the depth below the water table.

where 2 , i s t h e average s h a f t f r i c t i o n
and t h e effective overburden p r e s sure.
Thus i t is possible t o make estimates of
ja based o n fundamental s o i l mechanics
parameters. I t i s recognised t h a t t h e s e )
estimates m a y require modification i n the
light o f empirical evidence. This approach
will b e illustrated b y applying the method
to t h e t w o e x t r e m e c o n d i t i o n s o f s o f t
normally c o n s o l i d a t e d c l a y a n d s t i f f
heavily overconsolidated clay.

Shaft friction for piles in soft clay

It i s assumed t h a t failure t a k e s place

in t h e remoulded s o i l c l o s e t o t h e s h a f t
surface (Tomlinson (1971)) s o that 8 = 0 ,
where 0 i s t h e remoulded drained angle
of friction o f t h e soil. Before t h e p i l e i s
installed t h e earth pressure coefficient K
is equal t o K . F o r a driven p i l e K m i g h t
be expected t o be somewhat greater than
so t h a t setting K = K . should g i v e a
lower l i m i t t o t h e shaft friction. F o r normally consolidated c l a y K e h a s b e e n
found t o b e related t o 0 b y t h e expression K,, = 1 sin od.
Substituting f o r 8 a n d K i n equation ( 7 )
gives:
/3 = 1 - sin od) tan od

( 8 )

as a l o w e r l i m i t f o r driven piles i n n o r mally consolidated clay. Values o f od w i l l

normally l i e somewhere i n t h e range o f
20 deg t o 3 0 deg and i t i s interesting t o
note t h a t o v e r this w i d e range t h e value
of p o n l y varies f r o m 0 . 2 4 t o 0 . 2 9 a s
shown i n fig. 1 . This rather surprising result implies t h a t f o r s o f t clays p i s n o t
very sensitive t o c l a y t y p e a n d t h a t f o r
all s o f t c l a y s t h e r e s h o u l d b e a f a i r l y
unique relationship between 7 a n d p .
This prediction can be checked b y comparing the values of shaft friction obtained
from l o a d i n g t e s t s o n p i l e s d r i v e n i n t o
two v e r y different s o f t clays. Hutchinson
and Jensen (1968) present t h e results o f
loading t e s t s o n a n u m b e r o f concrete,
steel a n d t i m b e r piles d r i v e n i n t o d e e p
estuarine c l a y i n t h e p o r t o f K h o r r a m shahr, Iran. The average liquid and plastic
limits f o r t h e c l a y a r e 4 8 p e r c e n t a n d
23 p e r c e n t respectively a n d i t h a s a

be s e e n t h a t t h e r e s u l t s l i e b e t w e e n
p = 0.25 a n d 0.4 w i t h a n average o f approximately 0.32.
Eide, Hutchinson a n d L a n d v a ( 1 9 5 1 )
have presented t h e results o f some tests
on timber piles driven into Drammen clay
The average liquid a n d plastic l i m i t s are
about 35 per cent and 15 per cent respectively a n d t h e c l a y h a s a sensitivity o f
between 4 and 8. The value o f a obtained

sensitivity o f between 2.5 and 3.0. Values

of a ranged from 0.43 to 0.79. In fig. 2 the
results o f Hutchinson a n d Jensen h a v e
been plotted o n a graph o f T, against 5
and are shown b y the op-en points. Values
of 17 (=-Fs/15) a r e also shown and i t can
Fig. 3. Relationship between average shaft
friction Ts and average depth for driven
piles in soft clay

Fig. 3

Average s h a f t F r i c t i o n - KN/m2
10

50

6 0

Steel
Concrete To m l i n s o n (1957)
Timber
H.R.B. (1961)
Sharman (1961)
Brand (1971)
Fellenius (1971)
Eide e t a l (1961)
Concrete
Hutchinson a n d
Timber
Jensen (1968)
Steel

0
*

A
0
V

from t h e test was 1.6. I n fig. 2 the result

of this t e s t i s shown as a f u l l p o i n t corresponding t o p 0 . 3 2 . I n s p i t e o f t h e
clay at the t w o sites having very different
properties and the values of a for the t w o
sites h a v i n g e x t r e m e u p p e r a n d l o w e r
limits f o r soft clay, the average values o f
p a r e t h e same a n d o n l y slightly larger
than t h e predicted l o w e r l i m i t v a l u e o f
0.29.
At each o f the t w o sites mentioned the
density o f the clay and the position o f the
water table had been accurately measured
so t h a t t h e values o f (.3 c o u l d b e calculated. A number of results of pile tests on
soft c l a y s h a v e been published w i t h o u t
this information. T h e density o f soft clay
does n o t vary a great deal and the w a t e r
table w i l l usually be close t o the surface.
Therefore i f p i s approximately independent of clay type, the results o f pile tests
on s o f t c l a y should s h o w o n l y a s m a l l
scatter w h e n p l o t t e d o n a g r a p h o f
against average depth. In fig. 3 are plotted
the results o f a large number of pile tests
carried o u t o n a w i d e v a r i e t y o f clays.
Bearing i n mind the possible variations in
density a n d g r o u n d w a t e r c o n d i t i o n s i t
can b e seen t h a t t h e scatter i s remarkably small.
The l i n e s s h o w i n g values o f p h a v e
been constructed b y making t h e assumption t h a t t h e s o i l h a s a b u l k density o f
1SOO kg/m" and that the water table is, on
average, o n e m e t r e b e l o w ground level.
Most o f the results l i e between = 0.25
and 0.40 w h i c h represents a v e r y m u c h
smaller spread than the equivalent a values
which l i e between 0.5 and 1.6. I t appears
that the simple effective stress theory f o r
the l o w e r l i m i t o f s h a f t f r i c t i o n i s i n
very c l o s e agreement w i t h t h e observations a n d t h a t t h e correct value o f K i s
slightly higher than K O n the basis of the
results i t would appear that a reasonable
value o f 13 t o u s e i n design w o u l d b e
about 0.3.

Negative skin friction

12

DAP

3 0 4 0

14

/ 0 = 0 25

Negative skin friction o r " d r a g d o w n

can d e v e l o p w h e n p i l e s a r e d r i v e n
through s o f t s o i l s i n t o s t i f f underlying
strata o r w h e n a superimposed loading,
usually in the form o f fill, is applied to the
ground surface. Negative skin friction r e sults f r o m t h e consolidation o f t h e c l a y
and usually takes a l o n g period of time t o
develop fully.
As i n t h e c a s e o f s h a f t f r i c t i o n d e veloped during loading it seems that negative skin friction i s best accounted f o r i n
terms o f effective stress a n d equations
(4) t o ( 8 ) apply. During consolidation o f
the clay the pore pressures will be significantly greater than hydrostatic a n d w i l l
gradually decrease a s consolidation p r o ceeds. H e n c e t h e e ff e c t i v e o v e r b u r d e n
pressure p ( = u, u) w i l l gradually i n crease causing a corresponding increase
in n e g a t i v e s k i n f r i c t i o n u n t i l t h e p o r e
pressures become hydrostatic.
Fellenius ( 1 9 7 2 ) h a s presented s o m e
detailed measurements o f t h e b u i l d u p
of negative s k i n f r i c t i o n o n t w o instrumented precast piles driven through 4 0 m
of soft clay into a firm underlying stratum..
The results s h o w a s t e a d y increase o f
negative friction w i t h time. The shaft friction w a s f a r f r o m f u l l y developed a t t h e
termination o f t h e test, b u t a t this stage
there w a s a l i n e a r increase w i t h d e p t h
with r , / p (-= ,d) equal to 0.095.
Johannessen a n d Eljerrum ( 1 9 6 5 ) d e s cribe t h e results o f t e s t s o n t w o s t e e l
Ground Engineering

Fig. 4. The variation of K 0 with depth for

London Clay

Fig. 4
Ko

ing t o K = K. This may be thought of as

the shaft friction o f an " i d e a l " pile which
has b e e n installed w i t h o u t altering t h e
initial s t r e s s c o n d i t i o n s i n t h e g r o u n d .
Since t h e value o f K varies w i t h depth
the total shaft resistance R is given by:
p. K tan a A 1
where d i s t h e d i a m e t e r a n d 1 i s t h e
length o f the pile T h e mean shaft friction
T. i s therefore*

7,-

18
20
22

13
ci. 1

p. K tan 8 A 1

(9)
Values o f K a t various depths i n London Clay have been deduced from laboratory tests b y Skempton (1961) a n d Bishop, W e b b a n d L e w i n ( 1 9 6 5 ) . T h e i r results are plotted i n fig. 4 and ( f o l l o w i n g
Chandler, 1 9 6 6 ) a m e a n c u r v e w i l l b e
*Equation ( 9 ) g i v e s r e s u l t s w h i c h c a n
differ appreciably f r o m t h e approximate
equation i = K,,.5 tan a used b y Chandler (1966).

used for estimating 7s. A s before i t is assumed t h a t failure takes place i n the remoulded s o i l c l o s e t o t h e s h a f t surface
so t h a t a i s e q u a l t o t h e remoulded
drained angle of friction which f o r London
Clay i s t a k e n a s 21.5 deg. i n f i g . 5 t h e
full l i n e represents t h e relationship b e tween the mean " i d e a l " shaft friction and
average d e p t h i n London C l a y assuming
that the w a t e r table is a t the surface and
the bulk density of the clay is 2 000 kg/ma,
The presence o f overlying fill o r gravel
is n o t thought t o influence t h e values o f
shaft f r i c t i o n greatly. T h e overlying d e posits result in a reapplication o f pressure
to t h e c l a y surface following earlier erosion a n d u n d e r these circumstances t h e
clay will behave approximately elastically,
at least below the top few metres. If 4,1 is
the effective vertical pressure due t o the
overlying deposits the resulting additional
shaft friction t , Ts is given by:

Ts

crl X

tan a

where ,,, = Poisson's r a t i o o f t h e s o i l

skeleton.
For L o n d o n C l a y v l i s l e s s t h a n 0 . 2
(Wroth, 1972) a n d therefore Z \ 1-, i s a p -

24
Fig. 5

Average s h a f t f r i c t i o n - Kl\l/m2
piles d r i v e n t o b e d r o c k t h r o u g h a b o u t
50 m o f soft clay. A f t e r installation, a fill
with a height o f about 1 0 m w a s placed
over t h e g r o u n d surface. E q u a t i o n ( 6 )
was used t o compute t h e distribution o f
negative s k i n friction along t h e p i l e a n d
hence i t s change o f length w i t h d e p t h .
The c o m p u t e d r e s u l t s w e r e t h e n c o m pared w i t h measurements o f pile shortening a t various depths. I t w a s f o u n d t h a t
a v a l u e o f K tan a ( = g ) e q u a l t o 0 . 2
gave t h e m o s t satisfactory a g r e e m e n t
with t h e observations.
Equation ( 8 ) predicts values o f /3 lying
between 0.24 and 0.29. These values may
be o n t h e h i g h s i d e since orientation o f
the c l a y p a r t i c l e s d u r i n g consolidation
past t h e shaft surface may result in a being less then O n the basis o f t h e results available to date and the predictions
of the simple effective stress theory i t appears that a value o f 13 = 0.25 represents
a reasonable upper limit f o r negative skin
friction in soft clay.

2,0

80

1 0 0

1 2 0

1 4 0

Wembley W h i t a k e r a n d
Tension C o o k e (1966)
Moorfields
Barbican B u r l a n d , Butler
2

Hayes
St.Giles

and Dunican (1966)

Kensal green
Finsbury
Millbank

Skempton (1959)

Shaft friction for piles in stiff clay

An effective stress approach t o s h a f t

friction i n s t i f f c l a y s i s m o r e c o m p l e x
than f o r s o f t clays. T h e approach d e s cribed here i s similar t o t h a t outlined b y
Chandler (1966 a n d 1968). Equation ( 6 )
is still assumed t o apply although its validity f o r driven piles i n stiff c l a y m a y b e
open t o q u e s t i o n d u e t o t h e c o m p l e x
stress c o n d i t i o n s s e t u p d u r i n g d r i v i n g .
The c e n t r a l problem i s t o estimate t h e
value o f K . I n t h e undisturbed s t a t e t h e
value o f K ( = Ko) f o r heavily o v e r c o n solidated c l a y varies w i t h depth and c a n
have values as high as 3 near the surface
decreasing t o less than 1 a t great depth.
As f o r s o f t clays a logical first s t e p i s
to estimate the shaft friction correspondFig. 5. Relationship between average shaft
friction and average depth in clay for
driven piles in London Clay
38

10
\10m overburden
(3-=0 8 \
12

equation (9)

Fit.

A v

r
20

'01

10

against the average undrained strength c

(see Skempton (1959), fig. 5 ) . Moreover,
values o f E are themselves obtained b y
g e s h a f t Friction - KN/m2
averaging l a b o r a t o r y s t r e n g t h r e s u l t s
120 which fequently have a very wide scatter.
4 0
6 0
8 0
1 0 0
On t h e basis o f t h e results p l o t t e d i n
fig. 5 i t appears that the chain dotted line
(given b y 7-s/F5 -= 0.8) could be used as a
reasonably conservative preliminary d e sign curve f o r London. Figure 5 can also
be used as a check f o r design values o f
7-, and values falling above the observed
limits should be used w i t h caution.
Driven piles: F o r b o r e d piles equation
(9) appears t o g i v e a reasonable u p p e r
limit f o r s h a f t friction. W h e n a p i l e i s

driven i n t o t h e g r o u n d t h e equilibrium
horizontal stresses adjacent t o t h e s h a f t
w i l l b e greater t h a n t h e undisturbed
values over most o f the length o f the pile
X
due t o compaction o f the ground. Hence
equation ( 9 ) w o u l d b e expected t o g i v e
0
a lower limit for values of Fs.
Tomlinson ( 1 9 7 1 ) h a s q u o t e d t h e r e X
sults o f a number of tests on piles driven
0
into London Clay and the results for piles
greater than 4 m i n length w e plotted i n

fig. 6 . I t can b e seen t h a t t h e scatter i s

very large but the -ideal" curve does give
a lower limit.
The r e a s o n s f o r t h e s c a t t e r include:
variable ground conditions n e a r t h e s u r face (in particular the ground water level),
overlying material being drawn d o w n during installation thereby affecting the value
0
of 8 , and variations i n t h e depth o f t h e
0
gap o f t e n f o u n d b e t w e e n p i l e a n d s o i l
near t h e g r o u n d s u r f a c e ( To m l i n s o n ,
1971). T h e s e f a c t o r s predominate n e a r
ground surface and it is perhaps significant
that t h e results i n fig. 6 a r e f o r m u c h
shorter p i l e s t h a n t h e equivalent b o r e d
piles results i n fig. 5 w h i c h s h o w much
less scatter. T h e " i d e a l " c u r v e i s based
on t h e assumptions t h a t t h e w a t e r table
is a t the surface o f the clay and that 8 i s
equal t o t h e remoulded drained angle o f
equation (9)
friction f o r London Clay. B o t h these assumptions are likely to b e on the conservative side.
Without attempting t o explain t h e d e tailed behaviour o f driven p i l e s i n s t i f f
D r i v e n through sand and gravel
clay t h e existence o f a theoretical l o w e r
limit t o s h a f t f r i c t i o n m a y p r o v e useful
o D r i v e n through s o f t clays or silts
particularly when results o f pile tests are
very variable.
N o overlying strata

Concluding remarks
Fig. 6. Relationship between average shaft
friction and average depth in clay for
large diameter bored piles in London Clay
proximately equal t o OA T h e broken
line in fig. 5 corresponds t o 10 m of overlying deposits having a density o f 1 760
kg/m3 w i t h t h e w a t e r table s t i l l a t t h e
clay surface. T h e influence i s n o t g r e a t
and is even smaller w i t h a higher w a t e r
table. T h e - i d e a l " relationship b e t w e e n
,-, and average depth m a y b e compared
with t h e results o f p i l e tests i n London
Clay. Bored piles will be considered separately from driven piles.
Bored piles: T h e process o f boring a
shaft i n c l a y causes lateral y i e l d o f t h e
ground around t h e borehole d u e t o t h e
removal o f s t r e s s a t t h e w a l l s o f t h e
shaft. A f t e r installation o f t h e p i l e t h e
stresses w i l l gradually b u i l d u p a n d t h e
field values w i l l depend on the degree o f
softening t h a t t a k e s p l a c e i n t h e c l a y
around the shaft prior t o and during concreting. E v e n w i t h p e r f e c t conditions i t

seems doubtful i f t h e initial a t rest horizontal s t r e s s e s c a n e v e r b e f u l l y r e established a t t h e s h a f t face. T h u s t h e

"ideal" curve in fig. 5 should represent an
upper limit for values of 7, for bored piles
in London Clay.
In fig. 5 the results o f a number of tests
on large diameter bored piles are plotted.
The values o f Ts from We m b l e y a n d S t .
Giles C i r c u s w e r e obtained d i r e c t l y b y
means o f load cells installed a t the base
of t h e piles. F o r the remaining t e s t s t h e
shaft friction w a s deduced b y estimating
the bearing capacity o f the base and subtracting t h i s f r o m t h e m e a s u r e d t o t a l
failure load.
It can b e seen that the majority o f the
results f a l l b e l o w t h e " i d e a l " c u r v e b u t
are surprisingly close t o i t . A s predicted
the results f r o m sites overlain b y an a p preciable thickness of fill and gravel ( M i l l bank 9.5 m, St. Giles 6.6 m) d o n o t differ
significantly from the pattern o f results. In
general t h e scatter o f the results in fig. 5
is n o g r e a t e r t h a n w h e n T-s i s p l o t t e d

The o b j e c t o f t h i s p a p e r has been t o

demonstrate t h a t m a n y o f t h e features
of the behaviour o f piles i n c l a y can b e
accounted f o r b y adopting a simple a p proach i n terms o f effective stresses. The
approach has been particularly rewarding
for piles i n s o f t clays where i t has been
demonstrated t h a t t h e ratio between t h e
average shaft friction and the main effective overburden pressure Ts/15 ( = /3) l i e s
between a b o u t 0.25 a n d 0 . 4 irrespective
of c l a y t y p e . A n e x a m p l e i s g i v e n i n
which t h e results o f p i l e t e s t s o n t w o
soft c l a y s b o t h g i v e values o f p 0.32
while the values o f o f o r the t w o c l a y s
are 0.6 and 1.6 respectively.
The approach can b e used t o estimate
negative f r i c t i o n a n d i s essentially t h e
same a s t h e method adopted b y Johannessen and Bjerrum (1965). On the basis
of the limited amount of field data available
it appears that a value of /3 equal t o about
0.25 gives an upper limit for negative skin
friction on piles in soft clay.
For s t i f f c l a y s t h e s i t u a t i o n i s m o r e
complex a n d t h e m a i n difficulty l i e s i n
Ground Engineering

4 1

estimating t h e value o f the coefficient o f

earth p r e s s u r e a t r e s t l c a t v a r i o u s
depths. I t i s t o b e hoped t h a t direct i n
situ m e t h o d s o f measuring t h e a t - r e s t
horizontal effective pressures w i l l s o o n
be available ( W r o t h a n d Hughes, 1973).
For London Clay values o f k have been
estimated from laboratory tests and used
to obtain the relationship between Fs and
the mean depth f o r an " i d e a l - pile, i.e. a
pile that i s installed w i t h o u t altering t h e
in situ effective stresses. Comparison with
pile t e s t s appears t o confirm t h a t t h i s
ideal relationship gives a n u p p e r l i m i t o f
for b o r e d piles a n d a l o w e r l i m i t f o r
driving piles.
The s i m p l e approach outlined h e r e i s
not intended to replace the traditional empirical method o f estimating shaft friction,
particularly i n t h e stiffer materials. H o w ever, i t may well be useful f o r preliminary
design purposes o r a c h e c k particularly
in unusual o r untried conditions. I t s main
practical v a l u e m i g h t b e i n providing a
simple m o d e l which enables t h e engineer
to understand s o m e o f t h e fundamental
principles governing pile behaviour
From a research p o i n t o f v i e w t h e
method i s clearly t o o simple t o account
for t h e detailed behaviour o f piles. T h i s
must await the results o f careful and expensive research i n t o t h e distribution o f
both normal and shear stresses along the
shafts of various types of pile for a variety
of ground conditions. The simple approach
is sufficiently p r o m i s i n g t o j u s t i f y s u c h
research.
For pile t e s t s t o b e o f greatest value
the following p o i n t s should b e borne i n
mind:

1. Sufficient t i m e should b e allowed b e fore testing f o r the excess pore pressures s e t u p d u r i n g installation t o
dissipate.
2. T h e t e s t should b e carried o u t sufficiently s l o w l y f o r drained conditions
adjacent t o the shaft t o develop.
3. T h e position o f the ground water table
should be measured.
4 A detailed description o f the soil profile including i n d e x properties should
be given.
5 A d d i t i o n a l information i n t h e f o r m o f
triaxial and oedometer tests o n undisturbed samples a n d triaxial t e s t s o n
remoulded samples i s desirable.

Acknowledgement

This p a p e r i s published w i t h t h e p e r mission o f t h e D i r e c t o r o f t h e Building

Researel Establishment.

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