PILE LENGTH

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Pile Length
− Selecting the type of pile to be used and estimating
its necessary length are fairly difficult tasks that
require good judgment.
− In most of the cases, the necessary length of end
bearing pile can be relatively easily established.
− The lengths of friction piles depend on the shear
strength of the soil, the applied load and the pile
size. To determine the necessary lengths of these
piles, the engineer needs good understanding of
soil-pile interaction, good judgement and
experience.

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Pile Length

− Compaction piles are generally short, but

some field tests are necessary to determine
reasonable length.

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INSTALLATION
OF PILES
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Installation of Piles
− Most piles are driven into the ground by
means of hammers or vibratory drives.
− In special circumstances piles can also be
inserted by jetting or partial augering.
− The types of hammer used for pile driving
include:
1. The drop hammer
2. The single acting air or steam hammer
3. The double acting and differential air or steam
hammer
4. The diesel hammer

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Installation of Piles
− In the driving operation a cap is attached to the
top of the pile. A cushion may be used between
the pile and the cap and above the cap which has
the effect of reducing the impact force and
spreading it over a longer time.

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Installation of Piles

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Installation of Piles

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LOAD TRANSFER
MECHANISM

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Load Transfer Mechanism
− The load transfer mechanism from a pile to
the soil is complicated.

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PILE CAPACITY

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Pile Capacity
− The bearing capacity of isolated piles may be
determined in one of the following methods:
1. From loading tests
2. From prevailing building codes
3. From sounding tests
4. From dynamic pile driving formulas
5. From analytical methods
− The order in which the methods are presented
above corresponds to the degree of reliability
of the methods.

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Pile Capacity
Loading Tests

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Pile Capacity
Loading Tests
− The loading test gives reliable results.
− Essentially, it consists of loading one pile
and recording the load and the
corresponding settlement data.
− one then plots the load settlement curve
from which allowable load on the
foundation will be determined.

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Pile Capacity
Loading Tests
− The limiting load (ultimate load) is read
from the load-total settlement or from
load-plastic settlement curves.
A. From load-total settlement curves
− The limiting pile load can be determined
from one of the following methods:
1. The point at which the end tangents of the
curve meet.

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Pile Capacity
Loading Tests
2. The point at which the curve begins to show
a steeper slope.
3. The point at which the curve manifests the
steepest slope.
4. For total settlement of 0.1d, 50mm, 25mm,
20mm

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Pile Capacity
Loading Tests
B. From load-plastic settlement curves
− The following suggestions are proposed to
determine the limiting pile load using load-
plastic settlement curve:
1. For a plastic settlement of 0.025d, 0.02d,
8mm, 35mm.

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Pile Capacity
Loading Tests
− The allowable pile load is obtained by
dividing the appropriate limiting pile load
by a factor of safety.
− The magnitude of the factor of safety,
which ranges from 1.3 to 2.0, depends on
the load type and number of load tests
performed.

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Pile Capacity
Building Codes
− Based on several years of experience, some
codes give allowable bearing capacity of
piles.
− EBCS-7 does not as yet provide users with
allowable values for different foundations.

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Pile Capacity
Sounding Tests
− Due to the relative ease of operation and
low cost involved, sounding tests are
preferred over other methods.
− If sounding tests are carefully interpreted,
the results they offer are reliable.

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Pile Capacity
Sounding Tests
− The ultimate bearing capacity obtained should
be divided by a factor of safety to obtain the
allowable load. Unless dictated by prevailing
codes, one may use the following factors of
safety:
1. 2 for piles without base
2. 2.5 for piles with base
3. 1.7 for wooden piles
− There are numerous methods of estimating
pile capacity from sounding tests.

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Pile Capacity
Dynamic Pile Driving Formulas
− These formulas give the dynamic resistance
of penetration of a pile by using parameters
during pile driving.
− Because of the swift application of the
loads, the dynamic pile driving formulas are
applicable in cohesion less soils where pore
water pressures do not develop.

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Pile Capacity
Dynamic Pile Driving Formulas
− Pile driving formulas can be classified as
formulas that use permanent settlement (Sp)
and formulas that use both permanent
settlement (Sp) and elastic compression of the
pile and soil (Se).
− These quantities could be directly measured
while driving the pile in question. This is done
by holding a piece of paper on the pile and
moving a pencil.

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Pile Capacity
Dynamic Pile Driving Formulas
− The allowable load will then be determined by
dividing the ultimate dynamic resistance by a
factor of safety of 3.
− EBCS-7 states that pile driving formulas should
not be used without correlating the results
with soil borings and loading tests or local
experience.

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Pile Capacity
Analytical Determination of Bearing Capacity
− The ultimate load-carrying capacity Qu of a
pile is given by the equation:
Qu=Qp+Qs
Where
o Qp = load-carrying capacity of the pile
point
o Qs = Frictional resistance (skin friction)
derived from the soil-pile interface

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Pile Capacity
Analytical Determination of Bearing Capacity
− Different methods are suggested by
different researchers to determine Qp and
Qs.
− Using the general equation for calculating
bearing capacity for shallow foundations,
the equation for point bearing capacity, Qp
can be written as:
qp = c'Nc* + q’Nq* + γDNγ*

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Pile Capacity
Analytical Determination of Bearing Capacity
− Because D is relatively small compared with B
in shallow foundations, we can omit the last
term without a serious error, so:
qp = c'Nc* + q’Nq*
Qp = Ap(c'Nc* + q’Nq*)
where
o Ap = area of pile tip
o c' = cohesion of the soil supporting the pile tip
o qp = unit point resistance
o q' = effective vertical stress at the level of the pile tip
o Nc*, Nq* = the bearing capacity factors

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Pile Capacity
Analytical Determination of Bearing Capacity
− Frictional resistance, Qs is determined as:
Qs = ΣpΔLf
where
o P = perimeter of the pile section
o ΔL = incremental pile length over which P and f are
taken to be constant
o f = unit friction resistance at any depth z

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Pile Capacity
Analytical Determination of Bearing Capacity
− Allowable Load, Qall is then determined by
dividing the ultimate load carrying capacity of
the pile by appropriate factor of safety (FS):
Qall = Qu/FS
− The factor of safety used generally ranges from
2.5-4 depending on the uncertainties
surrounding the calculation of ultimate load.
− The various methods used to determine Qp
and Qs are discussed here under;
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Reference materials
1. Principles of foundation engineering (by B.M. Das)
2. Principles of foundation engineering (by Alemayehu)

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