BATTERED PILE MISCONCEPTIONS

Tom Richards

INTRODUCTION

Problem statement
Which batter is better?
How to determine batter angles?
Simple
Refined
Do batter piles have bending moments?
NOT covering seismic stiffness / load attraction in detail

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Problem Statement

To deal with lateral load just batter the piles ???

Example questions from Engineers
Is 60 ton allowable lateral capacity reasonably achievable
for 12 in pressure grouted micropiles up to a 20 (1 : 2.75)
batter?
What lateral capacities are reasonable and at what batter
angles, for postgrout installation methods at this site?
Cant I just take axial capacity times batter?

AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications (2010)

10.7.1.4-Batter Piles
When the lateral resistance of the soil surrounding
the piles is inadequate to counteract the horizontal forces
transmitted to the foundation, or when increased rigidity
of the entire structure is required, batter piles should be
considered for use in the foundation. Where negative
skin friction (downdrag) loads are expected, batter piles
should be avoided. If batter piles are used in areas of
significant seismic loading, the design of the pile
foundation shall recognize the increased foundation
stiffness that results.

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AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications (2010)

C10.7.1.4
In some cases, it may be desirable to use batter
piles. From a general viewpoint, batter piles provide a
much stiffer resistance to horizontal loads than would be
possible with vertical piles. They can be very effective
in resisting static horizontal loads.
Due to increased foundation stiffness, batter piles
may not be desirable in resisting horizontal dynamic
loads if the structure is located in an area where seismic
loads are potentially high.

PennDOT Design Manual Part 4 June 2009

6.15 PILES 6.15.1 General ..

Based on the parametric study conducted by the
Department, .a pile group composed of
both vertical and battered piles which is subjected to
lateral load shall be designed assuming that all lateral load
is resisted by the horizontal component of the axial
capacity of the battered piles. .
The use of the above design procedure with
any of the following conditions requires the approval of
the Chief Bridge Engineer:
Piles with a specified steel yield strength other than 250 MPa {36 ksi}
Piles with bending stiffness properties less than HP250X62 {HP10X42}
Very soft clays or very loose sands .
Unfactored vertical load to horizontal load ratio less
than 3.5 (excluding seismic forces)

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 PennDOT Design Manual Part 4

5.13.4 Concrete Piles

5.13.4.1 GENERAL C5.13.4.1
The following shall supplement A5.13.4.1.
Piles shall be designed as structural members capable
of safely supporting all imposed loads. A pile group
composed of both vertical and battered piles which is
subjected to lateral load shall be designed assuming that all
lateral load is resisted by the horizontal component of the
axial capacity of the battered piles.

HMMMM?

6.15 PILES
6.15.1 General
The following shall replace A 6.15.1.
Piles shall be designed as structural members capable
of safely supporting all imposed loads.
For a pile group composed of only vertical piles
which is subjected to lateral load, the pile structural
analysis shall include explicit consideration of soilstructure
interaction effects using a COM624P analysis
(Wang and Reese, 1993) or LPILE 5.0 analysis.
Based on the parametric study conducted by the
Department, which is described in the commentary, an
abutment or retaining wall with a pile group composed of
both vertical and battered piles which is subjected to
lateral load shall be designed assuming that all lateral load
is resisted by the horizontal component of the axial
capacity of the battered piles. The vertical load shall be
distributed among piles in the group using a simple elastic
procedure. The use of the above design procedure with
any of the following conditions requires the approval of
the Chief Bridge Engineer:
Piles with a specified steel yield strength other than
250 MPa {36 ksi}
Piles with bending stiffness properties less than
HP250X62 {HP10X42}
Very soft clays or very loose sands as defined in
Standard Drawing BC-795M
Piles with bending stiffness properties less than
HP310X79 {HP12X53} in soft clays or loose sands
as defined in Standard Drawing BC-795M
Unfactored vertical load to horizontal load ratio less
than 3.5 (excluding seismic forces)

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10.7.3.12 NOMINAL HORIZONTAL RESISTANCE OF
PILE FOUNDATIONS
10.7.3.12.1 Batter Piles
The batter piles in a pile group shall resist the entire
horizontal load through the horizontal component of their
axial capacity, unless an alternate method is approved by
the Chief Bridge Engineer.
Refer to D6.15.1 for design procedures for pile groups
containing battered piles.

Cant I just take axial capacity times batter?

Ph

x
Batter 1:x

1
Batter angle=atan(1/x)

Ph = P*sin(batter angle)

Resolution of Forces at Top of Pile ? Pile and Ground

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PennDOT Design Manual Part 4 June 2009

6.15 PILES 6.15.1 General ..

Based on the parametric study conducted by the
Department, .a pile group composed of
both vertical and battered piles which is subjected to
lateral load shall be designed assuming that all lateral load
is resisted by the horizontal component of the axial
capacity of the battered piles. .
The use of the above design procedure with
any of the following conditions requires the approval of
the Chief Bridge Engineer:
Piles with a specified steel yield strength other than 250 MPa {36 ksi}
Piles with bending stiffness properties less than HP250X62 {HP10X42}
Very soft clays or very loose sands .
Unfactored vertical load to horizontal load ratio less
than 3.5 (excluding seismic forces)

Which batter is better?

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Which batter is better? Consider failure wedges

Does failure surface stay the same angle?

Looks pretty close

Which batter is better? Consider failure wedges

Fp Fp2

R W W2

R2

F F

Force Polygon & shovel analogy

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Which batter is better? What do actual tests say?
Reese & VanImpe (2001)
3.13 EFFECT OF BATTER
. The lateral soil-resistance curves
for a vertical pile in a horizontal ground
surface were modified by a constant to
account for the effect of the inclination
2.0 of the pile. The values of the
modifying constant as a function of
the batter angle were deduced from
1.5
the results in the test tank
(Awoshika & Reese 1971) and also
from the results from full-scale tests
(Kubo 1964). .
1.0
As shown in Figure 3.34, the
agreement between the empirical curve
and the experiments for the out-batter
piles (q is positive) agrees somewhat
0.5 better than for the in-batter piles. The
data indicate that the use of the
modifier will yield results that are
somewhat questionable; .
( OPTOMISTIC )

Which batter is better? Consider failure wedges

What does LPILE say? Cohesive

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Which batter is better? Consider failure wedges

What does LPILE say? Granular

Which batter is better? Consider failure wedges and

vertical load

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Cant I just take axial capacity times batter? MAYBE

Pv Can we just wish this load here?

Ph
P
x
Batter 1:x

1
Batter angle=atan(1/x)

Ph = P*sin(batter angle)

Resolution of Forces at Top of Pile Pile and Ground

PennDOT Design Manual Part 4 June 2009

6.15 PILES 6.15.1 General ..

Based on the parametric study conducted by the
Department, .a pile group composed of
both vertical and battered piles which is subjected to
lateral load shall be designed assuming that all lateral load
is resisted by the horizontal component of the axial
capacity of the battered piles. .
The use of the above design procedure with
any of the following conditions requires the approval of
the Chief Bridge Engineer:
Piles with a specified steel yield strength other than 250 MPa {36 ksi}
Piles with bending stiffness properties less than HP250X62 {HP10X42}
Very soft clays or very loose sands .
Unfactored vertical load to horizontal load ratio less
than 3.5 (excluding seismic forces)

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Which batter is better? Consider failure wedges and
vertical load
What does LPILE say? Granular

Note 70 kips * tan(20 deg) = 25.5 kips

How to determine batter angles

A simple graphical procedure for estimating the compressive and

tensile forces in micropile groups containing not more than three
rows of micropiles is described in Tomlinson (1987) and Teng (1962).
For analysis of three-dimensional pile groups that considers
nonlinear soil response and pile-soil-pile interaction, the GROUP 7
program can be used.

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How to determine batter angles SIMPLE STATICS

How to determine batter angles - TENG

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How to determine batter angles - TENG

How to determine batter

angles - TENG

Center of Gravity of Group

Pile Group Moment of Inertia

Transformed Moment to CG

Vertical Force/pile = P/A+M/S

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How to determine batter angles - TENG

Center of Gravity of Group

Pile Group Section

Modulus
Transformed Moment to CG

Vertical Force/pile =
P/A+M/S

How to determine batter angles - TENG

FORCE POLYGON

39.4 kips
applied

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How to determine batter angles GROUP modeling

Do batter piles have bending moments?

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Do batter piles have bending moments?

An interesting outcome
from working with the
GROUP program is the
realization that even
battered pile groups have
bending moments in the
piles.
Battered piles can
substantially reduce and
balance, but not eliminate,
the bending moments in
the piles.

200 kip vertical load per pile 7x0.5 casing

Piles should have pipe or
14 deg batter cages at the top

Do batter piles have bending moments?

200 kip vertical load per pile 7x0.5 casing

Moment = 5% of allowable stress

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Do batter piles have bending moments?

Pinned Fixed

Do batter piles have bending moments?

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Problem Statement - Revisited

To deal with lateral load just batter the piles ???

Maybe depends on vertical loads and hitting the sweet spot in ratio
between lateral and vertical load
Example questions from Engineers
Is 60 ton allowable lateral capacity reasonably achievable for 12 in
pressure grouted micropiles up to a 20 (1 : 2.75) batter?
depends on vertical loads
What lateral capacities are reasonable and at what batter angles, for
post grout installation methods at this site?
depends on vertical loads
Cant I just take axial capacity times batter?
NOT and satisfy basic equilibrium = NO

CONCLUSIONS

Battered piles are only efficient with vertical load

Batter angles can be determined by
Determinant statics
Graphic
Numerical modeling - GROUP
Battered piles have bending moment even
without horizontal load and need bending
ductility and strength

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THANK YOU

Questions?

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