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FOUNDATION ENGINEERING

14 DEEP FOUNDATION

1. INTRODUCTION

A shallow foundation is usually provided when the soil at a shallow depth has adequate capacity
to support the load of the superstructure. However, in situations where the soil at shallow
depths is poor, in or transmits the load safely, the depth of foundation has to be increased till
a suitable soil stratum is met. Piles, piers and wells are examples of deep foundations. Different
aspects of pile foundations are discussed in the following sections.

2. USES OF PILES

A pile is a relatively small diameter shaft, which is driven or installed into the ground by suitable
means. The piles are usually driven in groups to provide foundations for structures. The pile
groups may be subjected to vertical loads, horizontal loads or a combination of vertical and
horizontal loads.
Piles are useful in transferring load through poor soil or water to a suitable bearing stratum by
means of end bearing. Such piles are called end bearing piles or point bearing piles. When the
piles are installed in soft soils such that the load is transferred through friction along the length
of the piles, they are called friction piles.
Piles are also used to resist horizontal loads as in the case of foundations for retaining walls,
bridge abutments and wharves. As the horizontal load acts perpendicular to the pile axis, these
piles are termed laterally loaded piles. In case of large lateral loads, piles are driven at an angle
and hence termed batter piles. These have been found to serve better than vertical piles.
Short piles are sometimes used for compact loose sand deposit which gets densified by the
vibrations set up on driving. Such piles are known as compaction piles.
Piles are sometimes used to resist uplift loads and are thus in tension. They are called tension
piles. Piles can also be used to provide anchorage against horizontal pull as in case of anchored
bulkheads and are termed anchor piles.
Piles may be required to increase the stability of tall structures, where the foundations are
subjected to large eccentric loads, inclined loads and moments. They are also used to avoid
damage due to the possible scouring of the soil-immediately below the foundation.

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3. TYPES OF PILES

Piles have been classified in the past using different criteria. Some of these criteria are:
(a) Material Of construction--ex: timber, steel, concrete, composite piles.
(b) Cross-section—ex: circular, square, hexagonal, I-section. H-section Pipe, etc.
(c) Shape—ex: cylindrical, tapered, under-reamed, etc.
(d) Mode of load transfer—ex: bearing, friction, tension etc.
(e) Method of forming--ex: precast, pre stressed, cast in situ, etc.
(1) Method of installation--ex: driven, bored, vibrated, jetted. Etc.

4. CAST IN SITU PILE CONSTRUCTION

Different methods of in situ pile construction with slightly different end results have been
developed by several commercial firms in this country and abroad. These have been patented.
4.1. Cased Piles
In the case of a Raymond standard pile, a shell having a taper of 10 mm in diameter for
each 300 mm length with 200 mm tip diameter is driven with a mandrel into the ground.
After it is driven to the required depth, the mandrel is withdrawn and the shell filled with
concrete. Such piles could be used up to lengths of about 15 m. The Raymond step-taper
pile consists of a series of cylinders about 3 m long, each about 15.4 mm larger than the
lower one. Step-taper piles can be used upto about 30 m length. The method is a patented
process of Raymond Concrete Pile Company of the USA.
4.2. Uncased Pile
Western uncased pile and Franki uncased pile are some of the examples of uncased piles.
In a Franki pile, a 500 mm diameter steel casing is driven into the ground for a small
depth. After cleaning the casing, concrete with a low water-cement ratio is placed at its
bottom and rammed to form a plug. The rammed concrete plug grips the casing pipe
tightly and thereafter forms an integral part during the driving process. The casing is then
driven by a ram weighing about 31.75 kN, falling through a height of 3 to 6 m inside the
casing. The casing penetrates the ground under the impact of the falling ram. When the
casing reaches the required depth, the casing is held and the concrete plug is forced out
of the casing. Further ramming of the expelled concrete is done to form a bulb. The casing
is then raised while successive charges of concrete are rammed in place to form a rough
surface of the pile. The figure below shows the sequence of various operations. As the
pile has an enlarged end at the base, it is sometimes called a Franki uncased pedestal
pile. Such piles of lengths up to 32 m can be used with a load bearing capacity exceeding
1000kN.

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4.3. Under-reamed Piles

An under-reamed pile is a special type of bored pile which is provided with a bulb/pedestal
at the end. The under-reamed pile is constructed by making a hole in the ground by
means of a hand-operated auger. An under-reamer is then lowered in the cleaned hole.
The under-reamer is pressed down and rotated. Under pressure, the blades open up and
due to rotary action; the soil is cut and falls in the bucket. When the bucket is full, the
under-reamer is pulled out and cleaned. The under-reamer is lowered again and the
process repeated. After the enlarged end is formed, the reinforcement cage is lowered
and concreting is done.
The usual size of such piles is 150 to 200 mm shaft diameter, 3 to 4 in long. The diameter
of the under-reamed portion is usually 2 to 3 times the shaft diameter.
Under-reamed piles are considered useful in expansive soils where the use of shallow
spread footings is ruled out due to excessive shrinkage and swelling behavior of such
soils. A further development is the use of multi under-reamed piles. When the number of
bulbs is increased from one to two; the carrying capacity of the pile increases by about
50 per cent.

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5. PILE LOAD CAPACITY IN COMPRESSION

General requirements for satisfactory behavior of pile foundations are the same as for other
foundations, namely, adequate against shear failure and excessive settlement capacity of the
pile can be estimated by several methods which may be grouped into the following categories:
(a) Static pile load formulae
(b) Pile load test
(c) Pile driving formulae
(d) Correlations with penetration test data
5.1. STATIC PILE LOAD FORMULAE
When a compressive load Q is applied at the top of a pile, the pile will tend to move
vertically downward relative to the surrounding soil. This will cause-shear stresses to
develop between the soil and the surface of the shaft. As a result, the applied load is
distributed as friction load along a certain length of the pile measured from the top as the
load at the top is increased, the friction load distribution will extend more and more '
towards the tip of the pile, till at a certain load level, the entire length of the pile is
involved in generating the frictional resistance. This is the ultimate skin friction resistance
of pile, Qf. It is only when the load at the top of the pile exceeds Q f that the load in excess
of Qf begins to be transferred to the soil at the base of the pile. This load, known as the
point load, goes on till the soil at the base of the pile fails by punching shear failure. The
load in bearing at this stage is the ultimate point load. Qpu.

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The maximum load which the pile can support through the combined resistance of skin
friction and point bearing is known as the ultimate load capacity, Q u, of the pile.
Qu = Qpu + Qf
If Qpu > > Qf, pile may be called a 'point bearing pile; if Qf > > Qpu, it is called a 'friction'
pile. The relative proportion of loads carried by point load and skin friction depends on
the shear strength and elasticity of the soil. The vertical movement of the pile required
to mobilize full skin friction resistance is much smaller than that required to mobilize full
point bearing resistance. It has been observed that the relative movement required to
fully mobilise shaft resistance is approximately equal to 0.5 to 1 percent of the shaft
diameter. In contrast to this, in clays and-for driven piles in sand, the vertical movement
required to fully mobilise base resistance is about 10 to 20 percent of the base diameter.
This usually implies that when piles are designed to carry a working load equal to 1/3 to
1/2 of the ultimate load, the chances are that the shaft resistance is fully mobilized at
this working load. It has been observed that
(a) when the ultimate skin friction resistance is mobilised, only a fraction of the ultimate
point load is mobilised, and
(b) when the ultimate point load is mobilised, the skin friction resistance has decreased
to a lower value than its peak.
The general equation for unit point bearing resistance, q pu for a c – ϕ soil may be written
in the form.

q pu = cNc + Nq + 0.5BN

Where B = width or diameter of the pile

 = Effective overburden pressure at the tip of the pile equal to γL N c, Nq and Nγ =

bearing capacity factors.
C = unit cohesion
L = Length of embedment of the pile
γ = effective unit weight of the soil

In a deep foundation, the term 0.5 γ BNγ is quite small compared to  Nq and hence is
usually neglected.
The equation for qpu for a c – ϕ soil thus reduces to

Qpu = cNc +  Nq
For a granular soil, c = c’ = 0; thus

Qpu =  Nq
For a clay soil, c = cu and ϕu = 0; thus
Qpu = Cub = Nc
Where Cub = undrained shear strength of clay at the base of the pile

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The ultimate point load, Qpu can be expressed in the form

Qpu = qqu Ab
where Ab = sectional area of the pile at its base
The general equation for the ultimate skin friction resistance Qf may written in the form
Qf = fs As
where fs = unit skin friction resistance and
As = surface area of the pile in contact with the soil
Thus, the ultimate load capacity Qu can be expressed in the form
Qu =qpu Ah + fs As
For piles in granular soil, the design is based on an 'effective stress' analysis. In clays, it
is common to use a 'total stress' analysis in which the load capacity is related to the
unchained shear strength cu. However, some investigators believe that even piles in clay
should be designed using effective stress approach. For one thing in piles in over
consolidated clays, the drained load capacity may be more critical than the unchained
load capacity. Even otherwise, the excess pore water pressure due to pile loading
develops in a limited area around the pile and can dissipate rapidly through fissures in
the soil or even through the concrete pile itself. In this text, however, the total stress
approach is used for clay soils.
5.1.1. Piles in Granular Soils (Sand and Gravel)
Driven piles:
Using the effective stress analysis, one can assume c’ = 0 for a granular soil.
Point bearing

In a granular soil, q pu = N q

The bearing capacity factor, Nq is a function of ϕ.

 + 40
For driven piles in sand, a value of  = may be taken, where 1 is the in situ value
2
of the angled of shearing resistance. Tomlinson, however, recommends that the in situ
value of ϕ itself may be taken. Thus, with known pile dimensions and soil properties, the
ultimate load capacity, Qpu can be determined.
The unit point resistance increases in direct proportion to only embedded length of the
pile. However, several field observations indicate that the increase upto a limited depth,
beyond which these values remain constant. This depth is called the critical depth, of pile.
This phenomenon is primarily attributed to the arching action-in the-granular soil. The
coil the critical depth depends on the angle of shearing resistance ϕ’ of the soil and the
width (or diameter) of the pile. Its value may vary from about 15 D in loose to medium
sands to 20 D in dense sands where D is the pile diameter or width. It must be understood
that the critical depth concept-is not applicable to piles embedded clay strata where
arching effect is absent.

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Skin friction
The ultimate skin friction resistance, Qf is obtained after determining the unit skin
friction, fs.
The unit skin friction acting at any depth is equal to the soil pressure actin normal to
the pile surface at that depth multiplied by the coefficient of friction between the soil
and the pile material (tan δ). The soil pressure acting normal to the pile surface, σ h is

horizontal and is related to the effective vertical over burden pressure  by the

equation n = K where K is the lateral earth pressure coefficient.

Thus, fs = σh tan = δ

or fs = K tan 
In which δ = angle of friction between the pile and the soil Ultimate skin friction
resistance, Qf is given by
Qf = fs(m) As

or Qf = Kav tan  As

where av = average effective over burden pressure over the embedded length of the
pile. Broms (1966) recommends the values of K and δ shown in table below for piles
driven into sand.
Table: Value of K and δ
Values of K
Pile material Δ
Loose sand Dense sand
Steel 20 0.5 1.0

Concrete 0.75 ϕ 1.0 2.0

Timber 0.67 ϕ 1.5 4.0

5.1.2. Piles in Clay

Piles in cohesive soils, barring under-reamed piles of large diameter generally carry most
of the load by virtue of the skin friction on the pile shaft. The bearing capacity is usually
calculated using the total stress approach, using undrained shear strength, cu (ϕ0 = 0)
Qu = qpu Ab + fs As
In clays, qpu = cub NC and fs = cα = ∝ cu; thus,
Qu =cub Nc Ab + ∝ Cu As
Where cub = undrained cohesion at the base of the pile.
Nc = bearing capacity factor for a deep foundation. For circular and square piles, N C
value of 9 is used, as proposed by Skempton.
α = adhesion factor; for a single pile, the contact is between pile and soil; hence the
adhesion factor is used
Cu = Undrained cohesion in the embedded length of the pile.

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The evaluation of the first term poses no problem the undrained shear strength of the
soil at the tip of the pile can be determined with fair accuracy and N c is taken as equal to
9. In clay soils, the contribution of point bearing is small compared to that of shaft skin
friction resistance. Hence, an accurate determination of the adhesion factor becomes very
important.

From experience, it is recommended that at least 30 days should elapse after the driving
of pile before it is loaded so that the pile shaft develops its full frictional resistance. In
actual projects, the temporary loss in shear strength does not affect the pile capacity
because it usually takes several months after driving for the piles to be loaded. Pile load
tests in soft clays should be conducted at least 30 days after the piles are driven.
The code recommends that for working out the safe load, a minimum factor of safety 2.5
should be used. Further, static load formula may be used only as a guide for load capacity
estimates. More reliance is to be placed on load on piles.
Example: A 450 mm wide, square in section concrete pile, 15 m long, is driven in a deep
deposit of uniform clay. Laboratory confirmed compression tests on undisturbed samples
indicate an average qu value of 75 kN/m2. Calculate the ultimate load capacity of the pile.
Take α = 0.8
Solution:
For an unconfined compressive strength = 75 kN/m2, the untrained cohesion value
75
cu = 2 kN/m2 = 37.5 kN/m2
For cu = 37.5 kN/m2, α = 0.8
Substituting the data in the equation
Qu = 9.c. Ab + α. cu. As
Qu = 37.5 × 9 × 0.452 + 0.8 × 37.5 × 4 × 0.45 × 15
= 68 + 810 =878 kN

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5.2. DYAMIC PILE FORMULA

Dynamic pile formulae are also useful in estimating pile capacity. These are based on the
laws governing the impact of elastic bodies. The input energy of the hammer blow is
equated to the work done in overcoming the resistance of the ground to the penetration
of the pile. Allowance is made for the losses of energy due to elastic contractions of the
pile, pile cape and sub soil and also the losses due to the inertia of the pile. Some of these
formulae are discussed in the following sections.
5.2.1. Engineering News Formula
Equating the energy input and work done,
QuS’ = W H, from which the allowable pile load, Qa is expressed as:
WH
Qa =
F(S + C)
Where, W = weight of the hammer (in KN) falling through a height H (in cm)
S = set (penetration per blow of hammer) in cm.
C = empirical allowing reduction in the theoretical set due to energy losses. C is taken
as 2.5 cm for drop hammer and 0.25 cm for Single Acting Steam Hammer (SASH) and
for Double Acting Steam Hammer (DASH)
F = factor of safety is taken as 6
Example:
What is the Factor of Safety used in Engineering News Record (ENR) Formula?
Solution:
The Factor of Safety which is used in ENR Formula is fixed and its value is 6.

6. GROUP ACTION OF PILES

In the preceding sections, the discussion related to the load capacity of an individual pile,
however, when used as foundation members, piles are always used in a group. This is to ensure
that the structural forms a member like a column or a wall lies within the zone of influence of
the foundation. If a single driven pile is used as the foundation, one cannot be certain that the
pile would be located centrally below the foundation element because quite often the pile moves
laterally during driving.
The resultant eccentricity of loading may result in the development of bending stresses in the
pile and consequently the pile may fail structurally. Hence, a minimum-number of-three-piles-
is even if the load does not warrant more than three, the piles are so arranged that they are
symmetrical with respect to the load. Piles under a wall are arranged on either side of the
center line of the wall in a staggered formation. The load is transferred to the piles in the group
through a reinforced slab or beam called the pile cap. The pile tops are connected-together to
the pile cap which helps the pile group act as an integral unit. The pile cap may either stand

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clearly above the ground level or may rest on the soil partially or fully buried
below ground level. In the former case the pile group is called a free standing pile group while
it is referred to as a piled foundation where the piles rest on the soil.
6.1. Ultimate Load Capacity of Pile Groups
The ultimate load capacity of a pile group is not necessarily equal to the sum of the
individual load capacities of the piles in the group. The ratio of the ultimate load capacity
of the pile-group Qug to the sum of the individual load capacities of the piles of the group
is called the group efficiency.
Qug
=
nQu
Where n is the number of pile in the group and Q u is the load capacity of one pile.
Generally, for smaller spacing between piles, Efficiency < 1. For larger spacing, the effect
of pile interaction diminishes and efficiency approaches unity. In driven piles where the
soil around the piles gets densified as in loose to medium sand, efficiency may be even
more than 1. The pile group tends to behave like a block or like an equivalent single pile
circumscribing all the piles in the group. The group efficiency depends mainly on the
spacing between piles, type of soil in which the piles are installed god the manner of pile
installation, that is, driven bored cast in situ etc. When driven piles are spaced closely
between the piles tends to move upwards and cause the piles to be lifted up. On the other
hand large spacing necessitates a bigger pile cap, which is uneconomical. Bored cast in
situ piles permit smaller spacing, because their installation in the ground does not result
in a densification of the soil around the piles.
The minimum spacing of piles is recommended by different codes of practice. The British
Code of Practice (2004: 1972) suggests a minimum spacing equal to the perimeter of the
pile for a friction pile and

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(a)

(b) Point bearing piles

6.2. SETTLEMENT OF A PILE GROUP

The vertical movement that occurs at the level of the pile cap is largely due to the
settlement of the soil supporting the pile. This has to be restricted to a value within the
permissible settlement for the structure in question. The settlement of a group of piles is
more than the settlement of a single pile even when the load on the single pile and the
load on each pile of the pile group arc the same. This is because of the fact that the zone
of influence of a pile group is much deeper than that of a single pile. In addition, in the
case of driven piles in sand, the larger thickness of soil contributing to settlement is also
more compressible than the soil below a single pile which can be regarded as pre
compressed on account of the pile driving.

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6.2.1. Pile groups in clay

The settlement of a pile group in day cannot be estimated from the data of a load test on
a single pile because the time effect, the effect of remolding of soil due to pile driving and
the scale effect are quite different for the single test pile. Widely used approach for
calculating the settlement of a pile group in clay is the equivalent raft approach In this
method, the pile group assumed to act as a single, large raft assumed to be placed at
some arbitrary depth inside the soil. The piles are assumed to transfer the vertical load
acting on them Qg to this depth the settlement of the raft is calculated. The settlement
of the pile group is taken as the settlement of this fictitious raft. Depending on subsoil
conditions, several assumptions have been used to identify the location of the equivalent
raft:
1. For the displacement piles or friction piles in homogeneous clay, the common practice
is to assume the equivalent raft at a depth of two thirds the pile length over an area
enclosed by the piles at the depth. The load Qg assumed to be transferred at this level is
then assumed to spread out at 2 vertical to 1 horizontal distribution in order to work out
the value of stress increase Δσ at the mid-depth of the clay stratum. A dispersion of load
on the basis of an angle of dispersion of 30° to the vertical is also sometimes used. The
presence of the piles below this depth is ignored.
2. For bored piles or end bearing-on firm stratum, The equivalent raft is assumed at the
base of the piles over the area enclosed by the piles at this depth. A load spread of 2: 1
is assumed from this depth.
3. This situation relates to piles driven into a firm or strong stratum through an overlying
clay stratum. If the length of the pile embedded in the strong stratum is L, the load Qg is
assumed to act at a depth equal to two-thirds the-length L below the top surface of the
strong layer and-spreading out at 2:1 slope.
6.2.2 Pile groups in sand
For estimating the settlement of a pile group in sand, the common practice is to
extrapolate this from the settlement of an in individual test pile measured in a load test.
Skempton (1953) compared the settlements of a number of pile groups, consisting of
driven piles, with the settlement of individual Piles in sand, for the same load per pile.
The settlement of a pile group Sg is expressed as a multiple of the settlement of an
individual pile Si. Sg/Si is called the settlement ratio (for the same average load Q per
pile). Settlement ratio, Sg/Si is expressed as

 4B + 2.7 
2
Sg
= 
Si  B + 3.6 
Where B is the width of the pile group in meters.

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6.2.3. Allowable Load on a pile group

The safe pile load capacity of a pile group under vertical load is first determined on the
basis of the shear failure criterion. The settlement of the pile group under this load is
then computed. The settlement should not exceed the permissible settlement. The
allowable load on a group of piles is the smaller of the values calculated on the basis of
the shear failure criterion and the settlement criterion.
Example:
Let x be the magnitude of settlement of a group of friction piles and y be the magnitude
of settlement of a single pile. Which among x and y will be greater?
Solution:
The magnitude of x will be greater than that of y because pile group has larger depth of
pressure bulb than that of individual pile, hence settlement of pile group will be more.
6.3. Negative skin friction
Piles installed in freshly placed fills of soft compressible deposits are subjected to a
downward drag, a consequence of the consolidation of the strata after the piles are
installed. This downward drag on the pile surface when the soil moves down relative to
the pile adds to the structural loads and is called negative skin fraction. This is in contrast
to the usual shaft friction which is mobilized when the pile moves down relative to the
soil. Thus, negative skin friction has an effect of reducing the allowable load on the pile.
Negative skin friction may also develop if the fill material is a loose sand deposit. It can
also occur due to the lowering of the ground water table which increases the effective
stress, thus causing consolidation of the soil with the resultant down drag on piles. A
small relative movement the soil and the pile, of the order of about 10 mm, may be
sufficient for the full negative friction to materialize.

In bearing piles where the settlement of the pile is negligible, negative skin friction
becomes a pile capacity problem. However, for piles in compressible soils where pile
capacity is contributed by both point resistance and shaft adhesion, the problem of
negative skin friction should be considered a settlement problem.

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7. CONVENTIONAL PROBLEMS

Problem 1: A 30 cm diameter pile, 12m long is driven into a sand deposit. The details of the
hammer are as below:
Total weight of hammer = 20 KN
Length of stroke = 100 cm
Energy per blow = 2000 KN-cm
Average penetration per blow = 4 mm
Determine the allowable load carrying capacity of the pile.
(Ans. 114.94 KN)
Problem 2: 200 mm diameter, 8 m long piles are used as foundation for a column in a uniform
deposit of medium clay (Unconfined Compressive Strength = 100 KN/m2 and adhesion factor
= 0.9). There are 9 piles arranged in a square pattern of 3 × 3 for a group efficiency factor of
1.0, find the spacing between the piles (neglect bearing).
(Ans. 0.536 m)
Problem 3: Design a pile group to carry safe load of 1450 KN in soft clay with equal spacing
in both directions. The average unconfined compressive strength of clay is 180 KN/m 2. Neglect
the end bearing effect and assume that each pile is circular in section. Take adhesion factor as
0.60 and FOS= 3.
(Ans. L=10 m, S= 0.90 m)
Problem 4: A 300mm diameter concrete pile, 9m long, is driven in a deposit of cohesion less
soil. The average corrected standard penetration resistance, N for the deposit is 15. Using the
correlations, estimate the safe load capacity of the pile. Adopt a factor of safety 2.5 and assume
unit weight of 16 KN/m3 for the sand.
(Ans. 780 KN)
Problem 5: The pile load test on a 40 cm diameter concrete pile in a deposit of sand indicates
a settlement of 4 mm under a load 400 KN. Estimate the settlement of a 4 × 4 pile group. The
piles are driven at a spacing of 100 cm.
(Ans. 24.43 mm)

****

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