NIPPON STEEL & SUMITOMO METAL TECHNICAL REPORT No.

113 DECEMBER 2016

UDC 624 . 152

Technical Report

Line-up Expansion of Hat-shaped Steel Sheet Pile

(NS-SP-45H·50H)
Kazutaka OTSUSHI* Noriyoshi HARATA
Teruki NISHIYAMA Takashi SUZUKI
Naoto KATAOKA Hideyuki YOKOBAYASHI
Hiroshi YAMASHITA Yosuke MIURA

Abstract
Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation has developed “Hat-shaped steel sheet
pile” series as a new generation steel sheet pile with improved drivability, higher structural
reliability, and higher economical efficiency as compared with the traditional U-shaped
steel sheet pile. The hat-shaped steel sheet pile was available in only two sizes, namely, 10H
and the size 25H, which later on added with two sizes of 45H and 50H developed to provide
higher sectional properties. The new sizes were released to the market in 2014. In this re-
port, we explain the product's outline, features, construction workability, peripheral tech-
nologies, and the project conditions of 45H and 50H.

1. Introduction stream 600 mm, named “wide-width steel sheet pile,” in order to
We started the development of the steel sheet pile in 1929 for comply with the social needs of reduction in construction cost. Lat-
domestic production at the then government-owned Yawata Iron and er, further construction cost reduction and the application of the
Steel Works and began commercial production and marketing of the sheet pile to various constructions other than river and port harbor
steel sheet pile in 1931. Since then, steel sheet pile came to be used constructions came to be in demand. In order to comply with such
widely in constructions such as river conservation, port and harbor, demands, we had to develop a new high-performance steel sheet
and temporary earth retaining. After that, we developed high rolling pile product with excellent construction workability, higher structur-
technology to realized mass production and the application technol- al reliability, and higher economical efficiency in place of the U-
ogies of designing and construction and so on. In addition owing to shaped steel sheet pile. With such details, we developed a hat-
the high economic growth, the demand for steel sheet pile exceeded shaped steel sheet pile with an effective width of 900 mm. Commer-
one million tons per year from 1970s to 1980s. Afterwards, owing cial production and marketing of this new product were started in
to the improved social overhead capital plenitude ratio and the grad- 2005 after the joint development work by three steel companies of
ual decrease in the public investment, the demand continued to de- then Nippon Steel Corporation, then Sumitomo Metal Industries,
crease. In recent years, the demand transitions approximately at an Ltd., and JFE Steel Corporation. 1)
annual level of 600 thousand tons per year as the applications to the
disasters reconstruction for the Great East Japan Earthquake and 2. Addition of 45H and 50H to Hat-shaped Steel
Tsunami (2011) in Tohoku region and the nationwide disaster pre- Sheet Pile
vention and reduction projects. The hat-shaped steel sheet pile has a large section with the effec-
Almost 85 years have passed since Yawata Iron and Steel Works tive width of 900 mm and has interlocking joints located on the out-
commenced steel sheet pile domestic production in 1931. During er edge of the wall that are asymmetric to each other. Furthermore,
the period, a U-shaped steel sheet pile was mainly used for the wall the profile, dimensional tolerances, chemical compositions, and the
of permanent constructions such as river and harbor port construc- mechanical properties conform to JIS A 5523 (weldable hot rolled
tions. In 1997, the width of that increased from 400 mm to main- steel sheet piles). 45H and 50H sizes added to the existent two sizes

* Senior Manager, Dr. Eng., Foundation Products Engineering Dept.-II, Construction Products Development Div., Construction Products Unit
2-6-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8071

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NIPPON STEEL & SUMITOMO METAL TECHNICAL REPORT No. 113 DECEMBER 2016

in 2014 also follow the sectional properties and the quality of the However, when the sheet pile performance is assessed from the
hat-shaped steel sheet pile. Fig. 1, Table 1, and Table 2 show the viewpoint of section modulus for use as a wall, the number of sheet
profile, the sectional properties, and the mechanical properties of pile sizes in the line-up was not sufficient from the viewpoint of us-
45H and 50H sizes. ers. In other words, there were only two sizes of 10H and 25H
The hat-shaped steel sheet pile has excellent construction work- whose performance is equivalent to that of conventional U-shaped
ability, high structural reliability, and high economical efficiency. sheet pile of IIw and IIIw sizes, respectively. For instance, the mixed
use of the hat-shaped steel sheet pile and the U-shaped sheet pile in
a same construction work caused inconveniences such as change of
construction machines and the use of atypical sheet pile. Then, by
adding 45H and 50H sizes whose performance is equivalent to that
of conventional U-shaped sheet pile of IVw and VL sizes, respec-
tively, we have established the line-up of hat-shaped sheet pile cov-
ering the entire permanent construction structures. Owing to the ex-
panded line-up, we have made it possible to show in a wide range
an effective exploitation of the excellent construction workability,
high reliability, and high economical efficiency of hat-shaped steel
sheet pile.
2.1 Realization of excellent construction workability
In a hat-shaped steel sheet pile, both the flat arms are provided
adjacent to the interlocking joints, enhancing the rigidity of the sheet
pile, and thereby suppressing the deformation of the sheet pile in the
soil ground in construction work. In addition, by completing the
Fig. 1 Profile of hat-shaped sheet pile posture of the sheet pile during driving and the already driven sheet
piles, we are able to make deformation modes of the adjacent sheet
Table 1 Sectional properties of hat-shaped steel sheet pile piles correspond in the driving work. Thereby, the penetrating resist-
ance caused by tight engagement of the interlocking joints is sup-
Dimension Properties per meter of wall pressed. For such a reason, the hat-shaped steel sheet pile has excel-
Effective Effective Sectional Moment Section Unit lent construction workability despite its large section area. Further-
Type Thickness
width height area of inertia modulus mass more, with the release of 45H and 50H sizes, longer sheet pile can
(mm) (mm) (mm) (cm2) (cm4) (cm3) (kg/m) be used for construction work.
NS-SP-10H 900 230 10.8 122.2 10 500 902 96 2.2 Realization of high structural reliability
As shown in Fig. 2, as the interlocking joints are located on the
NS-SP-25H 900 300 13.2 160.4 24 400 1 610 126
outer edge of a wall, the neutral line of a single steel sheet pile falls
NS-SP-45H 900 368 15.0 207.8 45 000 2 450 163
in line with that of the constructed wall. Therefore, the interlocking
NS-SP-50H 900 370 17.0 236.3 51 100 2 760 186
joint efficiency (decrease in the sectional performance attributed to
the profile of the steel sheet pile and the location of the interlocking
Table 2 Mechanical properties of hat-shaped steel sheet pile (JIS A 5523) joints) does not need to be taken into account. Thus, the sheet pile
exerts full structural reliability surely under various application con-
Yield stress Tensile stress Test piece Elongation ditions.
Standard
(N/mm2) (N/mm2) standard (%) 2.3 Realization of excellent economical efficiency
295 450 1A 18 (over) As shown in Fig. 3, the mass of the unit area of a steel sheet pile
SYW295
(over) (over) 14B 24 (over) wall is reduced in comparison with that of the U-shaped steel sheet
390 490 1A 16 (over) pile. Moreover, as shown in Fig. 2, benefited by the effective width
SYW390 enlarged to 900 mm, the number of steel sheet pile needed for con-
(over) (over) 14B 20 (over)
struction could be reduced in comparison with that of U-shaped
430 510 1A 14 (over)
SYW430 steel sheet pile and therefore, we are able to reduce construction cost
(over) (over) 14B 19 (over)
owing to the shortened construction period.

Fig. 2 Comparison of hat-shaped sheet pile and U-shaped sheet pile

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order to transfer the vibration effectively. We also can apply the vi-
bratory driving machine used for the conventional sheet pile driving
for the hat-shaped steel sheet pile driving as it is. A double chuck
device is only installed on the sheet pile chucking mechanism. As
the inclination of the flange is different to each among the sizes of
10H–50H, a double chuck device for exclusive use for 45H and 50H
sizes was developed newly, which is shown in Photo 1.
3.2 Hydraulic press-in method
Hydraulic press-in method (Photo 2 2)) is a method that drives a
steel sheet pile into the ground foundation statically by taking ad-
vantage of the resistant force from the already driven steel sheet
piles, which holds the counterforce in hydraulic press-in driving.
The method is appropriate to construction work like the one in ur-
ban areas where low vibration and low noise construction work are
Fig. 3 Relationship between steel weight and sectional performance required or where the construction space is confined.
In the hydraulic press-in method, a special-purpose machine for
3. Development of Construction Method hat-shaped steel sheet pile as shown in Photo 2 is used. In the hy-
As for the construction method of steel sheet pile wall, a vibra- draulic press-in machine we also adopt one point chucking method
tory driving method and a hydraulic press-in method are mainly at the web in the case of driving conventional U-shaped steel sheet
used. The outline of each of the driving methods and their applica- pile. On the other hand, in the case of driving hat-shaped steel sheet
tion to the hat-shaped steel sheet pile are shown hereunder. pile, the steel sheet pile is chucked at the two locations on the sheet
3.1 Vibratory driving method pile arm portions in order to transfer press-in force effectively. Hy-
The vibratory driving method (Photo 1) is a method in which a draulic press-in machine is designed so as to chuck the sheet pile at
vibratory driving machine chucking the head portion of a steel sheet the arm positions regardless of the size of the hat-shaped steel sheet
pile is excited. The vibration is transferred to the steel sheet pile and pile of 10H–50H. So it also is possible to use the existent special-
the soil ground and thereby, the steel sheet pile is driven. The driv- purpose machine for hat-shaped steel sheet pile in construction
ing speed is high and further, the application to hard soil ground is work. Furthermore, even to the hard ground that exceeds the water
possible. jetting auxiliary method application threshold (N > 50), we success-
As for the vibratory driving method, in the case of driving con- fully have developed a hydraulic press-in machine equipped with
ventional U-shaped sheet pile, a vibratory driving machine chucks the auger as shown in Photo 3 2). By this development, driving to the
the pile at only one point of the web (single chuck mechanism). On wider range of the ground condition has become possible.
the other hand, in the case of hat-shaped steel sheet pile, the two- When it is difficult to install a crane due to, for instance, con-
point-flange-chuck mechanism (double chuck mechanism) as shown fined construction space, the difficulty can be overcome by the non-
in Photo 1, was specified as the standard construction procedure in

Photo 1 Driven hat-shaped sheet pile by vibratory driving Photo 2 Driven hat-shaped sheet pile by hydraulic jacking method 2)

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Photo 5 Condition of vibratory driving

Photo 3 Hydraulic jacking method against hard foundation 2)

Photo 4 Driven hat-shaped sheet pile by hydraulic jacking method 2) Fig. 4 Test results of vibratory driving
staging hydraulic press-in method developed by Giken Ltd. (Photo
4 2)). This is an epoch-making method. In addition to the hydraulic ting method. To chuck steel sheet pile, a double-chuck device was
press-in machine, a crane that holds a sheet pile in vertical direction used for the hat-shaped steel sheet piles and a single-chuck device
for driving is installed in such a way as to travel on the sheet piles was used for the wide-width steel sheet piles. In Photo 5, the condi-
already driven into the ground. In addition, a carrier called pile-run- tion of the vibratory driving and in Fig. 4, the ground condition of
ner is also installed, designed to travel on the same driven sheet the tests and the driving time in every 1 m of driving depth is
piles from a sheet pile stock yard to the hydraulic press-in machine. shown, respectively. Moreover, the vibratory driving without auxil-
The system has been established as a method applicable to all hat- iary water jetting was applied only until the ground condition of the
shaped steel sheet pile sizes in company with the spread of hat- N value of 50 was reached (applied to the 12.0 m length material)
shaped steel sheet pile. and for driving to harder ground, the auxiliary water jetting method
was applied and the driving workability was assessed.
4. Test for Confirming Construction Workability As for the driving time of around one steel sheet pile, some cases
Stated below is the tests conducted to confirm the construction of slightly shorter time are noticed for wide-width steel sheet pile.
workability prior to practical applications. They are (1) the tests of However, the hat-shaped steel sheet pile has an effective width larg-
the vibratory driving method conducted in Nippon Steel & Sumitomo er than that of the wide-width steel sheet pile by 1.5 times. There-
Metal Research & Engineering Center in Futtsu City in Chiba Pre- fore, for a same construction length, the total driving time of the hat-
fecture and (2) the tests of the hydraulic press-in driving method shaped steel sheet piles to construct the wall is shorter, contributing
conducted in the Kochi Head Office of Giken and in the Nippon to shortening of the construction period.
Steel & Sumitomo Metal Research & Engineering Center (ditto). 4.2 Confirmation of hydraulic press-in driving method (in Ko-
4.1 Confirmation of vibratory driving method (in Futtsu City, chi and Futtsu)
Chiba Prefecture) In the tests, construction workability was compared for each of
In the tests, each of the construction workability in the following the following steel sheet pile driving conditions: hat-shaped steel
steel sheet pile driving conditions was compared; hat-shaped steel sheet piles of NS-SP-45H and 50H with the length L of 12.0 and
sheet piles of NS-SP-45H and 50H with the length (L) of 12.0 and 15.0 m and the wide-width steel sheet pile of IVw with the length L
25.0 m, and the wide-width steel sheet pile of NS-SP-IVw with the of 12.0 and 15.0 m. The sheet piles were driven by a hydraulic-type
length L of 12.0 and 25.0 m. The sheet piles were driven by a hy- press-in driving machine, and a comparison was made between the
draulic-type vibratory driving machine (SR-45) and electrical-type cases of with and without the auxiliary water jetting method. In
vibratory driving machines (60 kW class, 90 kW class). The tests Photo 6, the condition of the hydraulic press-in driving and, in Fig.
were conducted for the cases with and without auxiliary water jet- 5, the ground condition of the tests and the driving time in every 1

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m of the driving depth are shown, respectively. (Photo 6).

In the tests, although there is a difference in driving time be-
tween those of hat-shaped steel sheet pile and U-shaped steel sheet 5. Provision of Related Technologies
pile in certain area of the driving depth, driving time was almost un- 5.1 Provision of heavy-duty coating
changed. This means, as mentioned earlier, that when compared for Since port and marine structures are exposed to sea water and to
a same construction length, the total driving time of hat-shaped steel the conditions of varying tidal level and waves and splashes, we
sheet piles could be shortened and it can be said that the shortening need to suppress the corrosion of the steel materials to maintain and
of the time contributes to construction cost reduction. Furthermore, manage such constructions in a proper manner to secure long-term
in order to verify that this machine can press in all sizes of hat- servicing. For the purpose, a production system of heavy-coated
shaped steel sheet pile, 10H–45H sizes were driven one after anoth- steel sheet pile as shown in Photo 7, which is capable of providing
er continuously with satisfactory interlocking performance of joints, 45H and 50H hat-shaped steel sheet pile with corrosion-resistant
and the test construction could be completed without any troubles function by coating urethane elastomer in a shop, was established
and has been put into practical operation.
5.2 Release to market of high strength SYW430 standard sheet
pile
Since the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami in 2011, the
requests for liquefaction countermeasures of coastal area preserva-
tion facilities river levees, and tsunami countermeasures have grown
high nationwide (particularly in the coastal areas of the Pacific
Ocean side of the Tokai–Kyushu districts to cope with Nankai
trough earthquake), and the demand for slope edge reinforcement by
steel sheet pile and levees reinforcement by double row steel sheet
pile is growing. In this field, since there is a growing need of higher
yielding strength to withstand higher acting force, materials with
Photo 6 Condition of hydraulic jacking driving higher strength are sought after. Therefore, compliance with the
high strength standard (SYW430) of JIS A 5523 (2012) has also
been made possible and further spread of the hat-shaped steel sheet
pile can be promoted.
5.3 Precast-type concrete cooping
In the hat-shaped steel sheet pile, regardless of its head being
tied or not, decrease in section modulus due to the interlocking joint
efficiency is avoided. The head section is covered with concrete in
many cases from the viewpoint of improving the landscape of the
wall. Then, aiming at shortening the period of concrete covering
work, Kyowa Concrete Industry Co., Ltd. has developed precast-
type cooping blocks that are applicable to all sizes of the hat-shaped
steel sheet pile (Photo 8 3)).

Photo 7 Hat-shaped sheet pile protected by heavy-duty coating

Fig. 5 Test results of hydraulic jacking driving Photo 8 Precast concrete cooping of hat-shaped steel sheet pile 3)

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6. Example of Actual Application Example 1 River revetment use (tide embankment) (Photo 11 2))
Since the start of production and marketing in 2005, hat-shaped Specification of the steel sheet pile: NS-SP-45H L = 16.0 m
steel sheet pile has come to be widely used for the permanent struc- Date of completion: February 2015
ture constructions such as of port and river (Photo 9) and for the Method of construction: Press-in method
temporal constructions such as earth-retaining walls and water-stop- Example 2 Retaining wall for a road use (Photo 12)
ping walls. By utilizing the excellent material properties of tough- Specification of the steel sheet pile: NS-SP-45H L=10.0m
ness and strength of steel sheet pile and the construction workability Date of completion: February 2015
that allows relatively easy driving even in urban areas, application Method of construction: Press-in method (to comply with the
of steel sheet pile to new market is steadily expanding. For instance, hard ground condition)
application like to a retaining wall of a road (Photo 10) and a stress Example 3 For use of temporary left-in-place form earth retaining
insulation wall for the settlement of levees built on a soft ground wall (Photo 13)
foundation (Fig. 6). In particular, since after the Great East Japan Specification of the steel sheet pile: NS-SP-45H L = 14.5 m
Earthquake and Tsunami the demand has risen for the installation of NS-SP-45H L = 20.0 m
the steel sheet pile wall at levees slope foot to restrain the collapse Date of completion: September 2014
of the levees as a countermeasure against the assumed enormous Method of construction: Vibratory hammering method
seismic motion (expanded liquefaction phenomenon area). In addi- Example 4 Levee use (Photo 14)
tion, the demand for coastal and river levees reinforcement has risen Specification of the steel sheet pile: NS-SP-45H L = 14.0 m
in a same way, to maintain the function of the levees by installing Date of completion: October 2014
steel sheet pile in double row at the shoulder positions when the lev- Method of construction: Press-in method (to comply with the
ees is acted upon by an earthquake and tsunami (Fig. 7). We authors hard ground condition)
will continue to propose a client to use NS-SP-45H and 50H.
Examples of applications of hat-shaped steel sheet pile NS-SP-
45H and 50H are shown hereunder.

Fig. 7 Applied for coastal/river dykes reinforcement

Photo 9 Applied for river revetment

Photo 11 Condition of application for river revetment 2)

Photo 10 Applied for retaining wall

Fig. 6 Applied for mitigation of embankment settlements Photo 12 Condition of application for retaining wall

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7. Conclusion
The hat-shaped steel sheet piles are civil engineering products
developed as a result of elaborated amalgamation of the production
technology of steel sheet pile and the application technologies of
designing and construction, and full-scale line-up capable of cover-
ing almost all demand of permanent constructions has been estab-
lished by the release of 45H and 50H sizes. Hence, we authors de-
termined to promote technical proposals to reduce construction cost,
shorten the construction period, and so on, in a wider range of the
field of application, and to contribute to the nationwide development
of infrastructures by expanding the application of hat-shaped steel
sheet pile.
Photo 13 Condition of application for temporary retaining wall
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to express hereunder the greatest gratitude for
their great cooperation extended: to Messrs. Chowa Kogyo Co., Ltd.
and Messrs. Giken for the development of the construction machin-
ery and the construction method, to Messrs. Kyowa Concrete Indus-
try for the development of the precast-type concrete cooping tech-
nology, and to Messrs. Nippon Steel & Sumikin Anti-Corrosion Co.,
Ltd. for the development of the heavy-duty anticorrosion coating.

References
1) Harata, N., Tatsuta, M., Kurosawa, T., Nishiumi, K., Taenaka, S., Waka-
tsuki, T., Miura, Y., Eda, K.: Shinnittetsu Giho. (387), 10–16 (2007)
2) Giken Ltd.: Home Page
3) Kyowa Concrete Industry Co., Ltd.: Hat Block Catalogue

Photo 14 Condition of application for levee

Kazutaka OTSUSHI Naoto KATAOKA

Senior Manager, Dr. Eng. Senior Manager
Foundation Products Engineering Dept.-II Shape Technical & Quality Control Dept.
Construction Products Development Div. Shape Div.
Construction Products Unit Wakayama Works
2-6-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8071
Noriyoshi HARATA Hideyuki YOKOBAYASHI
Senior Manager, Head of Dept. Shape Technical & Quality Control Dept.
Foundation Products Engineering Dept.-II Shape Div.
Construction Products Development Div. Wakayama Works
Construction Products Unit

Teruki NISHIYAMA Hiroshi YAMASHITA

Senior Manager Chief Researcher
Construction Products Dept. Steel Rolling Research Lab.
Niigata Marketing Branch Process Research Laboratories

Takashi SUZUKI Yosuke MIURA

Manager Senior Researcher
Construction Products Dept. Steel Rolling Research Lab.
Tohoku Marketing Branch Process Research Laboratories

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