PILE FOUNDATION

INTRODUCTION:
Pile foundation is required when the soil bearing capacity is not sufficient for the
structure to withstand. This is due to the soil condition or the order of bottom layers, type of
loads on foundations, conditions at site and operational conditions.
Many factors prevent the selection of surface foundation as a suitable foundation such as
the nature of soil and intensity of loads, we use the piles when the soil have low bearing capacity
or in building in water like bridges and dams
A pile foundation consists of two components: Pile cap and single or group of piles. Piles
transfers the loads from structures to the hard strata, rocks or soil with high bearing capacity.
These are long and slender members whose length can be more than 15m.

Piles can be made from concrete, wood or steel depending on the requirements. These
piles are then driven, drilled or jacked into the ground and connected to pile caps. Pile foundation
are classified based on material of pile construction, type of soil, and load transmitting
characteristic of piles.
The use of pile foundations as load carrying and load transferring systems has been for
many years. Timber piles were used in early days, driven in to the ground by hand or holes were
dug and filled with sand and stones. The use of steel pile started since 19th century and concrete
piles since 20th century.

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 With the change in technology and industrial revolution, many advance systems have
been developed for pile driving from the invention of steam and diesel pile driving machines.
The use of pile foundations is increasing day by day due to non-availability of land for
construction. Heavy multi-storyed building are being constructed, and load from these structures
can not be directly transferred to ground due to low bearing capacity issue and stability issues of
building during lateral load application. So, demand for use of pile foundations are increasing
day by day. Due to this demand for piles, there have been many improvements in piles and pile
driving technology and systems. Today there are many advanced techniques of pile installation.

Pile foundations are deep foundations. They are formed by long, slender, columnar
elements typically made from steel or reinforced concrete and sometimes timber. A foundation is
described as piled when its depth is more than three times its breadth (Atkinson, 2007).

Pile foundations are principally used to transfer the loads from a superstructure, through
weak, compressible strata or water onto stronger, more compact, less compressible and stiffer
soil or rock at depth, increasing the effective size of a foundation and resisting horizontal loads
(Tomlinson & Woodward, 2008). They are used for large structures, and in situations where the
soil under is not suitable to prevent excessive settlement.

Generally piles are classified as; end-bearing piles (where most of the friction is
developed at the toe of the pile, bearing on a hard layer) or friction piles (where most of the pile-
bearing capacity is developed by shear stresses along the sides of the pile, suitable when harder
layers are too deep). Most piles use some end-bearing and some friction, in order to resist the
action of loads.

Piles are most commonly driven piles, prefabricated off site and then driven into the
ground, or bored piles that are poured in situ. If the boring and pouring takes place
simultaneously, the piles are called Continuous Flight Augured (CFA) piles.

The choice of pile depends on the location and type of structure, the ground conditions,
durability of the materials and cost. Driven piles are useful in offshore applications, are stable in
soft squeezing soils and can densify loose soil. However, bored piles are more popular in urban

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areas as there is minimal vibration, they can be used where headroom is limited, there is no risk
of heave and it is easy to vary their length (O’Sullivan, 2010).

Mini piles (or micro piles) are used where access is restricted, for example underpinning
structures affected by settlement. They can be driven or screw piles

Pile walls can be used to create permanent or temporary retaining walls. They are formed
by placing piles directly adjacent to one another. These can be; closely-spaced contiguous pile
walls, or interlocking secant walls, which depending on the composition of the secondary
intermediate piles can be hard/soft, hard/firm or hard/hard secant walls.
Geothermal piles combine pile foundations with closed-loop ground source heat pump
systems. They provide support to a structure, as well as acting as a heat source and a heat sink. In
effect, the thermal mass of the ground enables the building to store unwanted heat from cooling
systems and allows heat pumps to warm the building in winter (Boennec, 2008). Generally,
ground source heat pumps extract heat from the ground by way of underground pipes which are
laid either horizontally or vertically in the ground (Boennec, 2008). In geothermal piles, the pipe
loops are laid vertically, within the piles themselves.

TYPES OF PILES:

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Piles can by classified on the basis of following characteristics:

 Mechanism of Load Transfer

 Method of Installation

 Type of Materials

Classification of Piles on the basis of load transfer

End/Point Bearing Piles:

If a bedrock or rocklike material is present at a site within a reasonable depth, piles can
be extended to the rock surface. In this case, the ultimate bearing capacity of the pile depends
entirely on the underlying material; thus the piles are called end or point bearing piles. In most of
these cases the necessary length of the pile can be fairly well established.

If a fairly compact and hard stratum of soil is encountered at a reasonable depth, piles can
be extended a few meters into the hard stratum.

Friction Piles:

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 In these types of piles, the load on pile is resisted mainly by skin/friction resistance along
the side of the pile (pile shaft). Pure friction piles tend to be quite long, since the load-carrying.
Capacity is a function of the shaft area in contact with the soil. In cohesion less soils, such as
sands of medium to low density, friction piles are often used to increase the density and thus the
shear strength. When no layer of rock or rocklike material is present at a reasonable depth at a
site, point/end bearing piles become very long and uneconomical. For this type of subsoil
condition, piles are driven through the softer material to specified depth.

Friction cum end bearing piles

In the majority of cases, however, the load-carrying capacity is dependent on both end-
bearing and shaft friction.

Classification of Piles according to the Method of Installation of piles

Driven or displacement piles

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 Pile Driving EquipmentThey are usually pre-formed before being driven, jacked, screwed
or hammered into ground. This category consists of driven piles of steel or precast concrete and
piles formed by driving tubes or shells which are fitted with a driving shoe. The tubes or shells
which are filled with concrete after driving. Also included in this category are piles formed by
placing concrete as the driven piles are withdrawn.

Bored or Replacement piles

They require a hole to be first bored into which the pile is then formed usually of
reinforced concrete. The shaft (bore) may be cased or uncased depending upon type of soil.

Types of Piles based on Materials

Timber piles

 Timber piles are made of-tree trunks driven with small end as a point

 Maximum length: 35 m; optimum length: 9 - 20m

 Max load for usual conditions: 450 kN; optimum load range = 80 - 240 kN

Steel piles

 Maximum length practically unlimited, optimum length: 12-50m

 Load for usual conditions = maximum allowable stress x cross-sectional area

 The members are usually rolled HP shapes/pipe piles. Wide flange beams & I beams
proportioned to withstand the hard driving stress to which the pile may be subjected. In
HP pile the flange thickness = web thickness, piles are either welded or seamless steel
pipes, which may be driven either open ended or closed end. Closed end piles are usually
filled with concrete after driving.

 Open end piles may be filled but this is not often necessary.

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Concrete Piles

 Concrete piles may be precast, prestressed, cast in place, or of composite construction

 Precast concrete piles may be made using ordinary reinforcement or they may be
prestressed.

 Precast piles using ordinary reinforcement are designed to resist bending stresses during
picking up & transport to the site & bending moments from lateral loads and to provide
sufficient resistance to vertical loads and any tension forces developed during driving.

 Prestressed piles are formed by tensioning high strength steel prestress cables, and
casting the concrete about the cable. When the concrete hardens, the prestress cables are
cut, with the tension force in the cables now producing compressive stress in the concrete
pile. It is common to higher-strength concrete (35 to 55 MPa) in prestressed piles because
of the large initial compressive stresses from prestressing, Prestressing the piles, tend to
counteract any tension stresses during either handling or driving.

 Max length: 10 - 15 m for precast, 20 - 30 m for prestressed

 Optimum length 10 - 12 m for precast, 18 - 25m prestressed

 Loads for usual conditions 900 for precast, 8500 kN for prestressed

 Optimum load range: 350 - 3500 kN

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WHAT ARE PILES MADE OF:

Piles can be made of wood, concrete, or steel.

In traditional construction, wooden piles were used to support buildings in areas with
weak soil. Wood piles are still used to make jetties. For this one needs trees with exceptionally
straight trunks. The pile length is limited to the length of a single tree, about 20m, since one
cannot join together two tree trunks. The entire city of Venice in Italy is famous for being built
on wooden piles over the sea water.

Pile Foundations

Cross sections of various pile foundations

Concrete piles are precast, that is, made at ground level, and then driven into the ground
by hammering - more on that later. Steel H-piles can also be driven into the ground. These can
take very heavy loads, and save time during construction, as the pile casting process is
eliminated. No protective coating is given to the steel, as during driving, this would be scraped
away by the soil. In areas with corrosive soil, concrete piles should be used.

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HOW PILES ARE CONSTRUCTED:

Pile construction, pile driving

Piles are first cast at ground level and then hammered or driven into the ground using a
pile driver. This is a machine that holds the pile perfectly vertical, and then hammers it into the
ground blow by blow. Each blow is struck by lifting a heavy weight and dropping it on the top of
the pile - the pile is temporarily covered with a steel cap to prevent it from disintegrating. The
pile driver thus performs two functions - first, it acts as a crane, and lifts the pile from a
horizontal position on the ground and rotates it into the correct vertical position, and second, it
hammers the pile down into the ground.

Piles should be hammered into the ground till refusal, at which point they cannot be
driven any further into the soil.

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PILE INSTALATION METHODS:

The installation process and method of installations are equally important factors as of
the design process of pile foundations. pile installation methods are installation by pile hammer
and boring by mechanical auger.

In order to avoid damages to the piles, during design, installation Methods and
installation equipment should be carefully selected.

If installation is to be carried out using pile-hammer, then the following factors should be
taken in to consideration:

 the size and the weight of the pile

 the driving resistance which has to be overcome to achieve the design penetration
 the available space and head room on the site
 the availability of cranes and
 the noise restrictions which may be in force in the locality.

Drop hammers

A hammer with approximately the weight of the pile is raised a suitable height in a guide
and released to strike the pile head. This is a simple form of hammer used in conjunction with
light frames and test piling, where it may be uneconomical to bring a steam boiler or compressor
on to a site to drive very limited number of piles.

There are two main types of drop hammers:

 Single-acting steam or compressed-air hammers

 Double-acting pile hammers

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Pile driving by vibrating

Vibratory hammers are usually electrically powered or hydraulically powered and

consists of contra-rotating eccentric masses within a housing attaching to the pile head. The
amplitude of the vibration is sufficient to break down the skin friction on the sides of the pile.
Vibratory methods are best suited to sandy or gravelly soil.

Jetting: to aid the penetration of piles in to sand or sandy gravel, water jetting may be employed.
However, the method has very limited effect in firm to stiff clays or any soil containing much
coarse gravel, cobbles, or boulders.

Boring methods ( non-displacement piles)

Continuous Flight Auger (CFA)

Equipment comprises of a mobile base carrier fitted with a hollow-stemmed flight auger
which is rotated into the ground to required depth of pilling. To form the pile, concrete is placed
through the flight auger as it is withdrawn from the ground. The auger is fitted with protective
cap on the outlet at the base of the central tube and is rotated into the ground by the top mounted
rotary hydraulic motor which runs on a carrier attached to the mast. On reaching the required
depth, highly workable concrete is pumped through the hollow stem of the auger, and under the
pressure of the concrete the protective cap is detached. While rotating the auger in the same

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direction as during the boring stage, the spoil is expelled vertically as the auger is withdrawn and
the pile is formed by filling with concrete. In this process, it is important that rotation of the
auger and flow of concrete is matched that collapse of sides of the hole above concrete on lower
flight of auger is avoided. This may lead to voids in filled with soil in concrete.

Underreaming

A special feature of auger bored piles which is sometimes used to enable to exploit the
bearing capacity of suitable strata by providing an enlarged base. The soil has to be capable of
standing open unsupported to employ this technique. Stiff and to hard clays, such as the London
clay, are ideal. In its closed position, the underreaming tool is fitted inside the straight section of
a pile shaft, and then expanded at the bottom of the pile to produce the underream. Normally,
after installation and before concrete is casted, a man carrying cage is lowered and the shaft and
the underream of the pile is inspected.

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FUNCTION OF PILES:
As with other types of foundations, the purpose of a pile foundations is:
a) to transmit a foundation load to a solid ground
b) to resist vertical, lateral and uplift load
A structure can be founded on piles if the soil immediately beneath its base does not have
adequate bearing capacity. If the results of site investigation show that the shallow soil is
unstable and weak or if the magnitude of the estimated settlement is not acceptable a pile
foundation may become considered. Further, a cost estimate may indicate that a pile foundation
may be cheaper than any other compared ground improvement costs.

In the cases of heavy constructions, it is likely that the bearing capacity of the shallow
soil will not be satisfactory, and the construction should be built on Pile foundations. Piles can
also be used in normal ground conditions to resist horizontal loads. Piles are a convenient
method of foundation for works over water, such as jetties or bridge piers.

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ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES:

Advantages

1. Piles can be precast to the required specifications.

2. Piles of any size, length and shape can be made in advance and used at the site. As a result, the
progress of the work will be rapid.

3. A pile driven into granular soil compacts the adjacent soil mass and as a result the bearing
capacity of the pile is increased.

4. The work is neat and clean. The supervision of work at the site can be reduced to a minimum.
The storage space required is very much less.

5. Driven piles may conveniently be used in places where it is advisable not to drill holes for fear
of meeting ground water under pressure.

6. Drivens pile are the most favored for works over water such as piles in wharf structures or
jetties.

Disadvantages

1. Precast or prestressed concrete piles must be properly reinforced to withstand handling

stresses during transportation and driving.

2. Advance planning is required for handling and driving.

3. Requires heavy equipment for handling and driving.

4. Since the exact length required at the site cannot be determined in advance, the method
involves cutting off extra lengths or adding more lengths. This increases the cost of the project.

5. Driven piles are not suitable in soils of poor drainage qualities.

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CONCLUSION:

Piles are structural members that are made of steel, concrete, or timber. They are used to
build pile foundations, which are deep and which cost more than shallow foundations. Despite
the cost, the use of piles often is necessary to ensure structural safety.

Piles are relatively slender shafts, cylindrical in shape, driven or bored into the ground to
the required depth. Piles are used to carry vertical loads through weak soil to dense strata having
high bearing capacity. In normal ground conditions, they can resist large uplift and horizontal
loads, hence can be used as foundations of multistoried buildings, transmission line towers,
retaining walls, bridge abutments.

Pile foundations are adopted generally in the following situations:

 Low Bearing Capacity of soil.

 Non availability of proper bearing stratum at shallow depths.
 Heavy loads from the super structure for which shallow foundation may not be
economical or feasible.

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REFERENCES:

 www.understandconstruction.com/pile-foundations.html
 theconstructor.org › Geotechnical Engineering › Foundation Engineering
 www.slideshare.net/ved_ram/pile-foundations
 www.aboutcivil.org › GeoTechnical & Foundation Engineering
 www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Pile_foundations

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ABSTRACT

Capacity based design of pile foundations limits the soil-structure interaction mechanism
to group bearing capacity estimation, neglecting, in most cases, the contribution of the raft. On
the other hand, a straightforward, nonlinear, 3-D analysis, accounting for soil and structural
nonlinearities and the effects arising from pile–soil–pile interaction, would be extremely high
CPU-time demanding and will necessitate the use of exceptionally powerful numerical tools.
With the aim of investigating the most efficient, precise, and economical design for a bridge
foundation, a hybrid method, compatible with the notion of sub-structuring is proposed. It is
based on both experimental data and nonlinear 3-D analysis.

The first step to achieve these targets is a back-analysis of a static pile load test, fitting
values for soil shear strength, deformation modulus, and shear strength mobilization at the soil–
pile interface. Subsequently, the response of 2×2 and 3×3 pile group configurations is
numerically established and the distribution of the applied load to the raft and the characteristic
piles is discussed. Finally, a design strategy for an optimized design of pile raft foundations
subjected to non-uniform vertical loading is proposed.

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