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Pile Capacity

Related terms:
Bearing Capacity, Factor of Safety, Skin Friction, End Bearing, Friction Angle,
Groundwaters

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Selection of piles
Ruwan Rajapakse, in Pile Design and Construction Rules of Thumb (Second Edition), 2016

Pile capacity comes from skin friction and end bearing. Most engineers prefer to construct end-bearing piles,
extended to the bedrock. This is the safest type of pile, since in most cases the bedrock is solid. The integrity of the
bedrock should be confirmed through rock coring. Friction piles that rely on skin friction for the capacity generally
tend to have high settlement values. Skin friction in sandy soils is due to friction between the pile surface and the
soil. Skin friction in clay soils is due to adhesion between the pile material and clay. Skin friction in sandy soils
increases with depth. After a certain depth, increase in skin friction tends to taper off. It is generally accepted that
adhesion does not increase with depth. Contrary to the traditional view there is some increase in adhesion with
depth. This issue will be discussed later.

Geotechnical Data and Pile Design

Mohamed A. El-Reedy Ph.D., in Offshore Structures, 2012

Time Affects Changes in Axial Capacity in Clay Soil

The pile capacity calculated from the previous equation doesn't consider the effect of time on the pile capacity, such
as in old platforms constructed 40 or more years ago. A recent study was performed to define the behavior of axial
capacity in clay soil with time.
Clarke (1993) and Bogard et al. (1990) conducted field measurement studies in which it was shown that the time
required for driven piles to reach ultimate capacity in a cohesive soil can be relatively long, as much as 2–3 years.
It is worth mentioning that the rate of strength gain is highest immediately after driving, and the rate decreases
during the dissipation process. Thus a significant strength increase can occur in a relatively short time.
During pile driving in normally to lightly overconsolidated clays, the soil surrounding a pile is significantly
disturbed, the stress state is altered, and large excess pore pressures can be generated. After installation, the excess
pore pressures begin to dissipate, which means that the surrounding soil mass around the piles begins to

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consolidate, so the pile capacity increases with time. This process is usually referred to as set-up. The rate of excess
pore pressure dissipation is a function of the coefficient of radial consolidation, pile radius, plug characteristics and
soil layering.
In the most popular case, where the driven pipe piles supporting a structure have design loads applied to the piles
shortly after installation, the time-consolidation characteristics should be considered in pile design. Note that in
traditional fixed offshore structure installation, the time between pile installation and the platform's becoming
totally loaded is 1–3 months, but if the commissioning and start-up come early, this information should be
transferred to the engineering office, as the expected increase in capacity with time is an important design variable
that can affect the safety of the foundation system during the early stages of the consolidation process
The behavior of piles subjected to significant axial loads in highly plastic, normally consolidated clays was studied
using a large number of model pile tests and some full-scale pile load tests.
From the study of pore-pressure dissipation and load test data at different times after pile driving, empirical
correlations were obtained between the degree of consolidation, degree of plugging and pile shaft shear-transfer
capacity. This study revealed that there is no significant change in capacity with time for closed-ended steel piles in
heavily overconsolidated clay. This is contrary to tests on 0.273 m (10.75 inch) diameter closed-ended steel piles in
overconsolidated Beaumont clay, where considerable and rapid set-up in 4 days was found, so the pile capacity at
the end of installation was never fully recovered.
So it is very important to highlight that the axial capacity of the pile with time is under research and development
and there is no solid formula or equation to follow. The focus should be on research done on the specific site
location and on the previous history of the location.

Pile design in sandy soils

Ruwan Rajapakse PE, CCM, CCE, AVS, in Geotechnical Engineering Calculations and Rules of Thumb (Second
Edition), 2016

Pultimate, ultimate pile capacity; σ′t, effective stress at the tip of the pile; Nq, bearing factor coefficient; A, cross-
sectional area of the pile at the tip; K, lateral earth pressure coefficient (use Table 41.1 for “K” values); σ′v, effective
stress at the perimeter of the pile (σ′v varies with the depth. Usually, σ′v value at the mid point of the pile is
obtained); tan δ, friction angle between pile and soil (see Table 41.2 for δ values); Ap, perimeter area of the pile. For
round piles, Ap = (π × d) × L (d = diameter, L = length of the pile).

Table 41.1. Pile type and lateral earth pressure coefficient

Pile type K (piles under compression) K (piles under tension – uplift piles)

Driven H-piles 0.5–1.0 0.3–0.5

Driven displacement piles (round and square) 1.0–1.5 0.6–1.0

Driven displacement tapered piles 1.5–2.0 1.0–1.3

Driven jetted piles 0.4–0.9 0.3–0.6

Bored piles (less than 24 in. diameter) 0.7 0.4

Source: NAVFAC DM 7.2 (1984).

Table 41.2. Pile type and pile skin friction angle

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Pile type δ

Steel piles 20°

Timber piles ¾ϕ

Concrete piles ¾ϕ

Source: NAVFAC DM 7.2 (1984).

Calculation Methods Applied in Database Analysis

Zhongxuan Yang, ... Fiona Chow, in A Comprehensive Database of Tests on Axially Loaded Piles Driven in Sand,
2016

4.2 Procedures
The Microsoft Excel pile capacity calculations involved 10 main steps.
1. Enter the basic information, such as site location, groundwater table, pile length, diameter, type, loading type,
measured pile capacity and load–displacement curve.
2. Extract interpreted CPT qc data at intervals of 0.1–0.2 m intervals, depending on pile length.
3. Interpret the soil layering based on site investigation borehole logs and CPT profile.
4. Assign unit weight for each layer. A default value of γ = 19 kN/m3 applied if the unit weight was uncertain.
5. Assign the interface shearing angles δf for ICP-05 and UWA-05. For the API method, β and limiting τ values are
applied based on Table 2.2. For loose sand cases, the Kf and δf angles and τ limits specified in API (2000) are
applied.
6. Interpolate CPT qc and γ over 0.1 m or 0.2 m depth intervals.
7. Account for pore water pressures for soil layers beneath the groundwater table and calculate the free field
effective at each depth.
8. Estimate nominal relative density Dr based on CPT qc value, as required in API-00, ICP-05, and NGI-05 for
varying purposes. In API-2014, Dr is used to determine the state of the sand and select the appropriate
parameters for calculations. In ICP-05, Dr is employed to estimate the pile end condition, plugged, or

unplugged. In NGI-05, Dr is used to calculate the parameter in Table 2.6.

9. Average the qc values used in CPT methods. For ICP-05 and Fugro-05, qc,avg is the average value of qc over
±1.5 D at tip level. UWA-05 adopts Dutch averaging technique while NGI-05 uses the qc recorded at the tip to
find Dr as specified by NGI.
10. Calculate the shaft (Qs), base (Qb), and total (Qtotal) capacities of piles for these seven methods. Following
Schneider et al. (2008), the unit shaft resistances in any thin clay layers were assumed equal to be qt/35 for
simplicity and consistency, in which qt is CPT end resistance with pore pressure correction for piezocones.

Design of a Foundation Under Vibrating Equipment

Mohamed A. El-Reedy PhD, in Onshore Structural Design Calculations, 2017

l
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7.3.2 Soil Parameter

The allowable soil-bearing or allowable pile capacity for foundations for equipment designed for dynamic loads
shall be a maximum of half of the normal allowable for static loads. Noting that, the allowable soil bearing will be
provided from the geotechnical consultant office, which will perform a soil investigation test.
The maximum eccentricity between the center of gravity of the combined weight of the foundation and machinery
and the bearing surface shall be 5% in each direction.
Structures and foundations that support vibrating equipment shall have a natural frequency that is outside the
range of 0.80 to 1.20 times the exciting frequency.
For this type of foundation, there are some soil parameters that are required in case of vibrating equipment.
• The allowable bearing capacity
• The soil density: ρ
• The shear modulus: G
• The shear wave velocity shall be calculated from the following formula:

• Dynamic coefficient of subgrade reaction for vertical vibration (Kz).

For a rigid rectangular footing of plan area A on a semi-infinite elastic half-space (Barkan, 1962; Richart et al.,
1970):

where:
V=Poisson’s ratio and equal to 0.3 as a typical value for the sand,
G=shear modulus,
Bz=the ratio of the length to breadth of footing of about 1.40.

Barkan suggests that for allowable static bearing capacity of about 0.15 N/mm2, Kz should not be less than
0.03 N/mm3.
• Coefficient of subgrade reaction for horizontal vibrations: Kx

• Coefficient of subgrade reaction for rocking vibrations: Kϕ

• Coefficient of subgrade reaction for torsion vibrations: Kθ

Table 7.2 provides the equations to calculate the effective radius of footing in case of horizontal rocking, vertical
rocking, and torsional vibration (Table 7.3).

Table 7.2. Embedment coefficient for spring

Mode of vibration Effective radius of footing, ro Embedment coefficient

Horizontal vibration ηx=1+0.6(1−ν)(h/ro)

Vertical vibration ηz=1+0.55(2−ν)(h/ro)

Rocking ηϕ=1+1.2(1−ν)(h/ro)+0.2(2−ν)(h/ro)3

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Mode of vibration
Torsional Effective radius of footing, ro Embedment coefficient
–

B and L are the width and length of the foundation, respectively. h is the foundation depth embedment below the
grade.

Table 7.3. Effect of depth of embedment on damping ratio

Mode of vibration Damping ratio embedment factor

Vertical

Horizontal

Rocking

Source: Ary et al., 1984.

Table 7.4 provides a summary of the calculation of the mass ratio, the damping ratio, the spring constant, and the
natural frequency for different modes of vibration based on the foundation dimensions and the geotechnical data
from the soil investigation tests.

Table 7.4. Main parameters

Vibration Damping Spring constant Natural frequency,

mode Mass ratio (B) parameters Damping ratio (K) fn

Vertical

Horizontal

Rocking

Torsional

Soil Investigation and Pile Design

Mohamed A. El-Reedy PhD, in Onshore Structural Design Calculations, 2017

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8.4.3.1 Pile Calculation

There are many methods and theories for calculating the pile capacity, but the basic concept is shown in Figs. 8.8
and 8.9, which is based on the fact that the bearing capacity (Qd) of a pile may be assessed using soil mechanics.
The capacity is assumed to be the sum of skin friction and end-bearing resistance; that is,
(8.3)
where:
Qf: skin friction resistance,
Qp: total end bearing resistance
F: unit skin friction capacity,
As: side surface area of pile,
q: unit end bearing capacity,
Ap: gross end area of pile.

There are many methods for calculating the pile capacity for cohesive and noncohesive soil. One of these methods
from API is presented below as a guideline for calculating the pile capacity.
1. For cohesive soil

a. Skin friction
(8.4)
α=a dimensionless factor,
Su=undrained shear strength of the soil at the point in question.

(8.5)
(8.6)
(8.7)

where Po is the effective overburden pressure at the point in question.

(8.8)

(8.9)

b. End bearing

(8.10)

2. Noncohesive soil

a. Skin friction
(8.11)
k=coefficient of lateral earth pressure (ratio of horizontal to vertical normal effective stress),
ϕ=friction angle between the soil and pile wall.

b. End bearing
(8.12)
Nq=dimensionless bearing capacity factor.

Example:
Calculate the pile capacity for a precast reinforced concrete pile 0.25×0.25 m with a length of 10 m that consists of
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two layers, a medium and a stiff clay (Fig. 8.13).

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Figure 8.13. Example calculation.

Solution:
For medium clay layer: Su=45 kPa, α=1−(45−25/90)=0.78
For stiff clay layer: Su=85 kPa, α=0.5
Friction capacity: Qfs=0.78×45×(4×0.25)×7+0.5×85×(4×0.25)×3=373.2 kN
End bearing capacity: Qb=9 Su Ab=9×85×(0.25×0.25)=47.82 kN
The pile capacity: Qt/FS=(373.2+47.82)/3=140 kN

Code issues (Eurocode and other building codes)

Ruwan Rajapakse, in Pile Design and Construction Rules of Thumb (Second Edition), 2016

28.3 Compute characteristic axial compression load using ground tests

Ground tests, such as CPT and SPT, can be used to find the characteristic pile resistance.
(28.2)

This equation is similar to Equation (28.1);

where Rck, characteristic pile resistance; Rc.cal, calculated pile capacity; (Rc.cal)mean, mean value of calculated pile
capacity; (Rc.cal)min, minimum value of calculated pile capacity; and ζ3 and ζ4 are obtained from Table 28.2.

Table 28.2. Correlation factors for ground testing

n 1 2 3 4 5 7 10

ζ3 1.4 1.35 1.33 1.31 1.29 1.27 1.25

ζ4 1.4 1.27 1.23 1.20 1.15 1.12 1.08

Let us look at an example.

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Design example
Seven CPT cone tests were conducted in seven different holes. CPT test values were converted to calculated
pile capacities for seven CPT tests.
2.4 MN, 2.7 MN, 3.2 MN, 2.8 MN, 2.1 MN, 3.0 MN, and 2.9M N
Find the characteristic pile capacity.

Solution
Step 1: find the mean value of the calculated pile capacities.
Mean value = (2.4 + 2.7 + 3.2 + 2.8 + 2.1 + 3.0 + 2.9)/7 = 2.73 MN
(Rc.cal)mean = mean value of calculated pile capacity = 2.73 MN
Step 2: find the minimum value of calculated capacities.
[Rc.cal]min = minimum value of calculated pile capacity = 2.1 MN
Step 3: obtain correlation factors from Table 28.2 for the seven tests.
ζ3 = 1.27
ζ4 = 1.12
Step 4: Apply Equation (28.2).

Using Equation (28.2) ,

Rck = min (2.73/1.27; 2.1/1.12)

Rck = min (2.15; 1.875)
The minimum of the two values is 1.875 MN.
Hence, Rck = 1.875.
Characteristic capacity is used to find the design capacity. The procedure is not provided in this book.

Geotechnical data and piles design

Mohamed A. El-Reedy Ph.D., in Marine Structural Design Calculations, 2015

6.6.3.9 Changes in axial capacity in clay with time

The pile capacity calculated from the previous equation does not consider the effect of time on the pile capacity.
Note that, in the old platform constructed 40 years ago and more, if you review the calculation, you find that its
factor of safety does not follow that proposed by the API and the environment over time will surely affect the pile

capacity. Normal phenomena after longtime there will be a good bond between the pile and the surrounding soil
and this additional adhesion is not considered in the calculation. Therefore, a studies were performed to define the
behavior of the axial capacity in clay soil with time. Clarke (1993) and Bogard and Matlock (1990) ) conducted field
measurements studies in which it was shown that the time required for driven piles to reach ultimate capacity in a
cohesive soil can be relatively long, as much as 2–3 years.
It is worth mentioning that the rate of strength gain is highest immediately after driving, and the rate decreases
during the dissipation process. Therefore, a significant strength increase can occur in a relatively short time.
During pile driving in normally to lightly overconsolidated clay, the soil surrounding a pile is significantly
disturbed, the stress state is altered, and large excess pore pressures can be generated. After installation, these
excess pore pressures begin to dissipate, which means that the soil mass around the piles begins to consolidate, so
the pile capacity increases with time This process is usually referred to as setup The rate of excess pore pressure
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the pile capacity increases with time. This process is usually referred to as setup. The rate of excess pore pressure
dissipation is a function of the coefficient of radial consolidation, pile radius, plug characteristics, and soil layering.
In the most popular case, where the driven pipe piles supporting a structure have design loads applied to the piles
shortly after installation, the time-consolidation characteristics should be considered in pile design. Noting that, in
traditional, fixed offshore structure installations, the time between the pile installation and the platform being total
loaded is in the range of 1–3 months. In some cases, the commissioning and startup come early; in this case, such
information should be transferred to the engineering office, as the expected increase in capacity with time is an
important design variable that can affect the safety of the foundation system during early stages of the
consolidation process
The relation between the pore pressure and load test data at different times after pile driving is expressed by an
empirical correlation: the degree of consolidation, degree of plugging, and pile shaft shear transfer capacity. The
test results for closed-ended steel piles in heavily overconsolidated clay indicate no significant change in capacity
with time. This is contrary to tests on 0.273 m (10.75 in.) diameter closed-ended steel piles in overconsolidated
Beaumont clay, where considerable and rapid setup in 4 days was found, so the pile capacity at the end of
installation was never fully recovered.
So, it is very important to highlight that the axial capacity of the pile over time is under research and development,
and there is no solid formula or equation to follow. Focus is on the research done on the specific site locations and
depends on the previous history of this location.

Geophysical and Geotechnical Design

Jean M. Audibert, Jun Huang, in Handbook of Offshore Engineering, 2005

16.14.2.5 Axial Pile Capacity – Pile-Soil Set-up

The ultimate pile capacity represents the maximum pile capacity during undrained axial loading to failure after
dissipation of all excess pore pressures caused by the installation procedures. However, immediately after pile
driving, pile capacity in the normally consolidated cohesive deposits can be significantly lower than the ultimate
achievable value. Field measurements in the normally consolidated clays [Soderberg, 1962; Azzouz and Baligh,
1984; Whittle and Baligh, 1988; Bogard and Matlock, 1990] have shown that the time required for driven piles to
regain ultimate capacity in a cohesive deposit can be relatively long (fig. 16.76). On the other hand, there is hardly
any set-up in highly overconsolidated clays [Lehane and Jardine, 1994; Bond and Jardine, 1995].

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Figure 16.76. Pile-soil set-up (increase in axial capacity with time after driving)

During continuous driving in a pile installation operation, the normally consolidated clay surrounding the pile is
significantly disturbed and large excess pore pressures are generated. This results in reduced adhesion at the soil-
pile interface and hence the reduced capacity. After installation, the excess pore pressure begins to dissipate out of
the disturbed zone and the surrounding soil mass begins to consolidate until, with time, the pile reaches its
ultimate capacity. The rate of consolidation is a function of the coefficient of the radial (horizontal) consolidation,
pile radius and plug characteristics (plugged versus unplugged pile). In the case of a driven pile foundation, the
capacity of the pile immediately after driving and the increase in capacity with time are important considerations
that are needed to evaluate the factor of safety in the foundation during the early stages of the consolidation
process
Bogard and Matlock (1990) studied the behaviour of axially loaded piles in highly plastic, normally consolidated clay
from a large number of experiments with an instrumented pile segment model. From the experimental data, they
obtained the following empirical correlations between the degree of consolidation (U), time for 50% consolidation
(t50), time dependent shear transfer (f) and plug characteristics:

where:
t = time, min;
D = outside pile diameter, in.;
tw = pile wall thickness at pile tip, in.; and
fult = shear transfer after dissipation of all excess pore pressure, ksf.

The procedure indirectly accounts for pile plugging by the ratio of pile diameter to pile wall thickness at the pile tip.
The higher the ratio, the lower the chances of the pile plugging. The above relationships were verified by comparing
the actual pile load test data with load tests performed at different times after driving in the normally consolidated
clays. This relationship is only valid for D/t between 2 and 40, which is the range of experimental data.

Pile settlement
Ruwan Rajapakse, in Pile Design and Construction Rules of Thumb (Second Edition), 2016

13.12 Pile group design (capacity and settlement): example

Design example
Find the allowable pile capacity and the settlement of the pile group shown. Individual piles are of 1 ft.
diameter. Pile group efficiency = 0.75 (Fig. 13.20).

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Figure 13.20. Allowable pile capacity.

Table 13.3 provides soil parameters for the given soil strata.

Step 1: compute the skin friction of an individual pile.
Skin friction in sands: S (skin friction) = K × σ × tan δ × perimeter of the pile
Skin friction in clays: S (skin friction) = α × C × perimeter of the pile
• Skin friction in the first layer (medium sand) = K × σ × tan δ × [(π × 1) × 12]
σ at midpoint of the pile in the given layer is used.
σ = 120 × 2 + (120 − 62.4) × 4 = 470.4 psf (groundwater is at 2 ft.)

• Skin friction in the first layer (medium sand) = 1 × 470.4 × tan 25 ×  [(π × 1) × 12] = 7345 lbs
• Skin friction in the second layer (organic clay) = α × C × [(π × 1) × 10]
= 1 × 500 × [(π × 1) × 10] = 15,708 lbs
• Skin friction in the third layer (silty sand) = K × σ × tan δ × [(π × 1) × 15]
σ at midpoint of the pile in the given layer is used
σ = 120 × 2 + (120 − 62.4) × 10 + (115 − 62.4) × 10 + (118 − 62.4) × 7.5 = 1759 psf
Skin friction in third layer (silty sand) = 1.2 × 1759 × tan 30 × [(π × 1) × 15] = 50,682 lbs

• Skin friction in fourth layer (soft clay) = α × C × [(π × 1) × 13]

= 0.65 × 120 × [(π × 1) × 13] = 3185 lbs

Total skin friction = 7,345 + 15,708 + 50,682 + 3,185 = 76,920 lbs.

Step 2: compute the ultimate end bearing capacity (acting as individual piles).
Ultimate end bearing capacity in clay = Nc × C × pile tip area (Nc = 9).
Ultimate end bearing capacity in soft clay = 9 × 120 × π × diameter2/4 = 848.2 lbs/per pile.
Total ultimate bearing capacity per pile = 76,920 + 848.2 = 77,768 lbs.
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Total ultimate bearing capacity of the group (assume a group efficiency of 0.8) =
= 12 × 77,768 × 0.8 = 746,573 lbs = 373 tons.
Step 3: compute the pile group capacity (failure as a group).
• Skin friction of a pile group in clay = C × perimeter of the pile group
Since the failure is between soil and soil, “α” coefficient is essentially “1”.
• Skin friction of a pile group in sand = K × σ × tan ϕ × Perimeter of the pile group
Notice in the case of a pile group “ϕ” is used instead of δ, since failure is between soil and soil.
• Skin friction in the first layer (medium sand) = K × σ × tan ϕ × [16 + 16 + 11 + 11] × 12
σ at midpoint of the pile in the given layer is used = 120 × 2 + (120 − 62.4) × 4 = 470.4 psf
• Skin friction in the first layer (medium sand) = 1 × 470.4 × tan 30 × 54 × 12 = 155,313 lbs
• Skin friction in the second layer (organic clay) = C × [16 + 16 + 11 + 11] × 10
= 500 × 54 × 10 = 270,000 lbs
• Skin friction in the third layer (silty sand) = K × σ × tan ϕ × [16 + 16 + 11 + 11] × 15
σ at midpoint of the pile in the given layer is used.
σ = 120 × 2 + (120 − 62.4) × 10 + (115 − 62.4) × 10 + (118 − 62.4) × 7.5 = 1759 psf
Skin friction in the third layer (silty sand) = 1.2 × 1759 × tan 30 × 54 × 15 = 871,160 lbs.
• Skin friction in the fourth layer (medium stiff clay) = C × [16 + 16 + 11 + 11] × 13
= 120 × 54 × 13 = 84,240 lbs.
Total skin friction = 155,313 + 270,000 + 871,160 + 84,240 = 1,380,713 lbs = 690 tons
• End bearing capacity of the pile group in clay = Nc × C × area (Nc = 9)
= 9 × 120 × (16 × 11) = 190,080 lbs  = 95 tons.
• Total ultimate capacity = 690 + 95 = 785 tons.

In this case, pile group capacity acting as a group is greater than the collective capacity of individual piles.
Hence, use the lower value of 373 tons with a factor of safety of 2.5.
Allowable load on the pile group = 150 tons.
Step 4: settlement computation.
• Janbu tangent modulus procedure is used to compute the pile group settlement. Consider an
equivalent shallow foundation placed at neutral plane (at a depth of 2H/3 from the surface,
H = length of piles, Fig. 13.21).

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Figure 13.21. Pile group settlement.

• Compute the settlement of the 4-ft. thick silty sand layer.

Table 13.3. Soil parameters

Parameters Medium sand Organic clay Silty sand Soft clay

Thickness (ft.) 12 10 15 25

Density (pcf ) 120 115 118 110

K (Earth pressure coefficient) 1 1.2

δ (friction angle between pile and soil) 25 30

ϕ (soil friction angle) 30 35

α 1 0.65

(C) cohesion (psf ) 500 psf 120 psf

Nc 9

M (Janbu parameter) 200 10 80 15

J (Janbu parameter) 0.5 0 0.5 0.5

13.12.1 Janbu equation for sandy soils

Here, L, thickness of the compressible sand layer; m, the modulus number (dimensionless); σ1′, new effective stress
after the pile load; σ0′, effective stress prior to the pile load (original effective stress); L, thickness of the sand
layer = 4 ft.; m, Table 13.2 gives a range of 250–150 for medium dense sand. Use m = 200;
σ0′, initial effective stress at midpoint of the compressible sand layer.

The midpoint of the compressible sand layer occurs 2 ft. below the hypothetical footing.
σ0′ = 2 × 118 = 236 psf = 0.118 tsf (all units should be converted to tsf ).
σ1′ = 0.118 tsf + stress increase due to column load at the midpoint [Equation (13.2)]
Column load at neutral plane = 150 tons (width and length of the equivalent footing at the neutral plane is 11  × 16
ft.).
Length of base at the midpoint of the silty sand layer = 16  + 2/2 + 2/2 ft. = 18 ft.
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g p y y / /
Width of base at midpoint of the silty sand layer = 11  + 2/2 + 2/2 ft. = 13 ft.
Hence, the area at midplane of the silty sand layer = 18  × 13 ft. = 234 ft.2.
Stress increase due to column load at midpoint = 150/234 = 0.64 tsf.
σ1′ = 0.118 tsf + Stress increase due to column load at midpoint [Equation (13.2)]
σ1′ = 0.118 + 0.64 = 0.758 tsf
• When computing the stress increase due to the column load at midpoint, stress distribution of 2V:1H is used.

Janbu equation → settlement = L × 2/m [(σ1′)1/2 −  (σ0′)1/2] tsf

Settlement = 2 × 2/200 [(0.758)1/2 – (0.118)1/2] tsf = 0.011 ft. = 0.92 in.
• Settlement in medium stiff clay

13.12.2 Janbu equation for clay soils

Here, L, thickness of the clay layer; ln = natural log; m, the modulus number (dimensionless);
σ1′ = new effective stress after the pile load, and σ0′ = effective stress prior to the pile load (original effective stress)
Consider a footing located at neutral plane.
• Thickness of the compressible clay layer = 25 ft.
• m = Table 13.2 gives a range of 20–10 for medium silty clay. Use m = 15.

σ0′, initial effective stress at midpoint of the compressible clay layer. Midpoint of the medium silty clay layer occurs
at a depth of 49.5 ft. from the surface.
σ0′ = 2 × 120 + 10 × (120 − 62.4) + 10 × (115 – 62.4) + 15 × (118 − 62.4) +  12.5 × (110 − 62.4)
= 2771 psf = 1.385 tsf
σ1′ = σ0′ + stress increase due to column load at the midpoint.
Area at the midpoint of the medium stiff clay layer = (16 + 16.5/2 + 16.5/2) × (11 + 16.5/2 + 16.5/2)
= 893.75 ft.2
σ1′ = σ0′ + 150/893.75 = 1.385 + 0.1678 = 1.552 tsf
Settlement in medium stiff clay = 25 × 1/15 [ln(1.552/1.385)] = 0.189 ft. = 2.28 in.
Settlement due to medium stiff clay and silty sand = 2.28 + 0.92 = 3.2 in.
This settlement is excessive. Piles need to be driven deeper or the number of piles needs to be increased.

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