KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, KUMASI

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
CE 477-GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING
TUTORIAL PROBLEMS ON PILES AND PILED FOUNDATIONS

1. A 450mm diameter pipe pile is driven closed-end 15m into a cohesionless soil with an
estimated angle of internal friction f of 32o. The soil has a wet unit weight of 16.5kN/m3
and a submerged unit weight of 8.6kN/m3. Estimate the ultimate pile capacity assuming
that b=Kstanf’=0.32 and zc/B=20.
2. A pile is driven through a soft cohesive deposit overlying a stiff clay. The average
undrained shear strength su, in the soft clay is 25kPa and in the lower deposit su averages
165kPa. The water table is 5m below the ground and the stiff clay is at 8m depth. Estimate
the length of a 550mm diameter to carry an allowable load of 420kN assuming a factor of
safety of 4.0. You may use a=0.40
Soft Clay Stiff Clay
Wet density, g (kN/m ) 3 17.5 19.3
Submerged unit weight, gsub (kN/m3) 9.5 10.6

3. The subsurface profile at a site consists of loose silty sand 12m thick overlying dense
sand. The loose silty sand has unit weight of 14kN/m3 and f’=29o, while the dense sand
has a unit weight of 22kN/m3 and f’=40o. Assume zc/B=10 and b=0.42
a. Estimate the pile capacity of a 300mm diameter concrete pile that just
terminates in the dense sand.
b. What will be the efficiency of a 3x3 configuration of 9 piles at a pile spacing
of 900mm
c. If the allowable column load is limited to 500kN, what will be the factor of
safety of the proposed foundation configuration. Will this be acceptable? If not
give reasons.
4. The results of a pile load test are shown in the Table below:
a. Plot the load settlement curve for both loading and unloading
b. Calculate the rebound value for each load
c. Estimate the pile load capacity if the building code specifies that “the allowable
pile load is taken as one-half that load which causes a net settlement of not
more than 2.9mm/100kN.
Results of Pile Test
Settlement (mm)
Load (kN)
loading Unloading
0 0 25.4
445 3.0 29.2
890 5.6 31.8
1330 10.2 34.3
1780 16.5 37.8
2000 38.1
5. The subsurface soil at a certain location consists of a medium coarse sand of density
18kN/m3 and angle of internal friction of 36o. The proposed foundation consists of a
2 x 3 configuration of 6 piles at a spacing of 1m. Each pile is 25m long and has a
diameter of 400mm. You may assume zc/B=15 and b=Kstanf’=0.40, Factor of Safety
of 4.0
a. Compute the ultimate load capacity of a single pile
b. What proportion of the ultimate load is contributed by the side friction?
c. Compute the allowable group capacity using the Converse-Labarre equation.

6. The subsurface condition at a highway overpass consists of 3m of very soft clay on top of
medium clay overlying gravel at a depth of 10m. The other subsurface properties are as shown
below: Estimate the diameter of a drilled caisson of uniform diameter just terminating in the
gravel layer to carry an allowable axial column load 9.0MN at a factor of safety of 4.0, if
drilled dry. (You may neglect the self weight of the caisson)
Soft Clay Loose sand Gravel
Wet density, g (kN/m3) 14 16 20
Angle of internal friction - 30 38o
Unconfined compressive strength, qu, (kN/m2) 50 - -

MEMORY AID: Note that symbols have their usual meaning in the specific context

q é (n - 1)m + (m - 1)n ù
L
Pu = ò C (ca + s v K s tan f a )dz + Ab (cN c + s vb N q + 0.5gBN g ) - W h =1- D
90 êë ú tan θ =
0
mn û …… s
ca
a=
cu
θ ⎡ ( n −1) m + ( m −1) n ⎤
L
η = 1− ⎢ ⎥
90 ⎣ mn ⎦
Pu = ò Cs v¢ K s tanf a¢dz + Ab s vb¢ N q - W
0

Foundation type and Adhesion or Upper limit of f Ratio of Depth of Caisson to Nc

Q u = c u N c A b + fA shaft For clay drilling method skin friction f value (kN/m2 ) Diameter of Caisson Bottom
Straight shaft, excavation 0.5c 72 0 6.2
drilled dry
Q safe » 1.4q u A bottom Approx. for clay Straight shaft drilled 0.3c 38 0.5 7.1
with slurry
Belled, drilled dry 0.3c 38 1 7.7
For f=0: Nq=1, Ng=0, ja=0 and Nc=9.0, Belled, drilled with 0.15c 24 1.5 8.1
slurry
2 8.4
φ Nq Nγ 2.5 8.6
28 14.75 16.72 3 8.8
29 16.44 19.34 4.0 and over 9
30 18.4 22.4
31 20.63 25.99
32 23.18 30.22
34 29.4 28.7
36 37.7 40
38 48.9 56.1
40 64.1 79.4

S.I.K. Ampadu and F. Ayeh

2023