Formula Sheet

Foundation Engineering-II
Static Pile Capacity Equations

Qult. Q f Qb
Piles in sand

Qult f As q Ab
vK tan As v N q Ab
175

Bearing capacity factor, Nq

150
125
100
75

D/B = 20

50

D/B = 5
D/B = 70

25
0
26

34
30
32
36
38
Angle of shearing resistance, o
(Af ter Tomlinson)

28

40

Values of After US Army Corps of Engineers)

Pile material

Steel

0.67 to 0.83

Concrete

0.90 to 1.0

Timber

0.80 to 1.0

Values of K After US Army Corps of Engineers)

Soil Type

Sand

Values of K
In compression (Kc)

In Tension (Kt)

1.00 to 2.00

0.50 to 0.70

Silt

Clay

1.0

0.50 to 0.70

1.0

0.70 to 1.00

Note: The above values do not apply to piles that are prebored, jetted or
installed with a vibratory hammer. Picking K values at the upper end of
the above ranges should be based on local experience.
AMERICAN PETROLEUM INSTITUTE 1993 DESIGN RECOMMENDATIONS* FOR PILES IN
COHESIONLESS SILICEOUS SOILS
Density

Soil

Soil/pile

Limiting skin

description

friction

friction

bearing values

angle ()

values (kPa)

(MN/m2)

15

47.8

1.9

20

67

13

2.9

25

81.3

20

4.8

30

95.7

40

9.6

35

114.8

50

12.0

Very loose

Sand

Loose

Sand-silt**

Medium

Silt

Loose

Sand

Medium

Sand-silt**

Dense

Silt

Medium

Sand

Dense

Sand-silt

Dense

Sand

Very dense

Sand-silt**

Dense

Gravel

Very dense

Sand

Nq

Limiting unit end-

*The parameters listed in this table are intended as guidelines only. Where detailed information such as in-situ cone
tests, strength tests on high quality samples, model tests, or pile driving performance is available, other values may
be justified.
**Sand-silt includes those soils with significant fractions of both sand and silt. Strength values generally increase with
increasing sand fractions and decrease with increasing silt fractions.

Piles in Clay

Qult f As q Ab
sc dL cN c

d2

Recommended Values of and f for Estimation of Drilled Shaft Side Resistance in

Cohesive Soil (Reese and ONeill, 1988)
Value of

Limiting value of load

transfer, f (ksf)

From ground surface to depth along

drilled shaft of 5 ft *

Bottom 1 diameter of the drilled shaft or

1 stem diameter above the top of the
bell (if skin friction is being used)

0.55

5.5 (263 kPa)

Location along drilled shaft

All other points along the sides of the

drilled shaft

The depth of 5 ft may need adjustment if the drilled shaft is installed in expansive clay, or if there is
substantial groundline deflection from lateral loading.

Limiting Values of Unit End Bearing and Side Resistance

Qa

Qs Qb
2

Qa

Qs Qb

1.5 3.0

Cohesive Soil

Non-Cohesive Soil

Unit Side Resistance (ksf).

5.5 (263 kPa)

4 (192 kPa)

Unit End Bearing (ksf)

80 (3830 kPa)

1.2N or 90 for N 75

Group in Strong Soil Overlying Weaker Soil

qE = qLo + (H/10B1)(qUP qLo) qUP
where
qLo = Ultimate unit tip capacity of an equivalent shaft bearing in weaker underlying soil layer (ksf)
qUP = Ultimate unit tip capacity of an equivalent shaft bearing in stronger upper soil layer (ksf)
B1 = Least width of shaft group (ft)
H = Distance from shaft tip to top of weak soil layer (ft)
Recommended Factor of Safety on Ultimate Geotechnical Capacity Based on Specified Construction
Control. (Ref: AASHTO Specification for Highway Bridges)
Increasing Construction Control
X(1)

Static Calculation

Dynamic Formula

X
X

Subsurface exploration

Wave equation
Dynamic measurement and analysis

Static load test

Factor of safety

3.50

2.75

2.25

X
X

2.00(2)

1.90

X(1) = Construction control specified on Contract Plans

X(2) = For any combination of construction control that includes an approved static load test, a factor of
safety of 2.0 may be used.

NAVFAC DM-7.2 METHOD

BEARING CAPACITY FACTORS Nq
* (deg)

26

28

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

Nq

10

15

21

24

29

35

42

50

62

77

86

120

145

10

12

14

17

21

25

30

38

43

60

72

(Driven Pile
Nq**
(Drilled Piers)

EARTH PRESSURE COEFFICIENTS KHC AND KHT

PILE TYPE

KHC

KHT

Driven single H-Pile

0.5 1.0

0.3 0.5

Driven single Displacement Pile

1.0 1.5

0.6 1.0

Driven single Displacement

Tapered Pile

1.5 2.0

1.0 1.3

Driven Jetted Pile

0.4 0.9

0.3 0.6

0.7

0.4

Drilled Pile (Less than 24

Diameter)
FRICTION ANGLE
PILE TYPE

Steel

20

Concrete

3/4

Timber

3/4

*Limit to 28 if jetting is used

**(a) In case a bailer or grab bucket is used below ground water table, calculate end bearing
based on not exceeding 28.
(b) For piers greater than 24-inch diameter, settlement rather than bearing capacity usually
controls the design. For estimating settlement, take 50% of the settlement for an
equivalent footing resting on the surface of comparable granular soils.

RECOMMENDED VALUES OF ADHESION (NAVFAC DM-7.2)

PILE TYPE

CONSISTENCY
OF SOIL

COHESION, C,
PSF

ADHESION, CA
(= C), PSF

Very Soft

0 250

0 250

Soft

250 500

250 480

Medium Stiff

500 1000

480 750

Stiff

1000 2000

750 950

Very Stiff

2000 4000

950 1300

Very Soft

0 250

0 250

Soft

250 500

250 460

Medium Stiff

500 1000

460 700

Stiff

1000 2000

700 720

Very Stiff

2000 4000

720 750

TIMBER AND
CONCRETE

STEEL

Berezantzev et al. (1961) Theory: Relationship between and Nq

deg
Nq

28

30

32

34

36

38

40

L/B = 25

12

17

25

40

58

89

137

L/B = 50

14

22

37

56

88

136

The Engineering News Formula

Wh
sc

The Hiley formula

R s c Wh
2

STANDARD PENETRATION TEST (SPT)

R mNAt nNDAs
m = 400103 for driven piles

120 103 for bored piles

N = SPT index at the pile toe obtained by averaging blows over length 6 - 10B above and 2 - 4B
below the base.
At = Pile toe area
n = 2103 for driven piles
1103 for bored piles

N = Average SPT index along the pile

D = Pile embedment length
Alternate Form of Meyerhof (1976) method for driven piles
Ultimate bearing capacity at base qb 40 N

Db
400 N (kN/m2)
B

N = SPT resistance in the vicinity of the pile base

Db = Length of pile embedded in the sand
Average Skin Friction over the length of pile is determined as

qs 2N

(kN/m2)

Where N is the average value of SPT resistance over the embedded length of the pile within the
sand stratum.
For bored piles, the values of qb and qs are approximately 1/3 and 1/2, respectively, of the
corresponding values for driven piles.
AXIAL CAPACITY BASED ON STATIC CONE-PENETRATION TESTS
Canadian Foundation Engineering Manual

R qc At f s As D
qc = point resistance from the cone-penetration test. (It is recommended that for piles with B > 500
mm, a design value of qc smaller than the measured average qc, or even equal to the
minimum measured value be used). (Ref: Canadian Foundation Engg. Manual).
fs = average unit side shear measured by the static cone-penetrometer test.
Tomlinson (2001)

Plot all relevant qc/depth profiles together and draw an average line for the section around the pile
base. A load factor of 2.0 2.5 is then applied to the base resistance (Abqb) depending on the
scatter of the profile.
Practice in Netherlands
For end bearing capacity, use mean of two averages qc1 and qc2, for single profile, determined:
(1) between 0.7B and 4B below the pile base (qc1). If qc increases steadily below the pile, the
average is determined only to depth 0.7B. If a pronounced decrease in qc occurs between
0.7B and 4B, the lowest value within that range is taken as qc1.
(2) 8B above the base (qc2). The average value of qc2 above the base should be determined,
working upward from the base, using only values, which decrease from or equal to that at the
base.
The value of end bearing capacity (qb) should be restricted to15 MPa.
Shaft resistance per unit area (qs) can be determined from values of local sleeve resistance (fs).
However, fs must be multiplied by a factor to allow for the effect of pile installation on the density of
the sand. The factor depends on the material and end shape of the pile; suggested values being
1.1 for a concrete pile with a pointed end and 0.7 for a steel H pile.
Shaft resistance can also be determined from direct correlations with cone resistance, e.g. qs =
0.012qc for timber, precast concrete and steel displacement piles.
The value of qs should be restricted to 0.12 MPa.
AXIAL CAPACITY BASED ON PRESSUREMETER TEST

Q p / A k plme h v
A = pile base area
plme = equivalent limit pressure
h = horizontal pressure at the base level
v = total vertical pressure at the base level
k = bearing capacity factor

qu v
plm h

Bearing Capacity Factor, k for Axially Loaded Piles (After LCPC-SETRA, 1985)
Ground type

plm (kPa)

Clay

0 1200

Silt

0 700

Firm clay or marl

1800 4000

Compact silt

1200 3000

Category

400 800

Compressible sand

Bored piles
Full
and small
displacement
displacement
piles
piles

1.2

1.8

II

1.1

3.2 4.2

Soft or weathered
rock
Sand and gravel

1000 3000

Rock

4000 10000

III

1.8

2.6

Very compact sand

and gravel

3000 6000

IV

1.1 1.8*

1.8 3.2

1000 2000

* 3.2 for dense sand or gravel; 4.2 for loose sand or gravel

limited data base

The equivalent limit pressure, plme is taken as the average limit pressure within a distance a below
and a distance d above the pile base level, that is

plme

1
plmi zi
ad

where plmi is the limit pressure over depth zi, which is the thickness of a layer at which plm is
measured such that
z1+ . +zn = a+d
a and d are distances depending on the pile diameter and embedment length. d is equal to a or the
distance between the pile base and the top of the bearing layer which ever is smallest. a is given
by:
a = 0.5

if Be < 1 m

= Be/2

if Be > 1 m

Where
Be= 4base area of pile / base perimeter of pile

It is assumed that the pile penetrates the bearing layer such that the equivalent embedment depth,
de, is greater than 5B, where de is given by:

de

1
plmi z i
plme

k is reduced to ke if de < 5B, where ke is given by

 k 0.8 d e 10 d e
k e 0.8

25 B B
The ultimate friction capacity, Qf, is given by:

Q f qsi zi
where
qsi = unit skin friction for soil layer i and zi is the thickness of soil layer i. The unit friction is obtained

from Table below read in conjunction with Figure below.

The selection of design curves for unit friction (after LCPC SETRA, 1985)
Soil type

plm
(MPa)

Bored
concrete

Soft clay

0-0.7

Stiff clay

1.2-2

A, (B)

A, (B)

A, (B)

>2

A, (B)

A, (B)

A, (B)

A, B

E*

0-0.7

Medium dense sand

1-2

B, (C)

A, (B)

B, (C)

Very dense sand

>2.5

C, (D)

B, (C)

C, (D)

Completely weathered chalk

0-0.7

>1

C, (D)

B, (C)

C, (D)

Marl

1.5-4

D, (F)

C, (D)

Stiff marl

>4.5

Very stiff clay

Loose sand

Partially weathered chalk

Bored and lined

Concrete Steel

Driven
Concrete Steel

Grouted
Low
High
pressure pressure
B
E*

Weathered rock

2.5-4

Fractured rock

>4.5

Curves in parentheses only apply for well-constructed piles

* If plm < 1.5 MPa
Pier Capacity in Compression
As given by Reese et al. (1976) the pier capacity in clay is

For piers in sand Reese et al. (1976)

(1)
Settlement due to axial deformation of pile shaft; Sa

S a Q p s Qs

L
AE p

Qp = point load transmitted to the pile tip in the working stress range
Qs = shaft friction load transmitted by the pile in the working stress range (in force units)
s = 0.5 for parabolic or uniform distribution of shaft friction

= 0.67 for triangular distribution of shaft friction starting from zero friction at pile head to a
maximum value at pile point
= 0.33 for triangular distribution of shaft friction starting from maximum at pile head to zero at
the pile point.
(2)

Settlement of pile point caused by load transmitted at the point

S pp

C pQp
Bq o

where
Cp = empirical coefficient depending on soil type and method of construction (see Table below)
B = pile diameter
qo = ultimate end bearing capacity
Table: Typical Values* of Coefficient Cp for Estimating Settlement of a Single Pile
Soil Type

Driven Pile

Bored Pile

Sand (dense to loose)

0.02 to 0.04

0.09 to 0.18

Clay (stiff to soft)

0.02 to 0.03

0.03 to 0.06

Silt (Dense to loose)

0.03 to 0.05

0.09 to 0.12

* Bearing stratum under pile tip assumed to extend at least 10-pile diameter below tip and soil
below tip is of comparable or higher stiffness.
(3)

Settlement of pile points caused by load transmitted along the pile shaft,

S ps
where

C s Qs
Dqo

Cs = (0.93 + 0.16 D/B) Cp

D = embedded length

Settlement of Pile Group in Granular Soils

S g So B

Converse-Labarre equation:

Eg 1
Where,

n 1m m 1n
90mn

Eg = pile group efficiency

= arctan (d/s), deg.
n = number of piles in a row
m = number of rows of piles
d = diameter of a pile
s = spacing of piles, centre to centre, in same unit as pile diameter.

Lateral loads on piles

Single piles in cohesive soils

Single piles in granular soils