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61-68,2007
The Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka
Abstract: Static load testing of piles yield only the load-settlement behaviour of piles. While it is useful
to get the load-settlement behaviour, the static load testing yields no other direct information regarding
the distribution of load carrying capacity along the pile shaft and at the pile toe. However, various
researchers have shown that the shape of the load-settlement curve can be interpreted to get such
information. This paper attempts to discuss the reasons for commonly observed variations of the shape
of the load-settlement curves obtained by testing bored piles and the use of the Elastic Shortening Line
(ESL) in interpretation of the load-settlement curves. Load-settlement curves are categorized using the
ESL and a mathematical model, developed to simulate the load-settlement behaviour of piles, is used
to investigate the reasons for variation of the shape of the load-settlement curves of different categories.
Accuracy of the commonly used Van Weele [8] method to estimate the skin friction from the load-
settlement curve is also discussed.
Keywords: Bored piles, Static load Test, Interpretation.
61 ENGINEER
ii. During middle stage of the loading, the load
capacity is the sum of limiting skin
11 - !).pl (1)
P- AE
resistance plus the point capacity; and
Where L, A, and E are length, cross sectional
iii. During final stage, the load-settlement curve area and Young's modulus of pile materials
reaches vertical asymptote indicating respectively. Therefore, during stages II and III,
ultimate carrying capacity. the increase in the settlement of the pile toe due
The Figure 1 illustrates the load carried by skin to a loading increment (.1.P) is the total
friction and end bearing during loading through settlement of the pile at the top minus the elastic
the above three stages. compression of the pile shaft given by Equation
[1]. During stage I, the elastic compression is less
P, p"' than the amount given by equation [l} for a
given load increment and the difference is
governed by the location of the skin friction
along the pile shaft and the shear stiffness of the
surrounding soil. It is obvious from the above
discussion that if the stiffness and the capacity
of the pile is to be investigated, it should be
done by considering the elastic compression of
the pile shaft as the reference line. Therefore, a
reference line in the load settlement curve
indicating the elastic compression of the pile
P..., Pl,n.1 Pltn.t+AP P-,,.u1,
shaft, acting as a short column without any skin
(a) (b) (c) (d) friction, will be a very valuable tool in
Figure 1: Load carrying through: (a) stage I; (b) end of interpretation of the load-settlement curves
stage I; (c) stage II and (d) end of stage III obtained from static load testing of piles. This
reference line is identified as the 'Elastic
Settlement of the pile may be due to only two Shortening Line' (ESL) and it is mathematically
reasons: (i) Compression of the pile shaft; and represented by equation [2] in terms of the total
(ii) settlement of the pile at the toe. Since within force at the pile top (I-) and the total settlement
normal loading conditions, the pile material is (p) rather than the incremental values
stressed within the elastic range the considered in equation [1].
compression of the pile shaft will be the elastic
shortening of the pile due to the increment of the p= PL (2)
axial stress along the pile shaft. However, as the AE
skin friction varies along the pile shaft, the axial 3. Classification of the load-settlement
stress increment along the pile shaft is not
curves based on the ESL
uniform. During stage I, the axiai load in the pile
decreases with the depth and the elastic Load settlement curves obtained from field
compression of the pile, per unit increase in the testing of bored piles could be categorized in to
pile top force, increases with the pile top force. three groups, as shown in Figures 2 to 4, based
This is mainly due to the increase in the length on the location of the ESL with respect to the
of the pile involved in carrying the pile top load-settlement curves obtained. The categories
force. At the end of stage II (Figure l(b)), the are identified as given below:
elastic compression of the pile, per unit increase
in the pile top force, reaches the maximum and Catagorey I - Initial portion of the Load-
during stage II and III (Figure l(c)&l(d)) the settlement curve is above the
same rate of elastic compression of the pile ESL (Figure 2).
continues. The elastic compression of the pile Catagorey II - Initial portion of the load-
shaft (p), corresponding to an increase of p of settlement curve is parallel to
the pile top force, during stages II & III can be the ESL (Figure 3).
mathematically represented using the one- Catagorey III - Initial portion of the load-
dimensional Hook's law as given in Equation settlement curve is below the
[1]. ESL (Figure 4) .
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4. Mathematical simulation of the load-
ocro mien zmcn amen mcro emcn settlement behavior of bored piles
QCIDQ,.,o"'=-:-:---------
A mathematical simulation presented in
2cm Thilakasiri [7] is used to investigate the behavior
rE of the above mentioned categories of piles. In
i 4.CID this mathematical simulation, pile is divided
i 6CID into n number of elements and equilibrium of
! each element is considered after loading. In
aero descritization of the pile, the portion of the pile
above the ground surface is considered as a
mcro;=::::=============================----, single element and the portion of the pile below
I ""*"" Satlara1 v.. I.ml -<>- Baltic Sutrirg Lire
the ground surface is divided into n-I number
Figure 2: Category I - Initial portion of the Load- of elements with equal length as shown in
settlement curve is above the ELS Figure 5.
F
QCD 1CDOCD zmco amm 4mCD smm emm 7tmCD (&'t- 6,.)
Ground level
t (F',.2-F,,2)
F',.1.1-Fs,1-1
+
F'.rFs,I
F'.,1+1-F ,,1+1
+
F'. n-Fs,n
2000
friction due to the same load increment on the pile.
The pile elements are connected to each other
e.5. 4.000 through pile springs and the skin friction acting on
i each element is modeled as an elastic-perfectly
i 6.000 plastic sliding spring with a maximum resistance
VI
of F US,!. on the ith element as shown in Figure 6.
8000
Skin friction
Loading
Fus,;
Displacement
Investigation of the positions of the load- Unloading
ttlement curves relative to the ESL will be
discussed by simulation of the pile load test as
xplained in Thilakasiri [7]. A brief description Figure 6: Load deflection behavior of a spring used to
f the simulation method is given below. model the skin friction on i'h element.
63 ENGINEER
I
The maximum elastic deformation of the soil iterative procedure to check and limit the
spring (Q) is referred to as the quake of the skin maximum force in the soil springs was adopted
friction of the i1h element. Similar elasto-plastic in the numerical procedure.
sliding spring can be utilized to model the
k,_,((o, +oH)-(o; +o,))=k,((o; +o,)-(a:., +o,.,))-k.(o: +o,)=o (4)
ground response at the pile toe with maximum
force at the pile toe as Futoe and the quake at the
,J,:-1 +ki-1-kl-tJ{ +X+1 .,-J,-1 +t,_1-t,-t,;>i, +Ji =O (5)
toe as Q1oe.
[A](o')+[Bl(o);(F) """""''"'"'"""""""''" (6)
The stiffness of the pile spring, K; connecting i1h A Microsoft Excel worksheet was developed to
element and the i+ 111' element, can be taken as implement the above described numerical
A,E/t.L1 where A1 E and t.L1 are cross sectional procedure. The developed program is capable of
area, Young's modulus and length of the i'" dividing the pile into 50 elements and
element respectively. The stiffness of the soil simulating the loading stage of the pile during
spring for the l" element, k . can be obtained
S,I
static load testing.
from Fus,/Q, and the same for the toe spring, k,oe1
can be obtained by F,11/Q,". The forces acting on 5.0 Investigation of the behavior of
the z7" element are shown in Figure 7. the piles using the numerical
simulation
The developed simulation program was used to
investigate the behavior of the three categories
of piles identified in section 3.0. The simulation
was done using a 20m long, 800mm diameter
pile in a three layer medium as shown in Figure
8.
fls,i + fs,i
t F; '
L/3 800mm Layerl
,..
L/3 Layer 2
I ENGINEER 64
th' kin friction of 4021kN to three layers. The investigated by changing the quake of the end
rt suiting load-settlement curves are as given in bearing layer to 4mm and 16mm while keeping
ligure 9. Figure 10 is generated by carrying out all the other base parameters unchanged. The
th ame study for the end quake of 16mm. stiffness of the bottom spring is estimated as the
ratio between the ultimate end bearing capacity
Load (kN) and the end quake. Therefore, halving the end
0 5000 10000
quake means doubling the end stiffness and vice
0
versa. The SF was applied at the layer 1 for all
three cases. The effect of the changing the
-4 stiffness of the end bearing layer on the load-
settlement curve is shown in Figure 11.
e
..
-8
cCl)
-12
Load (kN)
-24
-er- SF in layer 3
ESL
eE -8
c -12
figure 9: Effect of the location of the SF on the load-
Cl)
E
settlement curve (End quake Bmm) !... -16
Cl)
v,
---- End quake 8mm
-20
Load (kN) ---&--- End quake 4mm
-=
0 3000 6000 9000
-24 ----*--- ESL
-4-t--r------i Figure 11: Effects of the changing the stiffness of the end
-6+------->,--,-----i bearing layer on the load-settlement curve.
E -8 +------=::"."".--!
E
- -10 +-------l.i___:_:-t There is a very minor reduction of the slope of
i -12 +------->clll:----,'
the Stage I of the load-settlement curve as the
E -14 4----------l
_! -16 -+- SF in layer 1 t-'1111\----1 stiffness of the end bearing layer increases. It
-18 doesn't have a significant effect on the load-
-20 ----- SF in lay er 2 t-----'l!!l.'rl
settlement curve. However, as the stiffness of the
-22 ---..---- SF in Layer 3,,_____,,_
-24 end bearing layer increases the end portion of
ESL
the load-settlement curve becomes flatter as
expected.
Figure 10: Effect of the location of the SF on the
load-settlement curve baseline material parameters
(End quake 10 mm). 5.3 Effect of the magnitude of the SF on the
load-settlement curve
IL is evident from the load-settlement curves
Effects of magnitude of the SF is investigated by
h wn in Figures 9 and 10 that the location of
changing the SF to 2011 kN and 8044kN while
th skin friction along the shaft has a significant
keeping all the other base parameters same and
Hect on the relative location of the load-
applying the SF to the top most layer. The load
ttlement curve with respect to the ESL.
settlement curves for the three cases are as
Pr sence of the SF near the top of the pile makes
shown in Figure 12.
th initial portion of the load-settlement curve
rt tter and as the SF is located in deeper layers It is clear from the variation shown in Figure 12.
I ad-settlement curve becomes steeper. that the extent of the initial flat region of the
load-settlement curve depends on the
.2 Effect of the stiffness of the end bearing magnitude of the skin friction. The quake of the
layer on the load-settlement curve SF was kept constant and therefore, the stiffness
of the material surrounding the pile shaft
The effect of the stiffness of the end bearing
increases with the SF. As a result, the slope of the
It yer on the load-settlement curve was
65 ENGINEER
I
Load (kN)
settlement curve as stated earlier. Therefore,
Category I type load-settlement curves are
0 5000 10000 15000 20000
resulted from the presence of the soil layer with
0
___...._ SF=2011 kN
high shear stiffness near the top of the pile.
-4 Category II type of curves are obtained by
E -+- SF=4022 kN
testing piles with high stiff soil layers near the
-
. -8
c:
QI
EQI
-12
-sF=8044kN
middle or toe of the pile. Presence of the small
SF with low stiffness results in the Category
EQI -16 type III load-settlement curves.
(/)
-20
6.2 The factors affecting the Stage II of the
-24
load-settlement curve
Figure 12: Variation of the load-settlement curve
with the SF. The most important factor that affects the Stage
II of the load-settlement curve is the stiffness of
the material present below the toe of the pile. As
initial portion of the load-settlement curve shown in Figure 11, higher the stiffness of the
reduces as the stiffness of the soil surrounding pile toe material, less steeper is the Stage II of
the pile shaft increases. the load-settlement curve. Thilakasiri [4] using
the method proposed by Van weele [8] showed
6.0 Discussion of the results of the that the tangent line drawn to the second stage
parametric study of the load-settlement curve can be used to
separate the SF and end bearing capacities, as
The results of the parametric study clearly
shown in Figure 13.
showed the existence of Stage I and Stage II of
the load-settlement curves as explained in
section 2.0. The results of the parametric study Load
can be discussed under two sections: (i) the
factors affecting the Stage I of the load-
settlement curve; and (ii) the factors affecting
the Stage II of the load-settlement curve.
I ENGINEER 66
I. ble 1: SF estimated from Van Weele [8) method the ESL and the pile belongs to Category III as
for different end stiffness of piles shown by the parametric study.
End Location of SF SF estimated Actual SF
uake along the pile from Van (kN) Axial force (kN)
j
Load (kN) 20 -+- Observed Load -
0 1000 2000 3000 Settlement
0 --ESL
j 25
5
Figure 16: Load -settlement curve
10 (Hussein and Camp [2])
15
I 20 Axial force (k N)
j 25
30
0 0
1000
I
2000
i Settlement
-e--ESL
5
10 I
15 I
Figure 14: Load -settlement curve
S /
I
(Hussein and Camp [21) 20
/ --Measured
25
Mea ured axial force along the pile shaft clearly 30 / axial load
67 ENGINEER
Measured axial force clearly indicates that a References
considerable skin friction is developed along the
1. Bowels, J.E., "Foundation Analysis and Design",
entire pile shaft. Therefore, the stiffness of the
5th Edition, McGraw-Hill, 1996.
soil along the pile shaft is high. The ESL is below
the measured load - settlement curve and the 2 Hussein, M. M., and Camp, W., "Dynamic and
static tests on driven and cast in-place piles",
pile belongs to Category I, as shown by the International Conference on Design and
parametric study presented. Construction of Deep Foundations, Orlando
Florida, USA, 1994, pp 1103 -1117.
8.0 Conclusions 3. Tomlinson, M. J., Pile Design and Construction
Practice, 4th Edition, E & FN Spon, 1994.
It is shown in the paper that the three distinct
4. Thilakasiri, H. S., "A Review of the Design
stages could be identified in the commonly Practices of Bored and Cast In-situ Piles in Sri
obtained load-settlement curves as observed by Lanka", Proceedings ofAnnual sessions of'Institution
other researchers. It is shown that the Stage I of ofEngineers- 2006, Sri Lanka.
the load-settlement curve depends mainly on 5. Thilakasiri, H. S. and Silva, W. H., "Interpretation
the skin friction developed and the Stage II of Compressibility Properties of Soil Surrounding
depends mainly on the end bearing. The Bored Piles from Pile Load Test Results", paper
importance of the Elastic Shortening Line (ESL) submitted for the Annual Sessions ofT/ze Institution
of the tested pile is highlighted and the field ofEngineers Sri Lanka, 2007(a)
load-settlement curves are categorized into 3 6. Thilakasiri, H. S. and Silva, W. H., "Interpretation
groups, as given below, based on the position of of the End Bearing Condition of Bored and Cast
In-situ Concrete Piles using Static Pile Load Test
it with respect to the ESL.
Results" accepted for publication in the
Category I - Stage I of the Load-settlement Proceedings of the Asian Regional Conference of Soil
curve is above the ESL. Mee/zanies and Geotechnical Engineering, December
2007(b), Kolkata.
Category II - Stage I of the load-settlement
curve is parallel to the ESL. 7. Thilakasiri, H. S., "Analysis of the load -
settlement curves obtained from static load
Category III - Stage I of the load-settlement testing of bored and cast in-situ concrete piles in
curve is below the ESL. Sri Lanka", paper accepted for the International
Conference on Soil and Rock Engineering, August
It is shown that the category of the pile mainly 2007(c), Colombo, Sri Lanka.
depends on the SF. It is shown that Category I 8. Van Weele, A. A., "A Method of Separating the
type load-settlement curves are resulted from Bearing Capacity of a Pile into Skin-Friction and
the presence of the soil layer with high shear Point Resistance", 4th ICSMFE, Vol. 2, 1957, pp.
stiffness near the top of the pile. Category II type 76 -80.
of curves is obtained by testing piles with high
stiff soil layers near the middle or toe of the pile.
Presence of the small SF with low stiffness
results in the Category type III load-settlement
curves. Two case studies of the results of load
testing of instrumented piles are presented to
verify the findings of the parametric study.
I ENGINEER 68