INFLUENCE OF LATERALLY LOADED SLEEVED PILES ON SLOPE STABILITY

C.W.W. Ng1, L.M. Zhang1, K.K.S. Ho2, and C.K. Choy1

ABSTRACT Rapid urban development in the hilly terrain of Hong Kong involves the construction of high-rise buildings, many of which are supported on large diameter bored piles. These piles may sometimes have to be founded in slopes and have to resist severe wind loads during typhoon season. In order to minimise the transfer of lateral load from the buildings to the shallow depths of the slopes, an annulus of compressible material (referred to as sleeving) has sometimes been incorporated between the piles and the adjacent soils. In this paper, three-dimensional (3D) numerical analyses were carried out to examine the interactive effects of sleeved piles on slope stability. In the case of a single pile in a slope with a respectable safety margin, the sleeving technique is shown to be capable of minimising the adverse impact of lateral pile loading on local slope instability compared to an unsleeved pile, particularly under high lateral loading. In the case of a marginally stable slope which is vulnerable to external loading, whether the single pile is sleeved or not would make little difference to the global factor of safety. INTRODUCTION Rapid urban development in the hilly terrain of Hong Kong involves the construction of high-rise buildings, many of which are supported on large diameter bored piles. These tall buildings have to resist severe wind loads during the typhoon season each year. The piles are sometimes founded in material at some depth Lateral load below steep slopes. The margins of safety against local Local instability slope instability and global slope failure will reduce as a result of the stresses transferred from the piles to the slope in the course of mobilising lateral load resistance (Figure 1). Local instability may be associated with the initiation of plastic deformation at the shallow ground in front of the laterally loaded pile, with development of successive Global failure cracks being likely to occur in sand (Uto et al., 1985), and Pile large plastic deformation being likely to occur in clay. Global failure may occur if the soil mass supporting the pile develops a slip surface, accompanied by uncontrolled Figure 1: Slope instability caused by a laterally large displacements. Global failure is relatively wellloaded pile defined in traditional limit equilibrium analyses. The stability of slopes is normally evaluated using traditional limit equilibrium approaches. Limit equilibrium analyses using the method of slices cannot generally account for the interaction between the soil and any structures embedded in the slope in a realistic manner. The local stability of slopes with piles may be evaluated approximately by considering limit equilibrium of the soil wedges in front of the piles. For instance, Nakashima et al. (1985) and Uto et al. (1985) each proposed a method to analyse the local stability of the slope in front of the pile. In these methods, the geometric shapes of the failure wedges are assumed and the corresponding lateral pile-head loads at which the slope would be in limit equilibrium can be calculated. This approach may be applicable to slopes in front of short (stiff) piles. For slopes constructed with relatively flexible piles, no rigid blocks in front of the piles can be defined and a limit equilibrium analysis will not be strictly applicable.
1 2

Department of Civil Engineering, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Geotechnical Engineering Office, 101 Princess Margaret Road, Homantin, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

In order to minimise the transfer of lateral load from the piles to the slopes, particularly at shallow depths, the incorporation of an annulus of relatively compressible material (referred to as sleeving) between the piles and the adjacent ground may be adopted. Figure 2 shows the details of a typical sleeved pile. Polystyrene has been used as the sleeving material, which is usually attached to the permanent liner before concreting the pile. The concept of sleeved piles (Siu, 1992) is different from the buttonhole technique Compressive (Bransby and Springman, 1997). The former is material Reinforcement Pile shaft designed to reduce the load transferred from the pile to the slope over the sleeved portion, whereas the latter is developed for reducing the loads transferred onto the Permanent pile from lateral soil displacements, such as those due to liner adjacent asymmetric surcharge loading. Siu (1992) Steel casing reviewed several possible approaches to the design of slopes with embedded piles under lateral loading. Although sleeved pile construction has been adopted in practice for some time, the fundamental interactive Figure 2: Details of a sleeved bored pile behaviour is not fully understood. Numerical methods, such as the finite element method or finite difference method, provide a powerful alternative approach for slope stability analysis which requires fewer assumptions regarding the failure mechanism than in the case of limit equilibrium analysis. Results from numerical analyses have been shown to be in good agreement with limit equilibrium analyses (Matsui and San, 1992; Ugai and Leshchinsky, 1995; Griffith and Lane, 1999). However, it appears that soil-structure interaction has not been examined in detail in the previous studies. In this paper, a three-dimensional finite difference method using an elasto-plastic model is adopted to analyse the stability of a pile-slope system. The influence of pile sleeving on slope stability is investigated for several loading conditions. ANALYSIS OF SLOPE STABILITY USING FINITE ELEMENT (OR DIFFERENCE) METHOD The finite element or finite difference analysis of slope stability utilises the so-called shear strength reduction (or mobilisation) technique (Matsui and San, 1992). The factor of safety of a slope is defined as the number by which the shear strength parameters must be factored down to bring the slope to failure. In this technique, the mobilised shear strength parameters, c'm and 'm are obtained by dividing c' and tan ' by a strength reduction factor (SRF), as follows:

where c' is the effective cohesion and ' is the effective angle of shearing resistance of soil. The value of SRF is initially assumed to be sufficiently small so that the slope is in an elastic condition. The value is subsequently increased step by step until a global slope failure occurs. There have been several criteria proposed in the literature to define global slope failure in a finite element analysis, such as bulging of the slope profile (Snitbhan and Chen, 1976), limiting shear stresses on the potential slip surfaces (Duncan and Dunlop, 1969), and non-convergence of numerical solution (Zienkiewicz and Taylor, 1989). Recent literature appears to favour the non-convergence criterion. For instance, Ugai and Leshchinsky (1995) consider an analysis to be convergent if the increment of nodal displacement between two successive values of SRF divided by the current total displacement is less than 10-5 within 500 iterations. Lack of numerical convergence will be accompanied by a substantial increase in nodal displacement. Therefore, numerical non-convergence may also be conveniently identified by reference to the nodal displacements. This approach is referred to as the nodal displacement method by Giam and Donald (1988). They used two tangential lines, drawn from both ends of a SRF-displacement curve, to locate the point of significant increase in the rate of displacement on the curve. The strength reduction factor corresponding to that point is then defined as the factor of safety of the slope.

c' SRF tan ' ' m = tan 1 SRF c' m =

(1) ( 2)

In analysing slope stability using an elasto-plastic model, the modulus of elasticity is commonly kept constant while the shear strength parameters are factored down. An examination of the relationship between the assumed SRF and nodal displacement shows that three phases of behaviour can be recognized, as shown in Figure 3. In Phase I, the entire slope is in an elastic state with the factored strength parameters and the resulting nodal displacements being independent of the SRF values. When the strength parameters are further factored down, part of the slope will be in a plastic state. Consequently, plastic deformations will develop and the nodal displacements will start to increase (Phase II in Figure 3). Change in nodal Phase III: plastic failure displacements at the start of Phase II may be (Global failure of slope) B significant. However, the SRF at this point is not the factor of safety of the slope, because slope failure will Phase II: elasto-plastic deformation not occur until a much more widespread plastic zone A (Local instability of slope) develops with the formation of slip surfaces. On the other hand, the development of a plastic zone may Phase I: elastic deformation initiate a process of spreading of local, (contained) instability, which could be accompanied by large O Nodal displacement localised displacements, or tension cracking at the slope surface. Therefore, point A in Figure 3 may be regarded Figure 3: Identification of factor of safety as the criterion of the initiation of local instability. At from nodal displacement the end of Phase II (point B), the numerical calculation starts to lose convergence. Unacceptably large and uncontrolled displacement may occur subsequently (Phase III, i.e. global failure of the slope). Point B is therefore a more rigorous criterion for global failure. NUMERICAL ANALYSIS AND MODEL PARAMETERS A pile-slope system in an idealised soil profile is analyzed using the three-dimensional finite difference program Flac3D (Itasca Consulting Group, 1996). Figure 4 shows the cross-section of the pile-soil system. The slope is 15 m high, with an average slope angle of 32. The pile is 2 m in diameter, with an embedded depth of 22.5 m in completely decomposed granite (CDG). In the case of a sleeved pile, an annulus of 250 mm thick sleeving material is modelled around the upper 7.5 m portion of the embedded pile. The sleeving material is assumed to be bonded with the pile and soil perfectly. Therefore, there is no separation or slip of sleeve material with the pile and soil. The slope is 2 Lateral load formed by a series of excavations. Each step excavates 7.5 m 2.5 m of soil and the excavation continues until a slope 3 1 5 height of 15 m has been reached. The concrete pile is 4 7.5 m assumed to be cast-in-place in the middle of the slope. 30 m Sleeving (if any), length The ground water table is taken to be far below the pile Completely =7.5 m, thickness=0.25 m decomposed tip in the analysis. The displacements at five selected granite 60 m critical points (see Figure 4) are analysed against the 2.0 m diameter c' = 10 kPa assumed SRF in order to evaluate the local and global ' = 35 stability of the slope. Only one half of the pile-slope system is modelled, taking the advantage of symmetry. Figure 5 shows the three-dimensional view of the finite 160 difference mesh after excavation. A total of 22425 Figure 4: Cross-section of the pile-slope system elements have been used in the analyses. The pile material is assumed to be linearly elastic, with a Youngs modulus of 26 GPa, Poissons ratio of 0.2 and density of 2400 kg/m3. The bending stiffness of the pile (EI) is taken to be 20.4 GNm2. The soil is simulated with an elastic-perfectly-plastic model (Itasca Consulting Group, 1996), with failure being described by a composite Mohr-Coulomb criterion with a tension cut-off. The Mohr-Coulomb criterion is described by:
Strength reduction factor

f s = '1 ' 3 N + 2c' N

(3)

where '1 and '3 are the major and minor effective principal stresses respectively and N [= (1+sin ')/(1-sin ')] is a function of '. The tension cut-off is expressed as:

Figure 5: Three-dimensional view of the finite difference mesh

f t = ' 3 t
where t is the tensile strength whose maximum value is given by:
t max

( 4)

Table 1: Material parameters for finite difference analysis Properties Soil 50 0.3 41.7 1800 35 10 Sleeve Pile concrete material 26000 0.2 14400 2400 0.3 0.3 0.25 16.5 -

c' = tan '

(5)

The parameters adopted are summarised in Table 1. For CDG, the Youngs modulus, (Es) can be estimated using a correlation with the standard penetration test (SPT). In this analysis, a Youngs modulus of 50 MPa is taken assuming an average SPT N value of 50. Polystyrene has been applied in several sites as the compressible material for pile sleeving. This material has a density of 16.5 kg/m3. Powell and Greenway (1985) and Siu (1992) reported results of oedometer tests on polystyrene. From their test results, a value of Es = 0.3 MN/m2, which corresponds to the secant deformation modulus at about 30% axial strain, is adopted for the finite difference analysis.

Youngs modulus (MPa) Poissons ratio Bulk modulus (MPa) Density (kg/m3) ' (degree) c' (kPa)

STABILITY OF THE SLOPE WITHOUT PILE CONSTRUCTION Figure 6 shows the nodal displacements at four selected nodal points when there is no pile installed in the slope (see Figure 4 for the locations of these points). A significant increase in displacement occur at these selected points at a SRF value of 1.28. Hence, the factor of safety for local instability of this slope is 1.28. At a SRF value of 1.85, large displacements occur at all these points and the numerical calculation does not converge. Global failure is taken to have occurred at this SRF value. The slope without pile construction does not involve any pile-structure interaction. Therefore, the stability of the slope can be analysed with the traditional limit equilibrium approach (2D). The factors of safety obtained using the simplified Bishops method, and Morgenstern and Price method are 1.84 and 1.83, respectively. These values are consistent with the result for global
2.0 Global failure Strength reduction factor SRF 1.8 1.6 1.4 1.2 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.0 -0.1 -0.2 -0.3 -0.4 -0.5 Nodal displacement / pile diameter Local instability Point 1 Point 3 Point 4 Point 5

Figure 6: SRF vs. nodal displacements of the slope without pile construction.

failure from the numerical analysis approach. The consistency between the two different approaches has also been demonstrated by Donald and Giam (1988) and Griffith and Lane (1999). STABILITY OF THE SLOPE WITH SLEEVED AND UNSLEEVED PILES Figures 7 and 8 show the displacements of the selected nodal points on the two slopes in which sleeved and unsleeved piles are constructed respectively. Each of the piles is subjected to a lateral load of 2000 kN at the pile head elevation (for a 100 m tall building of 45 m x 30 m on plan in Hong Kong, a typical design wind load to be resisted by a 2 m diameter bored pile may be approximately 2000 kN). Although the deflection of the sleeved pile and the displacement of the ground surface in front of the pile (point 3) are significantly larger than those for the unsleeved pile at the beginning, both slopes (with sleeved and unsleeved piles constructed) fail at a similar factor of safety. The corresponding SRF-displacement curves fall within Phase II (i.e. local instability) at a SRF value of about 1.20 and Phase III (i.e. global failure) at approximately 1.85. Figures 9 and 10 show the nodal displacements for the two slopes when the applied load at the pile heads was increased to 6000 kN. It is observed that local instability in the slope with an unsleeved pile occurs at a smaller shear strength mobilisation factor (1.0) than that in the slope with a sleeved pile (1.10). However, global failures in both slopes occur at a similar SRF value of 1.80.
2.25 Strength reduction factor SRF Strength reduction factor SRF 2.00 1.75 1.50 1.25 1.00 0.75 0.0 -0.1 -0.2 -0.3 -0.4 -0.5 Nodal displacement / pile diameter 2.25 2.00 1.75 1.50 1.25 1.00 0.75 0.0 -0.1 -0.2 -0.3 -0.4 Nodal displacement / pile diameter -0.5

Global failure Point 1 Point 2 Local instability Point 3 Point 4 Point 5

Global failure Point 1 Point 2 Local instability Point 3 Point 4 Point 5

Figure 7: SRF vs. nodal displacements of the slope with unsleeved pile under a lateral load of 2000 kN
2.00 Strength reduction factor SRF 1.75 1.50 Point 1 1.25 1.00 0.75 0.0 -0.3 -0.5 -0.8 -1.0 Nodal displacement / pile diameter Local instability Point 2 Point 3 Point 4 Point 5 Strength reduction factor SRF 2.00 1.75 1.50

Figure 8: SRF vs. nodal displacements of the slope with sleeved pile under a lateral load of 2000 kN

Point 1 1.25 Local instability 1.00 0.75 0.0 -0.3 -0.5 -0.8 Nodal Displacement / pile diameter -1.0 Point 2 Point 3 Point 4 Point 5

Figure 9: SRF vs. nodal displacements of the slope with unsleeved pile under a lateral load of 6000 kN

Figure 10: SRF vs. nodal displacements of the slope with sleeved pile under a lateral load of 6000 kN

Figure 11 plots the variations of the factors of safety with the applied load on the piles. This shows that the margin of safety against local instability of a slope with laterally loaded piles can be improved by partially sleeving the pile. Where there is a respectable safety margin (in terms of soil shear strength) against slope failure, a single pile will not result in global slope failure. In this case, where the pile is sleeved, the

factor of safety against local slope instability is increased by about 10% compared to an unsleeved pile. In the case of a marginally stable slope which is vulnerable to external loading, even a single pile is liable to cause slope failure. For this latter condition, the analyses confirm that whether the single pile is sleeved or not makes little difference to the global factor of safety which is essentially governed by the soil shear strength. The influence of a laterally loaded pile group in a slope has not been addressed in this paper. CONCLUSIONS
Factor of safety 2.0

Three-dimensional finite difference analyses 1.6 were conducted to evaluate the comparative effects of sleeving a single, laterally loaded pile in terms of 1.2 the margin of safety against slope failure. Nodal displacements from these analyses were used to Local stability, unsleeved pile 0.8 Local stability, sleeved pile define and identify both local instability and global Global stability, unsleeved pile failure of the slope. Where the slope has a Global stability, sleeved pile 0.4 respectable safety margin, the analysis demonstrates 0 2000 4000 6000 8000 an improvement in the margin of safety against local slope instability due to a sleeved pile Lateral load (kN) compared to a non-sleeved pile, particularly when Figure 11: Comparisons of factors of safety the lateral pile loading is large. In the case of a of slopes with sleeved and unsleeved piles marginally stable slope which is vulnerable to external loading, whether the single pile is sleeved or not would make little difference to the global factor of safety of the slope which is largely governed by the shear strength of the soil. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors would like to acknowledge the research grant CRC96/99.EG04 provided by the Research Grant Council of the HKSAR. This paper is published with the permission of the Head of the Geotechnical Engineering Office and the Director of Civil Engineering, Government of the HKSAR. REFERENCES
Bransby, M. F., and Springman, S. M. (1997). Centrifuge modelling of pile groups adjacent to surcharge loads. Soils and Foundations, 37(2), 39-49. Duncan, J. M., and Dunlop, P. 1969. Slopes in tiff fissured clays and soils. Journal of Soil Mechanics and Foundation Division, ASCE, 95(5), 467-492. Giam, S. K., and Donald, I. B. (1988). Determination of critical surfaces for slopes via stress-strain calculations. Proceedings 5th Australia - New Zealand Conference on Geomechanics, 461-464. Griffiths, D. V., and Lane, P. A. (1999). Slope stability analysis by finite elements. Geotechnique, 49(3), 387-403. Itasca Consulting Group, Inc. (1996). FLAC3D Version 2.0, Fast Lagrangian Analysis of Continua in Three Dimensions. Minneapolis, USA. Matsui, T., and San, K. C. (1992). Finite element slope stability analysis by shear strength reduction technique. Soils and Foundations, 32(1), 59-70. Nakashima, E., Tabara, K., and Maeda, Y. C. (1985). Theory and design of foundations on slopes. Proceedings Japanese Society of Civil Engineering, No. 355, 46-52. Powell, G. E. and Greenway, D. R. (1985). Laboratory testing of some structural cushions. Technical Note TN 2/85, Geotechnical Control Office, Hong Kong Government. Siu, K. L. (1992). A review of design approaches for laterally loaded caissons with particular reference to sleeving. Special Project Report SPR 3/92, Geotechnical Engineering Office, Hong Kong. Snitbhan, N., and Chen, W. F. (1976). Elastic-plastic large deformation analysis of soil slopes. Computers and Structures, 9, 567-577. Ugai, K., and Leshchinsky, D. (1995). Three-dimensional limit equilibrium and finite element analyses: a comparison of results. Soils and Foundations, 35(4), 1-7. Uto, K., Maeda, H., Yoshii, Y., Takeuchi, M., Kinoshita, K., and Koga, A. (1985). Horizontal behavior of pier foundations in a shearing type ground model. Proceedings 5th Int. Conf. Numerical Methods in Geomechanics, Nagoya, Japan, 781-788.

Zienkiewicz, O. C., and Taylor, R. L. (1989). The Finite Element Method, Vol. 1, 4th edition, McGraw-Hill, New York.