1 Key features of auger displacement piles

Auger displacement piles are formed using concrete injection through a hollow stemmed auger in a
similar way to CFA piles. Unlike CFA piles however, the auger is designed to displace soil sideways
as it penetrates the ground, rather than to flight the spoil dug from the auger tip up the auger to
ground level.

The piles, although auger-formed, have many of the characteristics of driven cast in place
piles.

The key benefits of auger displacement piles are:

Little or no spoil - this is especially advantageous when developing in contaminated land sites;

Increased unit shaft friction and end bearing in granular soils compared with CFA piles - this allows
shorter, more economic piling at suitable sites.

2 Types of auger displacement piles

There are 2 types of displacement piles: full displacement (FD) and continuous helical
displacement (CHD).

The FD pile is made by drilling with an auger which has a section of stem equivalent to the
full pile diameter. An example is the Omega auger shown in Figure 1. The auger forces soil
laterally outwards leaving a cylindrical bore which is then concreted like a CFA pile. FD piles
have typical diameters of 340mm to 810mm.

Figure 1: Schematic of Figure 2: Typical DAP full displacement auger

Omega Auger

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The CHD pile is made using a short screw section of auger, rather like the lead auger of a CFA string
although with a larger stem diameter and thicker flights. The stem is typically of 300mm diameter
and the flights are around 450mm. The auger is screwed into the ground, like a corkscrew, to the
required depth. Concrete is then injected as the auger is reverse rotated to screw the auger back
out of the ground, leaving a ‘threaded’ screw pile in the ground.

Figure 3: Roger Bullivant Ltd (UK) CHD pile

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The FD pile can be used to support very large compressive loads. The cylindrical section allows
substantial reinforcing cages to be inserted such that bending loads can be accommodated.

The CHD pile has the advantage that it has the skin friction capacity of about 90% of the full screw
diameter, but the concrete take of only slightly more than the stem diameter. This makes this type
of pile well suited to housing / light industrial sites where the pile loads are say 50 tonnes or less.
The small stem diameter precludes the insertion of the large cages needed to support substantial
lateral or bending loads.

3 Design of Auger Displacement Piles

Most of the initial work on this type of piling was carried out in Belgium by Prof Van Impe. Here, the
site investigations are usually made using cone penetrometers (CPT). Unlike SPT testing, the CPT
tool is forced, at constant velocity, through the soils and measures the pressure on the tip of the
cone. The tip pressure CPT can be used to determine pile capacity as follows.

End bearing
Ub=CPT*Ap*Efe where Ap is the cross sectional area of the pile and Efe is a piling method efficiency
factor, which is 1 for displacement piles.

Shaft friction
The shaft friction per unit length at any depth z is determined from the graph in Figure 2 and
the following relationship:

Us(z) = T(z)*Pi*Dp(z) where Dp(z) is the pile diameter at depth z and T(z) is the unit friction
at depth z determined from Figure 4

Figure 4: Conversion of cone resistance (CPT) into unit shaft friction.

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Example:

Cone resistance = 5 Mpa. From graph, conversion = 60. Unit shaft friction = CPT/60

So unit friction = 5/60 = 0.083 Mpa = 83 kN/m^2

We would strongly recommend the use of CPTs as the measurement method as this is consistent
with the formation method of Auger displacement piles. CPT values can be estimated from SPT data,
but the conversion factors depend upon the soil type and are therefore open to interpretation. The
ratio of sleeve friction to cone resistance from the CPT tool can also indicate whether the stratum
encountered is cohesive or granular.

4 Drilling mechanics
4.1 The relationship between drilling resistance and cone resistance
The cone resistance of a soil has units of Pa = N/m^2. The energy required from the piling rig to
drill 1m^3 of soil is the ‘drilling resistance’. This has units of Joules/m^3. 1 Joule of work is done
when a force of 1N is moved through a distance of 1m. So the unit Joule can be expressed a N.m.
Thus the drilling resistance is N.m/m^2 = N/m^2. The drilling resistance and the cone resistance
are thus dimensionally identical. In practice, it has been found that:

CPT=DrillR * K where K is a constant which depends upon the auger design. For the following
discussion, we will assume K=1.

4.2 Auger torque requirements

Assume the soil is to be displaced solely by the torque of the auger.

The rotary drilling resistance is given by:

DrillRrot = Torque*Rot/(drillspeed*Ap) (Nm/m^3) where Rot is the rotational speed of the auger in
radians/sec.

The drilling resistance must equal the cone resistance. So the auger torque required is a function of
the cone resistance, rotational speed, penetration rate, and auger area.

i.e. Torque (Nm) = CPT (N/m^2) *drillspeed (m/s) * Ap)/ Rot

Example
Auger diam = 600mm, so Ap= 0.2826m^2
Auger is to penetrate a 2 m/min (= 0.033m/s)
Auger rev speed = 10 rpm = 1.05 rad/sec
Soil CPT is 15MPa (N approx =30)
Torque = 15*10^6 * 0.033 * 0.2826 / 1.05 = 133,226 Nm ~13.3 Tm.

The torque is that required to penetrate at a given rate. The residual torque required to rotate the
auger without penetrating (i.e. the parasitic friction torque) needs to be added to this.

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4.3 Thrust requirements
Instead of displacing the soil by rotation, it would in principle, be possible to push the auger into the
ground with thrust alone (i.e. pull down or crowd).

The force required to do this is related directly to the cone resistance:

i.e. Thrust = CPT * Ap.

Example
Ap=0.2826 m^2
CPT = 15 MPa
Thrust = 15*10^6*0.2826 = 4,239,000 N ~424 tonnes.

Note that this is the thrust that would be required if the auger had a square end. The actual thrust
will be lower with a shaped tip.

4.4 Contribution of rotational power and thrust to the formation of displacement piles
The thrust on the auger comprises the mass of the rotary table and auger plus any applied crowd
force. On a large rig, such as a Soilmec R930, the table plus auger may weigh around 25 tonnes,
and say 15 tonnes of crowd may be applied. The total thrust would be say 40 tonnes.

Consider the example in 4.2. The work done on the soil per second is given by:

Thrust x drill speed = 400,000 (N) * 0.033 m/s = 13.2 kW

The rotational power absorbed in 1 second is given by:

Torque * rot = 133,226 (Nm) * 1.05 (rad/sec) = 139.9 kW

It is clear, therefore, that even on a rig with a heavy table and a crowd winch, that most of the work
is done by the rotation of the auger and not by the thrust. The thrust simply acts to allow the auger
to drill. It is analogous to pushing on the back of a masonry drill when trying to drill into a wall. The
electric drill does most of the work. The operator pushing on the drill allows the work to be done.
It is for this reason that the measurement of crowd force is not essential for the calculation of
drilling resistance.

5 Rig requirements
5.1 Torque pull down and rpm
From Section 4, it is clear that a powerful rig is required. The FD auger cannot pull itself into the
ground and the downthrust from a CHD auger is limited - see section 6. Thrust on the auger is thus
required via the mass of the table and by pull down.

The drilling resistance of the soil dictates the amount of work that must be done on soil to displace
it. Most of this work comes from the rotation of the auger. The work per second is the product of
torque x revolution rate. The wear on the auger depends on the total number of revolutions required
to bore a pile. For a given rig power, it is preferable to have a large torque and a very slow
revolution rate. Most CFA rigs have a slowest revolution rate of around 10 rpm. For displacement
piles, it would be better to harness this power by having a revolution rate of around 5 rpm but at
twice the torque. For FD piles up to about 500mm diameter, a minimum torque of around 18 Tm at
10 rpm is required with a thrust of around 10 tonnes.

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5.2 Pull out force
Having got particularly an FD auger into the ground, it is necessary to pull it back out. The ground
above the auger tends to relax and the bore diameter thus reduces. This means that a lot of force
may be required to extract the auger. Practical experience suggests that 4 Tonnes of pull out are
required for each 1 Tonne metre of torque. So a 60 Tonne pull out is required for a rig with 15 Tm of
torque.

6 CHD auger design

6.1 Torque requirements
The CHD auger is a special case of the displacement auger in that the drill rate is directly linked to
the auger rotational speed because the auger must penetrate at 1 pitch per revolution. These
parameters, in turn, are related to the torque required. It is important, therefore, to match the
design of the auger to the rig.

e.g.
Auger pitch 200mm
Auger rpm = 10 rpm = 1.04 rad/sec
CPT in soil = 15 MPa
Cross section of stem plus flights = 0.1 m^2
Diam of auger across flights = 500mm
The drilling rate will be 0.2m * 10 rpm = 2 m/min = 0.033 m/s.
Torque required (Nm) = CPT (N/m^2) *drillspeed (m/s) * Ap)/ Rot
= 15*10^6 * 0.033 * 0.1 / 1.04
=47.6 kN.m ~ 4.8 Tm

If the pitch were doubled to 400mm and the rotational rate kept constant, then the required torque
would double to 9.6 Tm.

In principle, therefore, the smaller the pitch of the auger, the less torque is required when all
other parameters remain constant.

6.2 Thickness of helix

The skin friction of a CHD pile relates approximately to the diameter of the auger across the flights.
As the pile is loaded, the shear stress set up at the effective pile diameter needs to be transferred to
the central stem of the pile via the helix. The root of the helix thus needs to be sufficiently thick to
avoid shearing. The flights themselves need also to be thick enough so they do not simply snap off.

e.g.
Effective pile diam = 500mm
Core diam = 300mm
Pitch = 200mm
CPT=15 MPa

The ultimate unit friction in the soil will be approximately 0.01*CPT = 0.15 MPa = 150 kPa.
In 1 auger pitch, the surface area of the pile will be 0.5*Pi*P = 0.314 m^2.

The max shear force will thus be 150*10^3 * 0.314 = 47.1 kN

The shear area of the flights against the core of the pile will be Th * P where Th is the thickness of
the flight.

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If the shear strength of concrete is fs, then

Th> 47.1*10^3/(P*fs)

So if fs = 6 MPa, then Th>0.039m.

6.3 Auger extraction

The auger must be extracted at 1 pitch per turn. The extraction rate is thus determined by the
range of auger revolution rates available from the rig. The extraction rate must also be matched to
the concrete flow rate.

Example
Auger pitch = 0.2m
Auger rpm - 10 - 30 rpm
Pile cross sectional area Ap= 0.1m^2
Concrete flow rate = 30m^3/hr = 0.5 m^3/min

The extraction rate required to meet the flow rate is Flow rate (m^3/min) / Ap (m^2) =0.5 / 0.1 =
5m/min.

The extraction rate must be matched to the auger rev rate,

i.e Rev = Ext / P = 5 (m/min) / 0.2 (m) = 25 rpm

Piling rigs are constant power devices. The torque available is Power / rpm, so the faster the auger
is rotating, the less torque is available.

It is evident, therefore, that the following factors are considered in the design:

a) The pump must be of a low enough flow rate to allow controlled extraction of the pile
b) The flight pitch needs to be small enough so that the torque demands on the rig are not
exceeded, but large enough to allow a sensibly low revolution rate on extraction.

6.4 Thrust requirements

There are two mechanisms by which the auger may penetrate the ground:-

a) The thrust from the flights (i.e. downward screw force)

b) The downward thrust on the auger from the combined auger and table mass plus pull down.

The ratio between shaft friction and end bearing capacity for a given soil is about 1:80. If the auger
was to screw itself into the ground, then the shaft friction area would need to be at least 80 times
the auger cross section.

e.g. Pile cross section Ap = 0.1 m^2; outer diameter of flights Dp = 0.5m diam.
Then the required length of flight for ‘self-tapping’ would be

L>=80 * Ap / (Dp * Pi)

L>=80*0.1 / (.5 * Pi)

So L>=5.1m

In the above example, the flighted length of the auger would need to be at least 5.1m for it to pull
itself into the ground. This is not practical for the following reasons:-

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a) There will be a lot of residual friction on the auger
b) If the auger encounters a hard band such that it cannot continue to penetrate at 1 pitch per turn,
then soil will be disturbed over the full length of the fights. i.e. the ‘thread’ will be stripped for 5.1m.

It is better, therefore, to have only 1 or 2 flight pitches and rely on thrust.

If the pile has N flights and the pitch is P, then the downthrust required would be:

Thrust=CPT*Ap - (N*P*Pi*Dp*CPT/80)

Example: CPT=5 MPa, N=2, Dp=0.5m, P=0.3m, Ap=0.1m^2

Thrust=5*10^6 * 0.1 - (2*0.3*Pi*0.5*5*10^6/80)
Thrust=5*10^5 - 0.59*10^5 = 4.4*10^5N = 440 kN = 44 Tonnes

The rotary table and augers weigh around 5 or 6 Tonnes. It is clear, therefore, that a large pull
down force is required. This force may be reduced if the auger tip is made conical.

7 Requirements for instrumentation

7.1 F D Piles
The instrumentation requirements for this type of pile are similar to CFA. It is, however, important
that the instrumentation measures the drilling energy. The drilling resistance is used as an index of
the end bearing of the pile. The cumulative energy is used as an index of the pile shaft friction.
Displacement piles are best built to drilling resistance and energy requirements rather than to a
specific depth. For example, a pile may be specified in terms if reaching a drilling resistance
exceeding 5MJ/m^3 for 0.3m and a total energy of 15MJ. This is analogous to driving a precast
driven pile to a set.

N D Technology’s PL3000/CFA system has a specific monitoring and control program for FD piles.

7.2 CHD Piles

The instrumentation requirements for this type of pile differ considerably from the CFA process.

When drilling in, the auger must, where possible, penetrate at 1 pitch per turn to avoid shearing the
lateral soils. The instrumentation must show clearly the penetration per turn and the target of 1
pitch per turn for the rig driver to follow. This would ideally be controlled by the monitoring system.

When concreting, the auger must be extracted at a rate close to 1 pitch per revolution and also at a
rate which matches the concrete flow rate from the concrete pump. The instrumentation thus needs
to display to the operator in real time both the extraction rate per auger turn and the oversupply.

The operator must control the auger revolution rate to achieve the extraction rate required to
achieve adequate oversupply.

In practice, this means that the operator has to control the auger revolution speed and the the main
winch simultaneously to avoid the winch rope becoming slack. This is extremely difficult. N.D.
Technology’s PL3000 system has a special in-built process for CHD piles. It can automatically control
the main winch extraction rate to match the auger revolution rate, leaving the operator to simply
control the auger rev rate.

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An example printout is shown below. Note that in this example, the auger has not penetrated at 1
pitch per turn, nor has it been extracted at 1 pitch per turn. The resulting pile did not perform well.

Figure 5: Example of instrumentation data for a CHD screw pile. Note that the penetration per rev
achieved when boring was less than 1 pitch per turn (green dotted line). This disturbed the soil and
compromised the pile's performance under load.

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8 Common problems
8.1 Dense gravels
When bands of dense or very dense gravel are encountered, auger penetration will become very
slow and the bore will reach practical refusal. This is particularly the case for FD augers.

If the gravel is in a thin band, the pile may not have reached a safe founding depth. Turning the
auger with little or no penetration causes excessive auger wear and the augers will need to be
refaced regularly.

In the event of very low penetration rates, it is important the auger rotational speed is kept to a
minimum. Thus minimising auger wear.

8.2 Heave
The auger displaces soil laterally when drilling. The displaced soil will cause the ground around the
pile to rise in proportion to the volume of soil displaced.

Example
Consider an area of 9m x 9m with pile spaced at 3m squares.
If the piles are say 450mm x 8 m long, the total soil displaced by the piles is:
0.45^2 x pi/4 x 8* 9 = 11.44m^3.

The displaced soil will raise the free upper surface of the ground by:

Heave = displaced volume/ plan area

Heave = 11.44m^3/9^3 = 15mm.

The upward heave of the soil places induces tension in any formed and cured piles. The maximum
tensile stress is around 30%-40% of the pile depth. Concrete has a tensile strength of only 1/10th
of its compressive strength. The heave can, therefore, cause already installed piles to crack at a
depth of 30%-40% of the full pile length. This often coincides with the base of the reinforcing cage.

Consideration thus needs to be given to the installation sequence for the piles and the pile plan area
density.

8.3 Lateral soil displacement in soft layered strata

Problems can occur when piles are formed through a hard crust into a soft intermediate layer, such
as peat, and then back into a firm layer. In this circumstance, the soil displaced by the piles will get
forced into the soft layer. Piles which have been recently formed and are still wet will become
squeezed in the soft layer, resulting in necking.

Figure 6 shows some FD piles which have constrictions in cross section (necks) at a depth of about
3m from platform level. The necks coincide with a band of very soft clay sandwiched between two
firmer layers. About 50% of the piles at this this contained similar features. Consideration thus
needs to be given to pile sequence in such strata.

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Figure 6: Example of an FD pile formed in a firm/soft/firm sandwich strata. Note the constriction in
the pile section.

This has been caused by the bore being squeezed whilst the concrete was still wet by the installation
of adjacent piles.

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