CHAPTER 9

PILE FOUNDATIONS - GROUPS

9.1 Introduction

The pile foundations are rarely to consist of a single pile. Generally, there will be a
minimum of two or three piles under a foundation element or footing to allow for
misalignments and other inadvertent eccentricities. Fig. (9.1) presents some typical pile clusters
for illustrative purposes only since the designer must make up the group geometry to satisfy
any given problem. When several piles are clustered, it is reasonable to expect that the soil
pressure will overlap as shown in Fig. (9.2). With sufficient overlap, either the soil will fail in
shear or the pile group will settle excessively. To avoid the overlap, the spacing of the piles
could be increased, but large spacing is impractical since a pile cap is usually cast over a group
of piles. Therefore, large spacings will require massive and heavy pile caps.

The code of practice (CP 2004) requires a minimum spacing for:

- End bearing piles; = 2  least width of the pile.

- Friction piles ; = 3  least width of the pile.

The National Building Code states that the minimum distance between centers of piles;

- For piles not driven to rock;

- For piles driven to rock ;

where = pile diameter or the diagonal dimension of square or H piles (mm).

9.2 The Carrying Capacity of Pile Groups

In general, the ultimate load which can be supported by a group of -piles may not be
equal to times the ultimate load of a single isolated pile. Both theory and experience have
shown that pile groups may fail as units before the load per pile becomes equal to the safe
design load. Terzaghi and Peck (1967) proposed that the group capacity will be the lesser of;

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Fig. 9.1 Typical pile-group patterns: (a) for isolated pile caps; (b) for foundation walls.

Fig. 9.2 Stresses surrounding a friction pile and the summing effects of a pile group.

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Chapter Nine Pile Foundations - Groups

(i) Sum of the capacity of the individual piles:

(ii) Block capacity (or block action) [see Fig. (9.3)]:

where:

= ultimate carrying capacity of a single pile

= number of piles in a group

= ultimate pile group capacity

= skin resistance pile group capacity

= point bearing pile group capacity

The allowable pile group capacity is given by:

Fig. 9.3 Pile group acting as a block foundation.

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Chapter Nine Pile Foundations - Groups

9.3 Efficiency of Pile Groups

The efficiency of a pile group is the ratio of the actual group capacity to the sum of the
individual pile capacities:

where

= group efficiency

There are several equations for calculating the pile group efficiency. Some of these are
given below:

i) Converse-Labarre (for floating piles of rectangular configurations)

( ) ( )
( ) [ ]

where
n = no. of piles in the row.
m = no. of rows.

( )

= pile diameter.
s = pile spacing ( ).

ii) Poulos and Davis (for pile groups in clay)

( )
( )
where
= no. of piles in the group.

iii) Take = 1 for bearing piles in sand.

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9.4 Settlement of Pile Groups

The soil stresses on underlying strata under group are greater than those of a single pile
under the same load. To estimate stresses under the group it is assumed that the group area acts
as a buried raft foundation. It is common practice to simplify the stresses computations as
follows:

a. Friction Piles [Fig. (9.4a)]

𝑄
b. Point Bearing Piles [Fig. (9.4b)]
Poor soil
𝑜
(zero function)

𝐿𝑝 𝐵

Friction zone
𝜃 𝜃

Use 2:1 slope

or 𝜃 𝑜 ( )𝐵

(a)

Soft soil

Use 2:1 slope 𝜃 𝜃 Dense or

or 𝜃 𝑜 hard soil

(b)
Fig. 9.4 Simplified computation of soil stresses beneath a pile group;
(a) friction piles, (b) point-bearing piles

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9.5 Pile Caps

Unless a single pile is used, a cap is necessary to spread the vertical and horizontal loads
and any overturning moments to all the piles in the group. The cap is usually of reinforced
concrete poured directly on the ground. Caps for offshore structures are often fabricated from
steel shapes.

Under an eccentric loading or a concentric loading plus moment, the load on each pile can
be calculated as follows [see Fig. (9.5)]:
𝑦
𝑚𝑦

𝑚𝑥
𝑒𝑥 × 𝑒𝑦 𝑥
c.g.
∑ ∑

𝑦 𝑉

where 𝐻 𝑥

= total number of piles

Note: The origin of the coordinate axes is taken

at the c.g. of the piles.

Fig. 9.5 An eccentric loading on group of vertical piles

The structural design of pile caps of reinforced concrete requires consideration of the
following [see Fig. (9.6)]:

1. Bending moment is taken at the same sections as for a reinforced concrete spread footing.

2. Pile caps must be reinforced for both +ve and –ve B.M.

3. Pile-cap shear is computed at critical sections (W.B.S. & D.T.S.).

4. Pile caps should end at least 150 mm beyond the outside face of exterior piles.

5. Piles should be embedded at least 150 mm into the cap. If the embedment < 150 mm, the

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pile should be assumed hinged to the cap.

6. Pile-cap reinforcing bars are placed 75 mm above the top of the pile.

7. The minimum thickness of pile cap above the top of the bottom reinforcing bars is 300
mm.

8. Tension connectors should be attached to the pile to ensure that the pile and cap retain
continuity if any of the piles are subjected to tension forces.

9. For fixed-head pile connections, additional reinforcing should be placed around the pile to
ensure that the pile does not pull out from or crack pile cap.

critical for W.B.S.

critical for D.T.S.
critical for moment
𝑑

𝑑𝑚𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑚 min. 150mm

5𝑚𝑚 𝑑
5 𝑚𝑚

𝐿
𝜔
𝑀 weight of slab

𝑃 𝑃

Fig. 9.6 Critical pile cap locations for shear, moment, and bond according to ACI-318.

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Chapter Nine Pile Foundations - Groups

9.6 Negative Skin Friction

Where piles are driven through strata of soft clay into firmer materials, they will be
subjected to loads caused by negative skin friction in addition to the structural loads if the
ground settles relative to the piles. Such settlement may be due to the weight of superimposed
fill, or ground water lowering, or a result of disturbance of clay caused by pile driving,
[particularly large displacement piles in sensitive clays leading to reconsolidation of the
disturbed clay under its own weight {see Fig. (9.7)}].

The load transferred to the pile depends on:

- pile material.
- type of soil.
- amount and rate of relative movement between the soil and the pile.
- elastic compression of pile under the working load.

9.6.1 Evaluation of Negative Skin Friction

For a single pile; ∑ ∑( )

For a pile in a group; ( ∑ ) [ ∑( ) ]

where

= shear stress along pile shaft.

= ̅ [see Table (9.1)].

= adhesion between soil and pile in drained conditions.

 0 for normally consolidated clay.

= angle of friction between soil and pile in drained conditions.

p1 = perimeter of pile.

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Chapter Nine Pile Foundations - Groups

p2 = perimeter of group.

N = number of piles in the group.

l = length of zone of negative skin friction.

W = weight of soil block (fill) held in between the piles.

Qns = ultimate negative skin friction load.

Table 9.1 Bjerrum suggested values for negative skin friction

Soil
Silt 30o 0.45 0.25 ̅
Clay (low plasticity) 20o 0.50 0.20 ̅
Clay (plastic) 15o 0.55 0.15 ̅
Clay (high plasticity) 10o 0.60 0.10 ̅

9.6.2 Reducing Negative Skin Friction

Several methods have been developed to reduce the expected negative skin friction on deep
foundations. These include:

- using piles with shafts of small cross-sectional area compared with the points.

- driving piles inside a casing with the space between pile and casing filled with a viscous
material and the casing withdrawn.

- coating the piles with bitumen.

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Fig. 9.7 Negative skin friction

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