ANALYSIS OF RETROFITTING TECHNIQUE OF DEFICIENT FOUNDATION BY

UNDERPINNING BY MICROPILING: A CRITICAL REVIEW

Saswati Sahoo* , Asst. Prof. (Gandhi Institute for Education & Technology, Bhubaneswar, Khurda,
Odisha-752060, India),
Soumya Ranjan Satapathy, Asst. Prof. (Gandhi Institute for Education & Technology, Bhubaneswar,
Khurda, Odisha-752060, India)
ABSTRACT
Foundation is an important structural member of a building as it transfers all the structural loads to the
ground safely and uniformly so that no stress concentration will occur anywhere in the building. So the foundation
of the structure should be designed properly as per the codal provision and maintained according to the structural
modification. But when the structural modification occurs in the form of extension of the building horizontally or
vertically it becomes necessary to modify the foundation due to the additional load. But some people don’t consider
the foundation as a structural element and hence they don’t modify the foundation according to the modified
structural requirement. It results in the deficiency of foundation in the terms of reduction of bearing capacity and
settlement of foundation. For these deficient foundations retrofitting is needed so that the deficiency can be
minimized.

In this work the case of vertical storey extension has been taken and deficiency of foundation has been
calculated. A retrofitting technique has been discussed which can be applied for the deficient foundation i.e
Underpinning by Micropiling.

This technique has been applied on the foundation and hence retrofit effectiveness of the technique has
been assessed.

Keywords: retrofitting, underpinning, micropile

INTRODUCTION can carry the additional load and its

Foundation as a structural element as resistance against the hazardous situation
it transfers the superstructure load to the soil like earthquake, flood etc will increase.
should be well constructed and maintained Retrofitting of existing foundation is an area
otherwise it may lead to collapse of the over which many works and research has
structure. Now a day’s many people are been done till now. Due to constant revision
modifying their buildings as per their and up gradation of design codes it is very
requirements but forgetting to modify the necessary in country like India there must be
foundation according to the modified detailed assessment of existing foundation.
structure. As a result the foundation
becomes deficient to carry the changed load TYPES OF RETROFITTING
which may lead to damage in the foundation There are two methods by which we
consequently in structure. This work is can increase the bearing capacity of
about the identification of deficiency of foundation i.e by foundation retrofitting and
foundation and its appropriate retrofitting. ground improvement technique.
1. FOUNDATION RETROFITTING:
Retrofitting means the action taken The main purpose of retrofitting is to bring
to upgrade the deficient structure so that it back the strength and position of the

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foundation so that all the functioning of reinforcement. Micropiles are small
foundation is resumed quickly. The main diameter piles and used in ground
priority is to make the foundation strong as improvement method and retrofitting of
before or even more to carry the foundation. When the building which has
superstructure load and transfer this load to some sort of inclination due to low bearing
the ground uniformly. So that there will be capacity of foundation, micropiling method
no stress concentration in any part of the can be used as it is a suitable option for
structure. This can be achieved by various foundation on soft soil [1]. It will improve
techniques such as jacketing of foundation, the load carrying capacity of foundation so
Underpinning technique, providing concrete that it can carry the additional load coming
beams, repairing existing piles etc. from the extension part. It will transfer the
2. GROUND IMPROVEMENT: In this load to the hard stratum. It is a reliable
method the soil under the foundation is technique to carry structural loads with
modified so that its bearing capacity will be minutest movement and for installation
improved and it could withstand all the access in confining environments.
loads that are coming from the foundation These piles are divided into 2 types:
without any settlement or failure. The main Replacement piles and Displacement piles.
objective of most soil improvement Displacement piles are those members which
techniques used to minimize liquefaction are driven into the ground by displacing the
hazards is to avoid large increases in pore surrounding soil during installation.
water pressure during earthquake. This can Replacement piles are those members which
be attained by densification of the soil are constructed within previously filled bore
and/or improvement of its drainage capacity. holes by replacing the excavated ground.
The priority is to reduce the voids in the soil
by compacting it so that it will be strong
enough to carry the super structure load and
transfer this load to the hard stratum. This
can be achieved by 4 techniques:
i. Mechanical Modification:
Compaction of soil using compact roller and
vibrators
ii. Hydraulic Modification: Lowering
the ground water level by pumping from
boreholes.
Figure:1: Micropiling Process
iii. Physical and Chemical Modification:
Grouting A micropile is a small diameter pile
(< 300𝑚𝑚) which is consists of a steel
iv. Modification by Inclusion and casing, reinforcing bar and grouting
Confinement: Reinforcement by strips, bars, element. First the steel casing is pushed into
meshes, fibers etc. the ground. Then the reinforcing bar is
inserted into that casing. Then the gap is
UNDERPINNING BY MICROPILE filled by grouting. Then the casing may be
Micropiles are used as an element of removed or left in that place permanently.
foundation retrofitting to resist static and
seismic loading condition by in-situ-

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LITERATURE REVIEW choose the best suited technique of seismic
Several research works have been retrofitting for high structures.
carried out and still going regarding D.A. Bruce, A.W. Cadden, and
improved and efficient techniques of P.J. Sabatini focused on design of
retrofitting of structures. Micropiles for structural support. Detailed
Björn Johansson and Marcus micropile design is an very lengthy and
Thyman(2013) focused on strengthening of often complex issue, especially when
building for storey extension. They gathered micropile groups are concerned or seismic
information from interviews of the persons issues must be addressed. The paper gives a
who were actively involved in storey simplified step-by-step design process
extension projects and their experiences discussing initial assessment of feasibility,
about the strengthening methods of building. review of data, loading combinations and
They discussed about various strengthening general considerations. Then the final design
methods for the structural members like steps are discussed. These include
column, beam, slab and also foundation. In geotechnical strength limit states, other
foundation strengthening process they structural reflections, service limit states,
highlighted on some techniques like corrosion protection, and some seismic
“Strengthening with steel tube piles”, considerations.
“Strengthening with steel core piles”,
Design Criteria
“Strengthening with winged steel piles”, “
Geotechnical Bond Capacity:
Strengthening with soil injection”. They
Allowable Geotechnical Bond Axial Load
concluded that the building should be
Capacity can be determined by the following
properly accessed early to detect any critical
equation : [3]
members or unused capacities etc and the
best suited strengthening method is selected PG-allowable= αbond strength ˣ3.14ˣφbondˣbond
for the particular situation. length/S.F
PG-allowable= allowable geotechnical bond
PeymanAminiMotlagh, Ali Pak
axial load
(2014) focused on Seismic retrofitting of
major structures in seismological active αbond strength = Grout to ground bond capacity
zones. In this paper different techniques for of pile from table
seismic retrofitting of high structure
foundations is discussed and evaluated. φbond= diameter of pile
Three categories of Foundations are
considered: foundations under liquefiable Geotechnical End Bearing Capacity:[3]
soil, structural defects can appear under Qa = Qu/FS
earthquake loads where foundations are
situated on slopes in seismological active Where Qa = allowable bearing capacity
zones and they are designed according to old
design codes. The retrofitting methods those Qu= Ultimate bearing capacity
are highlighted in this paper are compaction
Safety factor= 2.5
“grouting”, “Underpinning
technique(shallow foundation under shallow Structural Design Criteria:
foundation, deep foundation under shallow
foundation etc)”, “use of micropiles”, “soil For strain compatibility between casing and
nailing method”,” strengthening the existing bar the yield stress of steel is taken as:
piles” etc. They gave some suggestions to

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Fysteel= the minimum of fybar and fycasing ULTIMATE BEARING CAPACITY OF
Where Fysteel= yield stress of steel FOUNDATION

fybar= yield stress of bar Ultimate bearing

Foundation capacity PE kN/m2
fycasing= yield stress of casing
Existing Interior
Pile cased length structural capacity: 258.912
foundation
Nominal allowable tensile strength can be Underpinned
determined as follows Interior foundation 693.6
by Micropile
Pt-all =0.55fysteel (Abar + Acasing) Existing Exterior
252.11
foundation
Nominal allowable compression strength
can be determined as follows Underpinned
Exterior foundation 434.01
Pc-all=0.4f’c-grout Agrout+0.47 fy-steel by Micropile
[Abar+Acasing]
Where Pt-all= allowable structural tensile Table 1 Ultimate Bearing Capacity of
stress Foundation
Pc-all= allowable structural compressive SLIDING RESISTANCE OF
stress
FOUNDATION
Agrout= area of the grout
Abar= area of reinforcing bar Sliding
Foundation
Resistance(kN)
Acasing= area of steel casing Existing Interior
219.147
Shear resistance = 0.4 fy As foundation
Underpinned
Where fy = yield stress of pile Interior
331.75
foundation by
As = area of casing Micropile
Existing Exterior
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 197.62
After performing the retrofitting operation foundation
the analysis of original foundation as well as Underpinned
retrofitted foundation the following Exterior
331.75
parameters are obtained. foundation by
1. Ultimate Bearing Capacity Micropile

2. Sliding Resistance of Foundation

Table 2 Sliding Resistance of Foundation

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CONCLUSION This study shows that the performance of
foundation can be enhanced by
OVERALL COMPARISION
implementing retrofitting techniques. In this
study the retrofitting technique of
micropiling has been implemented to
Underpinning by
% change increase the bearing capacity of foundation
micropiling
and also the sliding resistance for storey
Bearing extension case. The following points can be
Increased by 120% concluded.
capacity
Sliding
Increased by 59%
resistance

Table 3 Overall Comparison

REFERENCE

1. PeymanAminiMotlagh, Ali Pak (2014)”Comparison of Seismic Retrofitting Methods for

Existing Foundations in Seismological Active Regions” World Academy of Science,
Engineering and Technology International Journal of Civil, Environmental, Structural,
Construction and Architectural Engineering Vol:8, No:5, 2014.
2. Alaska Building Research Series Hcm”(2012) Foundation Retrofit and
Rehabilitation”Alaska Cooperative Exten¬sion, University of Alaska Fairbanks,
Fairbanks.
3. D.A. Bruce, Member; A.W. Cadden, Member; and P.J. Sabatini “Practical Advice for
Foundation Design – Micropiles for Structural Support”
4. R. Richards Jr., D.G. Elms and M. Budhu (1993) “Seismic bearing capacity and
settlementof foundation”.
5. Björn Johansson and Marcus Thyman (2013) “Strengthening of building for storey
extension” Master of Science Thesis in the Master’s Programme Structural Engineering
and Building Technology.

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