Bearing Capacity Analysis of Flexible Batter Piles in Sand and Clay

under Horizontal Loads

Fabian J. Manoppo
Faculty of Engineering Sam Ratulangi University
Jalan Kampus Unsrat Bahu Manado Sulawesi Utara Indonesia
orresponding !uthor " Fa#ian$%m&yahoo'com
Abstract.
In view of the fre(uent applications of #atter piles in foundation to resists lateral loads) a considera#le amount
of theoretical wor* has #een done #esides field and la#oratory tests to evaluate the performance of such piles'
+owever) it is generally difficult to read the ultimate #earing capacity of fle,i#le #atter piles under hori-ontal
loads from load . deflection curves' In this paper) the fitting method is introduced to determine the ultimate
#earing capacity of fle,i#le #atter piles in homogeneous sand and in clay under hori-ontal loads and its
applica#ility is discussed e,perimentally' Model tests were carried out using instrumented fle,i#le piles of
wide/ranging fle,i#ilities' Bearing capacity of fle,i#le #atter piles in sand and clay was conducted
separately' In the sand case piles were #uried in loose) medium and dense sand' In the clay case piles were
pushed into clay' 0iles were installed at #atter angles 12 3
3
) 456
3
and

473
3
and were su#%ected to
incrementally increasing hori-ontal loads' Reasona#le agreement was found #etween the present theory of
ultimate #earing capacity and the theory of Meyerhof and Ran%an 859:7;' <he present theory was applied to
= 8two; group of piles at #atter angels 12 3
3
) 456
3
and

473
3
in sand and clay' <he result was shown good
agreement #etween present theory and ultimate #earing capacity of pile group'
Key Words" #atter pile) #earing capacity) clay) hori-ontal load) model test) sand
. ntroduction
Batter piles are usually employed when the lateral load e,ceeds an allowa#le limit for vertical piles
80ec* et al') 5967> Mc?ulty) 596@; and widely used to support lateral loads caused on the foundation of many
civil engineering constructions such as #ridge a#utments) transmission towers) offshore structures and (uay
walls' Recent review of analyses of laterally loaded piles of various stiffness in homogeneous elastic soils
indicates 8Meyerhof) 59:9#> Meyerhof and Aalcin) 59BC; that free head piles may #e considered rigid for
practical purposes if their relative stiffness K
r
D 3'35 and fle,i#le piles if their relative stiffness K
r
E 3'35 '
!n out #atter or a positive #atter pile has hori-ontal load acting in the opposite direction to the #atter) while a
negative #atter pile has hori-ontal load acting in the same direction of the #atter'
Earlier e,tensive theoretical and e,perimental studies have #een made in the past to analy-e the
#ehaviour of single vertical and #atter piles in various soils under various loads' For e,ample)
8<sche#otarioff) 5967> Murthy) 59@C> Brinch +ansen) 59@5> Ku#o) 59@6> !wad and 0etrasovids) 59@B> hin)
59:3> 0oulos and Favis) 59B3> Meyerhof and Ran%an) 59:7> Meyerhof) 59B5> Meyerhof et al') 59B5>
<a*ahashi Kunio) 59B6;' More recently) #ehaviour of #atter piles under inclined loads in layered soil
8Meyerhof and Aalcin) 5997; was among the contri#utions #ased on this e,perimental wor*' Gately) #earing
capacity and deflection of laterally loaded fle,i#le piles was given #y Sastry) Koumoto and Manoppo 85996;'
! wide variety of criteria for interpreting loading tests results have #een made' +owever) no
attempts seem to have #een made in the past to study how to determine the ultimate #earing capacity of
loading tests results in the case of fle,i#le #atter piles under hori-ontal loads' Hne of the pro#lems is the
difficulty to determine theoretically the ultimate #earing capacity at local shear failure type III'
Ihereas most of the loading test results in the present investigations are closed to type III) the
<er-aghi 859@:;

method was availa#le until type II' <he purpose of this paper is to propose the fitting method
and introduce the factor m for determining the ultimate #earing capacity of loading tests results load J and
deflection A curves'
. Model !est
". Soil and Pile #ata
Sands used in the test was uniformly graded having effective si-e 2 3'5= mm and uniformity
coefficient 2 5'@:' <he minimum and ma,imum void ratios of the sand were 3'@5 and 3'9@) respectively
and the porosity of C:K gave a unit weight of a#out 5C'3 *?Lm
7
and the friction angle 275'3
3
8Koumoto
and Ka*u) 59BB;' Based on the a#ove test) for unit weight 56'3 *?Lm
7
and unit weight 56'6 *?Lm
7
were
given friction angle 27:'3
3
and friction angle 279'=
3
' !ssuming isotropy) the values of hori-ontal
modulus elasticity of soil E
s
along the em#edded length of pile was #ac* calculated from vertical rigid
5
pile tests #urried in the same sand' <he value of E
s
was -ero at the ground level) and was linearly
increasing to a value of 7@6'333 *?Lm
=
at a depth of 7B3 mm' Based on that test the values of E
s
at unit
weight 56'3 *?Lm
7
and 56'6 *?Lm
7
are :@5'=56 *?Lm
=
and 57:@'7@6 *?Lm
=
'
lay used in the test had natural water content of 577'36K) li(uid limit of 5=@'@3K and plastic
limit of @C'9:K' <he clay was then pac*ed and compacted #y *neading into test #o,' <he modulus
elasticity of clay was 93'@3 *?Lm
=
' <he average undrained shear strength
u
was 5'65 *?Lm
=
' <he model
piles were made of alumunium) acrylic) hard ru##er pipes and steel having an outside diameter B of a#out
5@ mm) 73 mm) C3 mm and wall thic*ness of 5 to C mm' <welve piles were used for sand and eight piles
for clay' <he piles were #uried to the length G of 5@3 mm) 7=3 mm) 7B3 mm) C33 mm) @33mm and @C3
mm in sand case and pushed for clay case' <he relative pile stiffness K
r
ranged from @953
/5
to53
/6
'
$. !est #etails
Sand was rained and compacted in a s(uare tan* CB CB cm and B3 cm depth' Ihen the soil surface
reached the re(uired level) the pile was placed at a re(uired #atter angle 2 3
3
) 456
3
and 473
3
to the vertical'
<he raining was continued until the tan* was full' <he hori-ontal load was applied in 53 to =3 increments)
each #eing 3'3336 to 3'3=33 *? depending on the estimated failure load' <he load was applied =3'3 mm and
=6'C mm a#ove the ground level) through a wire passing over a pulley and attached to the pile top' <he
hori-ontal deflection of the load point was measured #y a GMF< 8Ginear Moltage Fifferential <ransducer;'
<he gauge outputs under a given load were recorded #y using Gogger Mate FG 5=33'
<he clay was then pac*ed and compacted #y *neading into test #o,es) wrapped with a plastic cover
to prevent the escape of moisture) the pile was pushed at a re(uired #atter angle 2 3
3
) 456
3
and 473
3
' <he
hori-ontal load was applied and the hori-ontal deflection of the load point was measured #y a GMF<' <he
loading tests results load J and deflection A curves are #eing presented typically in Fig'5'
Figure 5' <ypical load J and deflection A curves at various
angle of piles
. Analysis of %esults
<he fitting method is used to estimate the ultimate #earing capacity of the piles loading tests results)
assuming the ultimate #earing capacity J
u
is an asymptote as shown in Fig'='
=
=0
0

=15
0

=30
0

Figure 2. Assumption of ultimate bearing capacity of
pile loading test
<he loading tests results load J and deflection A curves can #e transformed to #e deflection A divided load
J versus deflection A curves as shown typically in Fig'7
Figure 3. Typical relationship beteen deflection and deflection!load
<he fitting lines are used as an asymptote in Fig'7) then mathematically can #e e,pressed as"
J 2 A L 8a N # A; 85;
ALJ 2 a N # A 8=;
where) a and # are the parameters of J .A curve'
E(uation = is divided with A)
5LJ 2 aLA N # 8=a;
Ihen the deflection A is infinite 8; e(uation =a #ecomes as follow"
J 2 J
A
2 5 L # 87;
7
=0
0

=15
0

=30
0

"!#=a$b."
#"%&= 1!b
In which J
A
is the assumed ultimate #earing capacity at deflection A e(ual to infinite'
<he theory of ultimate #earing capacity J
ut
of rigid #atter piles are computed using the theory suggested #y
Meyerhof and Ran%an 859:7; and Meyerhof 859:@;) which assumes the rigid #atter pile as a vertical rigid pile
su#%ected to an inclined load)
O8 J
ut
cos ; L J
a
P
=
N O8 J
ut
sin ; L J
n
P
=
2 5 8C;
J
a
2 G ?
(
!
t
N K
s
G tan !
s
L= 8Sand; 86;
J
a
2 9
u
!
t
N Q
u
!
s
8lay; 8@;
where) J
a
is the a,ial capacity) is the unit weight of soil) G is the length of the pile) ?
(
is the #earing
capacity factor) !
t
is the area of the pile toe) !
s
is the area of the pile shaft) K
s
is the average earth pressure
coefficient on the shaft and is friction angle #etween sand and pile material)
u
is average undrained shear
strength) Q is reduction factor'
J
n
2 3'5=6 B G
=
K
#
8Sand; 8:;
J
n
2 3'C
u
B G K
c
8lay; 8B;
J
n
is the normal capacity) B is the diameter of pile) K
#
is the earth pressure coefficient for pile 8Meyerhof et
al') 59B5;' J
n
values for negative #atter pile were 5'=6 times J
n
values used for positive #atter piles' is the
angle #etween the a,es of the pile and the load' In the case of the fle,i#le pile of length G) the length G is
replaced with ultimate effective length G
eu
#y using the e(uivalent rigid pile method suggested #y Sastry and
Meyerhof 8599C;'
where)
G
eu
LG2 5'@6 K
r
3'5=
E 5 8Sand; 89;
G
eu
LG2 5'6 K
r
3'5=
E 5 8lay; 853;
K
r
2E
p
I
p
LE
s
G
C
855;
K
r
is the relative stiffness of piles 80oulos and Favis) 59B3;) E
p
I
p
is fle,ural rigidity of pile) E
s
is hori-ontal
modulus elasticity of soil'
<he present ultimate #earing capacity J
up
is analy-ed as follows"
<he theoretical ultimate #earing capacities J
ut
divided with the assumed ultimate #earing capacities J
A
values given the factor m' <hese factors m are corrected with the relative stiffness K
r
of the piles for each
#atter angle ' <he fitting lines are used) so that the factor m can #e e,pressed)
m 2 aRN #R Gog 8K
r
; 853;
where) aR and #R are the parameters of m ~ Gog K
r
straight line' <he factor m of each #atter of pile was shown
as follow "
Sand case)
m
=0
o
2 3'7@C N 3'37: Gog 8K
r
; 855;
m
=56
o
2 3'CB9 N 3'3C= Gog 8K
r
; 85=;
m
= -15
o
2 3'73@ N 3'3=B Gog 8K
r
; 857;
m
=30
o
2 3'6B6 N 3'376 Gog 8K
r
; 85C;
m
= -30
o
2 3'C6@ N 3'363 Gog 8K
r
; 856;
lay case )
m
=0
o
2 5'57B N 3'=:B Gog 8K
r
; 85@;
m
=56
o
2 3'9C@ N 3'==9 Gog 8K
r
; 85:;
m
= -15
o
2 5'567 N 3'=B7 Gog 8K
r
; 85B;
m
=30
o
2 3':C3 N 3'5C9 Gog 8K
r
; 859;
m
= -30
o
2 3'B@5 N 3'39C Gog 8K
r
; 8=3;
<he present ultimate #earing capacity of loading tests results J
up
of fle,i#le #atter piles in homogeneous sand
under hori-ontal loads can #e determined using the factor m as follow"
J
up
single 2 m J
A
8=5;
C
J
up
group 2 m J
Agroup
8==;
where) J
up
single is the present ultimate #earing capacity of piles loading tests results load J and deflection
A curves'
<he present ultimate #earing capacities J
up
single and J
up
group are found in good agreement compared with
the theoretical ultimate #earing capacity J
ut
single and J
ut
group suggested #y Meyerhof and Ran%an 859:7;
and Meyerhof 859:@;'
<he differences #etween the theoretical ultimate #earing capacities J
ut
and the present ultimate #earing
capacities J
up
were a#out 73K'
&. Conclusions
<he fitting method can #e used for determining the ultimate #earing capacity of rigid and fle,i#le
vertical or #atter piles in homogeneous sand and clay under hori-ontal loads also could #e apply for group of
piles'
<he results of model tests on single vertical and #atter piles under hori-ontal loads in homogeneous
sand and clay shows that the #atter angle 81;) the unit weight of soil 8S; and the relative stiffness K
r
significantly influences the ultimate #earing capacity of the piles'
<he present ultimate #earing capacities J
up
are generally in good agreement with the theoretical
ultimate #earing capacities J
ut
suggested #y Meyerhof and Ran%an 859:7;'
!lthough the methods of analysis in this study are reasona#ly supported #y the fitting method) it is
#elieved that further testing of model single #atter piles and group piles in the field are needed to verify the
proposed concepts'
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rd
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pp' CB7.C9:
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nd
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@