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A New SPT-Based Method for Estimating Axial Capacity of Driven Piles in Glacial Deposits

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Abstract

This paper proposes a new design method for the axial capacity of driven piles in glacial deposits with the standard penetration test (SPT) based on a database of 53 full-scale pile load tests. These static load tests were conducted on driven steel H and pipe piles in glacial deposits across the province of Ontario, Canada. The piles were tested in either compression and/or tension to plunging failures and had sufficient soil measurements, in particular SPT measurements, along their length for further analyses. The SPT is the most popular, and in many cases the only, field exploration technique applied in Ontario for gravel or cobble rich glacial deposits. First, the performance of existing SPT-based design methods was evaluated with the results from these pile load tests. On average, the existing design methods overestimated the measured capacity by a factor of 1.62 with a coefficient of variation (COV) of 58%. Second, a new design method was proposed according to the effective stress method to better correlate side and tip resistances with the SPT blow count (N-value). The new design method considers both the pile type and soil gradation. A set of pile load tests collected from literature were applied to validate the newly proposed method. It was found that the newly proposed design method can provide an unbiased prediction with a significantly reduced variation.

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Abbreviations

\(A\) :

Coefficient to calculate the unit side resistance

\(a\) :

Coefficient to calculate the unit side resistance from Aoki and Velloso (1975)

\({A}_{p}\) :

Cross-sectional area at the tip of a pile

\({A}_{s}\) :

Side area of a pile

\(B\) :

Coefficient to calculate the unit side resistance

COV:

Coefficient of variation

\({C}_{F}\) :

Empirical correction factor

\(Cu\) :

Undrained shear strength

\(D\) :

Diameter or width of pile

\(i\) :

Individual layer in cohesive soil

\(j\) :

Individual layer in cohesionless soil

\(K\) :

Coefficient to calculate the unit tip resistance

\({K}_{\delta }\) :

Coefficient of lateral earth pressure

\(L\) :

Pile embedment length

\(L/D\) :

Slenderness ratio of the pile

N :

Blow count, or N-value, from standard penetration test (SPT)

\(\overline{N }\) :

Average SPT N-value along a pile

\(n\) :

Number of piles, tests, or the sample size

\({N}_{c}\) :

End bearing factor for cohesion

\({N}_{cor}\) :

Corrected SPT N-value for 60% hammer efficiency (N60 for cohesive soils and (N1)60 for cohesionless soils)

\({\overline{N} }_{cor}\) :

Average corrected SPT N-value along the side of a pile

\({N}_{f}\) :

SPT N-value from the field

\({N}_{p}\) :

SPT N-value at the pile tip

\({N}_{q}\) :

End bearing factor for friction

\(P\) :

Perimeter of a pile

\(Pa\) :

Atmospheric pressure (100 kPa)

\(PI\) :

Plasticity index

\(Qp\) :

Pile tip resistance

\({q}_{p}\) :

Unit tip resistance of a pile

\(Qs\) :

Pile side resistance

\({q}_{s}\) :

Unit side resistance of a pile

\(Qu\) :

Ultimate pile capacity

\(Q{u}_{p}\) :

Predicted ultimate capacity of a pile

\({R}^{2}\) :

Coefficient of determination

\(T\) :

Total number of soil types or categories

\(\alpha \) :

Empirical adhesion factor

\({\alpha }_{t}\) :

End bearing correction factor

\(\beta \) :

Empirical adhesion factor

\(\delta \) :

Soil-pile interface friction angle

\(\phi {^{\prime}}\) :

Soil friction angle

\({\sigma }^{^{\prime}}\) :

Effective stress

\({\sigma }_{t}{^{\prime}}\) :

Effective stress at the pile tip

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Acknowledgements

This study was made possible with funding initially from the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada with an Engage program and kindly supported by Arup Canada Inc. and then funded continuously by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario with the Highways Infrastructure Innovations Funding Program. The authors also acknowledge the Canada Graduate Scholarship-Master’s Award received by the first author. The authors would like to thank Mr. David Staseff and Ms. Minkyung Kwak from MTO for sharing the database of pile load tests and Ms. Mei Cheong and Mr. Colin McCreath from Arup Canada Inc. for sharing their experience and comments towards this research.

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  1. Department of Civil Engineering, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Markus Jesswein

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria St, Toronto, ON, M5B 2K3, Canada

    Jinyuan Liu

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Jesswein, M., Liu, J. A New SPT-Based Method for Estimating Axial Capacity of Driven Piles in Glacial Deposits. Geotech Geol Eng 40, 1043–1060 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-021-01941-6

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