05 Isfog Clay
05 Isfog Clay
05 Isfog Clay
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ABSTRACT: A comparison between calculated and measured capacities of driven piles in clay shows that
the API RP2A calculation method from 1993 over-predicts the capacity of piles in normally consolidated clay
of low plasticity. The authors propose a revised calculation method called NGI-99. This method includes cor-
rections related to the undrained shear strength, time between pile driving and testing, and pile tip condition
during driving. Details of the method are presented together with comparisons between calculated and meas-
ured pile capacities. The proposed method gives a good agreement between measured and calculated capaci-
ties for most of the well-documented large scale pile tests included in the study.
0.5
su = ψNC · σ'vo · OCR 0.85 (7) ∆10 = 0.1 + 0.4 · (1 - Ip / 50) · OCR -0.8 (9)
0.1 < ∆10 < 0.5 (10)
where OCR is the overconsolidation ratio, σpc / σ'vo.
With known test type, su, σ'vo and Ip, the above can where Ip and OCR are average values along the pile
be used to obtain suUU and OCR. shaft.
If equation (7) gives an OCR value that is smaller
than 1.0, this means that either the undrained shear
strength has been underestimated, or the in situ ver- 6 THE NGI-99 CALCULATION METHOD
tical stress overestimated. For such cases the NGI-99
method assumes that the effective stress is correct, Section 2 showed that the API (1993) recommenda-
and the undrained shear strength is calculated for tions, referred to as API-93, do not predict the low
OCR = 1.0. skin friction values measured in NC clays of low
plasticity. This effect was first documented by
Karlsrud et al (1992). The important effect of clay
5 EFFECT OF TIME BETWEEN PILE DRIVING plasticity upon pile capacity for piles in NC clays
AND TESTING has later been confirmed by full-scale pile tests in
Drammen, Norway, Tvedt & Fredriksen (2003), and
Practical experience shows that the time between in Sandpoint, Idaho, Fellenius et al (2004). It is
pile driving and pile testing has an important effect therefore proposed to revise the API-93 α-values as
upon the measured pile capacity. This is due to (1) indicated on Figure 3.
increased horizontal effective stresses between pile ψ < 0.25 : For NC clays with ψ < 0.25, the skin
and soil as the excess porewater pressure set up dur- friction is given by:
ing pile driving dissipates, and (2) an "ageing" con-
tinuing even after full dissipation of the excess water τ skin = α NC · suRef = α NC · ψ NC · σ'vo (11)
pressures. In addition, the pile capacity may increase τ skin = β NC · σ'vo (12)
The authors recommend to check that the calcu-
where the reference strength suRef shall be taken as lated skin friction is not smaller than βMin · σ'vo,
suUU or 0.25/0.22 = 1.14 times suDSS. Dividing (11) where βMin is given by equations (5) and (6).
by (12) leads to : The tip resistance acting against a closed or
plugged pile is taken as 9 times the undrained refer-
α NC = β NC / ψ NC (13) ence shear strength. For piles subjected to long-term
tensile loads, a crack could form at the pile tip, be-
The value to be used for β NC, determined by cal- fore the clay strength is fully mobilised in reversed
culations with the two databases, is given by equa- end bearing.
tion (4). The ψ NC value for UU tests is 0.25 (Table
3), which leads to :
7 COMPARISON BETWEEN CALCULATED
NC 0.3
α = 0.32 · (Ip - 10) (14) AND MEASURED CAPACITY
0.20 < α NC < 1.00 (15)
Figure 4 compares calculated NGI-99 skin friction to
ψ > 1.0 : For the overconsolidated clays with ψ > the measured values from Database 1. For the major-
1.0, it is proposed to calculate the skin friction from: ity of the data points, NGI-99 gives a good predic-
tion. It should be noted that there is a fairly large in-
τ skin = α · suRef · F tip (16) herent scatter in the pile and/or soil test data.
α = 0.5 · ψ -0.3 (17)
2.5
The factor F tip is taken as 1.0 for a pile driven Calculated NGI-99 skin friction / Measured skin friction
Database 1
open-ended. Based upon results given by Clausen & 49 data points
Aas (2001), and the results in Table 4 below, the fol- 2 C/Mavr = 0.95
lowing F tip expression is proposed for a pile driven CoV = 0.29
closed-ended:
1.5
F tip closed = 0.8 + 0.2 · ψ 0.5 (18)
1.00 < F tip closed < 1.25 (19)
1
0.25 < ψ < 1.0 : For clays with 0.25 < ψ < 1.0,
the α-value is determined by a linear interpolation
between ψ = ψ NC and ψ = 1.0 as indicated on Figure
3, allowing for the log scale of this plot. 0.5
0.6
15% Ratios of calculated to measured pile capacities for
the 36 Database 2 tests are plotted on Figures 5 and
0.4
12% 6. Seven of the eight "anchor point" values fall
within +/- 20 %, which only reflects that these points
A C
B were used for the calibration of the NGI-99 method.
0.2
Ip< 10%
A : API-93
B : NGI-99, open-ended
C : NGI-99, close-ended
0
0.1 1 10
Database 2
36 data points
Table 4. Effect of pile tip condition.
C/Mavr = 1.03
1.5 CoV = 0.26 Group Tests ψ Tip C/M avr.
1 26 0.25 - 1 Open 1.06
2 47 0.25 - 1 Closed 1.00
3 28 1 - 10 Open 0.78
4 27 1 - 10 Closed 0.65
1
C/Mavr = 1.03
20 CoV = 0.26 14
20
Onsøy
Tilbrook Measured
18
30
Drammen NGI-99
40
Sandpoint
40
23
SuUU
Pentre
60
50
16
West Delta API-93
"Anchor point" tests
for NGI-99 calibration
60
Long Beach
80
Figure 7. Comparison between measured and calculated local
Figure 6. Comparison between calculated and measured skin friction, test pile Pentre
pile capacities, Data Base 2 and NGI-99 calculation method
For the nearly NC silty clay deposit at Pentre,
All of the 128 pile tests on steel piles in Database Figure 7, it is seen that NGI-99 captures the varia-
2 were analysed in order to see if an effect of tion of the measured skin friction with depth quite
open/closed pile tip during driving could be demon- well. For the overconsolidated clays at Tilbrook,
strated. The NGI-99 calculation method was used, Figure 8, there is only a small difference between
but with the F tip value in equation (16) taken as 1.0 the API-93 and the NGI-99 methods. Both methods
for all piles. Each pile test was placed into one of result in a good agreement with the measured values.
four groups (Table 4), and the average ratio between The low skin friction measured in the top 12 m of
the calculated and measured capacity (C/M) was the compression pile remains to be explained,
found for each group: Nowacki et al (1992).
Local skin friction & undrained shear strength (kPa) (1996). If for a given case, these methods lead to
0 250 500 750
considerable differences in the calculated capacity,
0 the pile tests in the data base that have the closest
similarity to the case studied should be used for
SuUU
guidance.
5
Measured
Depth below ground surface (m)
10 REFERENCES
20
Measured
compr. pile American Petroleum Institute 1993. "Recommended Practice
for Planning, Designing and Constructing Fixed Offshore
25 Platforms - Working Stress Design". API RP 2A-WSD,
NGI-99 open 20th Edition, Washington, 1 July 1993.
NGI-99 closed Chan J.H.C. & N.D. Birrell 1998. "Project Overview and Or-
API-93
30 ganization - Tension Pile Study." OTC Paper no. 8762,
Houston, May 1998.
Figure 8. Comparison between measured and calculated local Clarke J. 1992 (Editor) "Large-Scale Pile Tests in Clay". Proc.
skin friction, two test piles at Tilbrook Large-Scale Fully Instrumented Pile Tests in Clay, ICE,
London, June 1992, ISBN 0-7277-1917 1, T. Telford Ltd.
Clausen C.J.F. & P.M. Aas 2001."Capacity of Driven Piles in
8 CONCLUSIONS Clays and Sands on the Basis of Pile Load Tests." Pro-
ceedings of the 11th (2001) International Offshore and Po-
A comparison between pile axial capacities calcu- lar Engineering Conference, ISOPE, Volume II, Stavanger
lated by the API-93 method and the capacities actu- June 2001. p. 581-586.
Clausen C.J.F., P.M. Aas & K. Karlsrud 2005."Bearing Capac-
ally measured shows that the calculated values can ity of Driven Piles in Sand, the NGI Approach." Proc. of
be 3-4 times higher than the measured ones. This the ISFOG Conference, Perth, WA, September 2005.
large difference was only found for piles in normally Dennis N.D. & R.E. Olson 1983. "Axial Capacity of Steel Pipe
consolidated clays of low plasticity. The authors Piles in Clay." Proc., Geotechnical Practice in Offshore
therefore propose a modification of the α-factors, Engineering, Austin, Texas, April 1983.
used by the API-93 method, that leads to a better Doyle E.H. & J.H. Pelletier 1985. "Behaviour of a Large Scale
Pile in Silty Clay." Proc., 11th ICSMFE, San Francisco
agreement between calculated and measured capaci- 1985, Vol. 3, p.1595.
ties. Fellenius B.H., D.E. Harris & D.G. Anderson 2004. "Static
The proposed NGI-99 method uses the same ref- Loading Test on a 45 m Long Pipe Pile in Sandpoint,
erence undrained shear strength as API RP2A, i.e. Idaho". Canadian Geotechnical Journal, Vol. 41, No. 4,
UU triaxial values, and provides conversion factors August 2004, pp. 613-628.
Flaate K. 1968. "Bearing Capacity of Friction Piles in Clay".
in case other strength types are used. NGF Stipend 1967-1968, Veglaboratoriet, Oslo, 1968.
The calculated capacity corresponds to a time of Jardine R.J. & F.C. Chow 1996. "New Design Methods for
100 days after pile driving. The NGI-99 method in- Offshore Piles." Marine Technology Directorate Ltd., Pub-
cludes time corrections on the measured pile capac- lication MTD 96/103, London 1996.
ity. Karlsrud K. & T. Haugen 1985. "Axial Static Capacity of Steel
Results from pile load tests indicate that piles Model Piles in Over- Consolidated Clay." Proc. 11th
ICSMFE, San Francisco 1985.
driven closed-ended in stiff clays have higher skin Karlsrud K. & F. Nadim 1990. "Axial Capacity of Offshore
friction than open-ended piles. The NGI-99 method Piles in Clay". OTC paper 6245, Houston May 1990.
includes a factor that reflects this observation. Karlsrud K., B. Kalsnes & F. Nowacki 1992. "Response of
NGI-99 gives a good agreement between meas- Piles in Soft Clay and Silt Deposits to Static and Cyclic
ured and calculated capacities for most of the pub- Axial Loading Based on Recent Instrumented Pile Load
Tests". Society of Underwater Testing, London.
lished and well documented large scale pile tests. Norwegian Geotechnical Institute 2000. "Bearing Capacity of
However, there is considerable scatter and uncer- Driven Piles, Piles in Clay." Internal report no. 525211-1,
tainty when it comes to the precise effect of plastic- 23 March 2000.
ity upon the skin friction in soft clays. Further pile Nowacki F., K. Karlsrud & P. Sparrevik 1992. "Comparison of
load tests in soft clays of medium and low plasticity Recent Tests on OC Clay and Implications for Design".
are highly desirable. Proc. Large-Scale Pile Tests in Clay, ICE, London 1992,
edited by J. Clarke, Thomas Telford Ltd.
For design purposes the authors recommend to Tvedt G. & F. Fredriksen 2003. "E18 Ny motorvegbru i
use several calculation methods, including the NGI- Drammen. Prøvebelastning av peler." Proceedings from
99 and API-93 methods, complemented by e.g. the conference on Rock Blasting and Geotechnics, Oslo.
Karlsrud & Nadim (1990) and Jardine & Chow
Table 1. Data Base no. 1, measured local pile skin friction.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Pile Pile Open 1) Depth Ip σ'vo suDSS τ s meas2)
Site ψ = 8/7 α = 9/8 β = 9/7
name no. Closed (m) (%) (kPa) (kPa) (kPa)
Haga B-piles 1 2 2.7 15 51 40 18 0.784 0.450 0.353
" 2 2 3.9 15 72 42 40 0.583 0.952 0.556
" 3 2 4.5 25 82 48 49 0.585 1.021 0.598
Onsøy A1 4 2 10 38 62 17 17.7 0.274 1.041 0.285
A2 5 2 17.5 47 100 24 21.8 0.240 0.908 0.218
A3 6 2 25 41 138 35 29.2 0.254 0.834 0.212
A4 7 2 32.5 35 176 45 34.8 0.256 0.773 0.198
CI 8 2 7.5 36 51 15 10.5 0.294 0.700 0.206
CI 9 2 12.5 43 75 19 13.8 0.253 0.726 0.184
CI 10 2 17.5 48 100 24 21.6 0.240 0.900 0.216
CI 11 2 22.5 43 125 31 22.7 0.248 0.732 0.182
CI 12 2 27.5 39 150 38 25.3 0.253 0.666 0.169
CI 13 2 32.5 35 176 45 36 0.256 0.800 0.205
B1 14 1 10 38 62 17 17.2 0.274 1.012 0.277
Lierstranda A7 15 2 10 24.5 78 23 11.4 0.295 0.496 0.146
A8 16 2 17.5 16 126 29 11.3 0.230 0.390 0.090
A9 17 2 25 12.5 181 38 12.9 0.210 0.339 0.071
A10 18 2 32.5 12 237 50 11 0.211 0.220 0.046
B2 19 1 10 23.5 78 23 13.5 0.295 0.587 0.173
Pentre NGI A5 20 2 20 13 174 50 22.3 0.287 0.446 0.128
A6 21 2 27.5 17 243 69 60.1 0.284 0.871 0.247
Pentre LDPT 22 1 20 13 179 50 17 0.279 0.340 0.095
23 1 30 13 263 75 51 0.285 0.680 0.194
24 1 40 18 350 100 79 0.286 0.790 0.226
25 1 50 18 445 125 78 0.281 0.624 0.175
Tilbrook NGI A 26 2 7.5 20 112 450 175 4.018 0.389 1.563
C 27 2 7.5 20 112 450 200 4.018 0.444 1.786
C 28 2 13.5 24 192 430 240 2.240 0.558 1.250
B 29 2 20 35 280 500 230 1.786 0.460 0.821
B 30 2 23.75 34 330 700 350 2.121 0.500 1.061
Tilbrook LDPT Compr. 31 1 7.5 20 112 450 100 4.018 0.222 0.893
Tension 32 1 12.5 25 172 425 200 2.471 0.471 1.163
-"- 33 1-2 17.5 33 240 460 210 1.917 0.457 0.875
-"- 34 1-2 22.5 35 308 670 300 2.175 0.448 0.974
West Delta 35 1 15 55 56 17 15.5 0.304 0.912 0.277
36 1 25 35 102 22 24 0.216 1.091 0.235
37 1 35 32 149 31 29 0.208 0.935 0.195
38 1 45 35 184 39 31.5 0.212 0.808 0.171
39 1 55 52 219 49 46.5 0.224 0.949 0.212
40 1 65 65 252 63 65 0.250 1.032 0.258
Bothkennar IC-pile 41 2 3.5 35 30 17 18 0.567 1.059 0.600
42 2 5 52 40.2 20 21 0.498 1.050 0.522
Cowden IC-pile 43 2 3.5 19 54 180 65 3.333 0.361 1.204
44 2 5 17 72.5 93 75 1.283 0.806 1.034
Canon's Park IC-pile 45 2 3.5 54 46 78 65 1.696 0.833 1.413
46 2 5 40 60 120 99 2.000 0.825 1.650
Houston Unv 47 2 6.1 42 85 86 60 1.012 0.698 0.706
Drammen Pier # 16 48 1 25 17 243 56 28 0.230 0.500 0.115
Lake Oromieh New pile 49 1 33 20 215 55.7 43 0.259 0.772 0.200
1) : Pile tip condition during driving : 1=Open 2=Closed 2) : Measured skin friction