1. Designing Piles for Drag Force
Timothy C. Siegel, P.E., G.E., D.GE with Dan Brown and Associates PC
43rd Annual Midwest Geotechnical Conference
October 1 – October 3, 2014
Bloomington, Minnesota

2. Aspects of Axial Resistance of Piles
Neutral Plane Concepts
Example of Drag Force on Vertical Pile
Downdrag on Batter

3. Aspects of Axial Resistance of Piles

4. AXIAL RESISTANCE OF PILES
Qnominal compression
The axial resistance of deep foundations may be divided into two components:
@ nominal compression (i.e., FOS = 1) the entire side resistance is positive/upward
Negative skin friction doesn’t exist at the geotechnical strength limit state.
It is unrealistic to represent drag force as a top load for strength limit analysis.
Side resistance
(unit value is fside )
S Area x fside = Rside
2. Tip resistance
Rtip

5. Fundamentals of Side resistance
The shear is confined to a thin zone around the pile and drainage can take place. Therefore, the side resistance is frictional.
Burland, J.B. (1973) “Shaft friction in Piles in Clay – A Simple Fundamental Approach” Ground Engineering, 6(3),
Meyerhoff, G.G. (1976) “Bearing Capacity and Settlement of Pile Foundations” Journal of the Geotechnical Engineering Division, American Society of Civil Engineers, 102,

6. Fundamentals of Side resistance
The direction of the (frictional) side resistance is always to resist the tendency for movement.
Block
Block
Friction
Friction

7. Fundamentals of Side resistance
The side resistance is fully mobilized at very small relative movements between the pile and soil.
less than 1 mm
Hanna, T.H. and Tan, R.H.S. (1973) “The behavior of long piles under compressive loads in sand” Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 10(3),

8. Neutral Plane Concepts
Fellenius, B.H. (1989) “Unified design of piles and pile groups”, Transportation Research Board, Washington, TRB Record, 1169,
Fellenius, B.H. (1998) “Recent advances in the design of piles for axial loads, drag loads, downdrag, and settlement” Proceedings, Seminar by ASCE and Ports of New York and New Jersey, 19p.

9. NEGATIVE SKIN FRICTION
…..is side resistance mobilized as the ground moves downward relative to the pile.
The magnitude of ground settlement is irrelevant to the development of drag force. Essentially all piles will move relative to the soil as a result of differences in compressibility.*
* Fellenius, B.H. Brusey, W.G., and Pepe, F. (2000) “Soil setup, variable concrete modulus and residual load”, ASCE Proceedings, Specialty Conference on Performance Confirmation of Constructed Facilities, 16 p.

10. Qpermanent
DRAG FORCE
…..is the axial compressive force induced in a pile due to accumulated negative skin friction.

11. Neutral plane
…..is the location along the pile where there is no relative movement between the pile and adjacent soil.
The side resistance is negative above the neutral plane.
The side resistance is positive below the neutral plane.
It is the location of the maximum axial compressive stress.

12. DOWNDRAG
….. is the downward movement of the pile (Spile) resulting from ground settlement.

13. Permanent (or sustained) loads
….. are constant over time (weight).

14. transient loads
….. act only a short time (e.g., wind, seismic, traffic).

15. NEUTRAL PLANE model Qpermanent Profile of Ground Settlement
Soil moves downward relative to pile
Arrows indicate direction of side resistance
Neutral
Plane
Pile moves downward relative to soil
Spile
Smax
Rtip

16. NEUTRAL PLANE model Qpermanent Axial Compressive Load in Pile
Profile of
Ground Settlement
Axial Compressive Load in Pile
Qpermanent
Negative Skin
Friction
Drag Force
Arrows indicate direction of side resistance
It takes some time for the negative skin friction to develop in the pile.
Neutral
Plane
Positive Side
Resistance
Spile
Smax
Rtip
Rtip

17. NEUTRAL PLANE METHOD IN DESIGN
Important -
Ideally, the neutral plane should be determined using the actual, unfactored permanent load.

18. NEUTRAL PLANE METHOD IN DESIGN
Important -
Ideally, the neutral plane should be determined using the actual, unfactored permanent load.
The neutral plane should be determined using unfactored side/mobilized tip resistances.
Use of load and resistance factors will distort the neutral plane diagrams and lead to erroneous results.

19. NEUTRAL PLANE METHOD IN DESIGN
Important -
Ideally, the neutral plane should be determined using the actual, unfactored permanent load.
The neutral plane should be determined using unfactored side/mobilized tip resistances.
The mobilized tip resistance is unknown and must be assumed. Tip resistance versus displacement curves (or t-z curves) may be used in a more refined iterative approach.

20. NEUTRAL PLANE METHOD IN DESIGN
Important -
Drag force is not considered when evaluating the geotechnical strength limit state. It is considered in settlement at the geotechnical service limit state and in the structural limit state.

21. EXample
New approach fill
Piles are sleeved through fill
We want to know the effect of the new approach fill on the existing piles.
Compressible soil

22. Qpermanent
EXample
This diagram shows that the sustained load, drag force and mobilized resistances are in equilibrium.

23. EXample This diagram shows the ground settlement and pile movement….
Qpermanent
EXample
Ground Settlement
Pile Movement = Ground Movement at Neutral Plane + Elastic Shortening
Penetration of Pile Tip
Neutral Plane
Depth along pile
This diagram shows the ground settlement and pile movement….
and the fact that they are the same at the neutral plane.

24. What about the transient load?

25. Qpermanent + Qtransient
EXample
Cumulative Positive Side Resistance Plus Mobilized Tip Resistance
Max. Force
Mobilized Tip Resistance
Sustained Load Plus Cumulative Negative Skin Friction
Neutral Plane
Resistance
Load
This diagram shows that for the case where the transient load is less than the drag force……….
the transient load temporarily “replaces” part of the drag force in the pile.

26. Downdrag on Batter Piles
Takahashi, K. (1985) “Bending of A Batter Pile Due to Ground Settlement”, Soils and Foundations, Japanese Society of Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, Vol.25, No.4,
Sawaguchi, M. (1989) “Prediction of Bending Moment of a Batter Pile in Subsiding Ground”, Soils and Foundations, Japanese Society of Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, Vol.29, No.4,
Narasimha Rao, S., Murthy, T.V.B.S.S. and Veeresh, C. (1994) “Induced Bending Moments in Batter Piles in Settling Soils”, Soils and Foundations, Japanese Society of Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, Vol.34, No.1,
McGuire, M. and Filz (2012) Interim Guidance, Revised LPILE Method to Calculate Bending Moments in Batter Piles for T-Walls Subject to Downdrag, Contract Report W912P8-07-D-0062 for the Army Corps of Engineers.

27. downdrag on batter piles
Ground movement perpendicular to pile
Profile of
Ground Settlement
Ground surface
S to pile = S*sin(q) T
Batter pile q
Smax
S to pile T

28. downdrag on batter piles
Input profile of ground movement perpendicular to pile into LPILE or GROUP
The curvature of the profile of ground movement ( ┴ to pile ) determines the moment distribution in the pile .

29. Review of Main Points

30. REVIEW
The “Neutral Plane Method” is accepted by AASHTO; however, the details of its implementation are unclear.

31. REVIEW
The “Neutral Plane Method” is accepted by AASHTO; however, the details of its implementation are unclear.
The neutral plane method provides a rational framework to consider negative skin friction, drag force, and downdrag (settlement).

32. REVIEW
The “Neutral Plane Method” is accepted by AASHTO; however, the details of its implementation are unclear.
The neutral plane method provides a rational framework to consider negative skin friction, drag force, and downdrag (settlement).
Negative skin friction does not exist at the geotechnical strength limit state – so it is not realistic to add drag force when determining the required nominal geotechnical resistance.

33. REVIEW
The “Neutral Plane Method” is accepted by AASHTO; however, the details of its implementation are unclear.
The neutral plane method provides a rational framework to consider negative skin friction, drag force, and downdrag (settlement).
Negative skin friction does not exist at the geotechnical strength limit state – so it is not realistic to add drag force when determining the required nominal geotechnical resistance.
The location of the neutral plane may be where the maximum axial force and is appropriately used to determine the required nominal structural resistance of the deep foundation.

34. REVIEW
The “Neutral Plane Method” is accepted by AASHTO; however, the details of its implementation are unclear.
The neutral plane method provides a rational framework to consider negative skin friction, drag force, and downdrag (settlement).
Negative skin friction does not exist at the geotechnical strength limit state – so it is not realistic to add drag force when determining the required nominal geotechnical resistance.
The location of the neutral plane may be where the maximum axial force and is appropriately used to determine the required nominal structural resistance of the deep foundation.
The location of the neutral plane is where the ground and pile move together – and so settlement of the ground at the neutral plane is equal to the settlement of the pile.

35. REVIEW
The curvature of the profile of ground movement ( ┴ to pile ) determines the moment distribution in the pile.

36. REVIEW
The curvature of the profile of ground movement ( ┴ to pile ) determines the moment distribution in the pile.
The resulting moment distribution usually will not control the pile design. A more critical situation occurs when the curvature of the settlement profile is very large.

37. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION
43rd Annual Midwest Geotechnical Conference
October 1 – October 3, 2014
Bloomington, Minnesota