NEGATIVE SKIN FRICTION ON PILES IN LAYERED SOIL DEPOSITS
By K. S. Wong" Member, ASCE, and C. I. Teh2
ABSTRACT: A simplified numerical procedure for the analysis of negative skin friction on piles in a layered
soil deposit is proposed. Pile-soil interface behavior is modeled by nonlinear soil springs. A framework for
determining the model parameters from conventional soil tests data has been established. This procedure is
used in the back-analysis of seven well-documented test piles in different soil deposits. The good agreement
between the computed and the measured values for all seven piles confirmed the validity of the proposed
approach.
INTRODUCTION
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Negative skin friction will develop whenever the adjacent
soil settles more than the pile. The magnitude of downdrag
can be quite significant. Bjerrum et al. (1969) reported field
measurements in which the downdrag forces exceeded the
structural capacity of the piles. Very often the downdrag con-
tinues to increase even at relatively large soil settlement. Case
records reported by Indraratna et al. (1992), Fukuya et al.
(1982), and Clemente (1984) revealed that the measured
downdrag continued to increase with increasing soil settle-
ment well beyond 200 mm. For the case reported by Lee and
Lumb (1982), the maximum downdrag was not achieved until
the settlement reached about 400 mm.
Based on the available field data, it is evident that large
settlements may be needed to mobilize the full negative skin
friction on a pile. However, this does not necessarily imply
that large soil movements are required to initiate slippage at
the pile-soil interface. A downdrag problem is basically a
settlement problem. As the excess pore pressure dissipates
with time, there is a corresponding increase in soil settlement
and effective stress. This in turn causes an increase of shear
strength at the pile-soil interface and a corresponding increase
in the downdrag. This process continues until the soil becomes
fully consolidated. As for pile-soil slippage, it may have started
at a very small settlement and continue to slip along with the
increase in settlement and effective stresses.
In a conventional analysis, downdrag is usually estimated
using closed-form equations proposed by different research-
ers (Terzaghi and Peck 1967; Fellenius 1972). These methods
often assumed that the negative skin friction is fully mobilized
above the neutral point regardless of the magnitude of soil
settlement. The location of the neutral point is determined
either empirically or by some iterative schemes involving the
balances of forces acting on the pile (Fellenius 1972).
More recently, several continuum approaches have been
suggested for the analysis of end-bearing piles (Poulos and
Mattes 1969; Poulos and Davis 1980; Teh and Wong, in press,
1995). The method proposed by Poulos and coworkers was
based on the solution of a point load in an elastic half-space
(Mindlin's solution) and modified empirically to account for
the presence of the rigid bearing layer. Ng et al. (1976) and
Kog et al. (1986) applied the solution of a point load in a
layered elastic half-space (Chan et al. 1974) to study the effect
of a compressible bearing layer on negative skin friction. In-
'Assoc. Prof., School of Civ. and Struct. Engrg., Nanyang Tech.
Univ., Singapore 2263.
'Sr. Lect., School of Civ. and Struct. Engrg., Nanyang Tech. Univ.,
Singapore 2263.
Note. Discussion open until November 1,1995. To extend the closing
date one month, a written request must be filed with the ASCE Manager
of Journals. The manuscript for this paper was submitted for review and
possible publication on April 19, 1994. This paper is part of the Journal
ofGeotechnical Engineering, Vol. 121, No.6, June, 1995. ©ASCE, ISSN
0733-941O/95/()()()6-0457-0465/$2.00 + $.25 per page. Paper No. 8291.
J. Geotech. Engrg., 1995, 121(6): 457-465
homogeneity and anisotropy, which are common features of
natural soils, cannot be adequately modeled by such ideal-
ized solutions. To account for soil inhomogeneity, Poulos and
Davis (1980) recommended the use of a mean soil modulus
in Mindlin's solution. More significantly, elastic continuum
based approaches do not model the important mechanism of
pile-soil slip. When slip is considered, it is usually achieved
by curtailing the interface stresses to some limiting values
(Chow et al. 1990).
This paper describes a simplified procedure for the analysis
of negative skin friction on pile in a stratified soil deposit.
The pile-soil interface is modeled by hyperbolic soil springs
in a manner similar to the load-transfer method. The actual
pile-soil slippage is not expicitly modeled. The main intention
is to capture the complex phenomenon of pile-soil interaction
with a simple hyperbolic model. Attention is focused on how
to determine the relevant soil parameters for the analysis.
The validity of this approach is subsequently verified by ex-
tensive comparisons with well documented case histories.
METHOD OF ANALYSIS
The problem of a pile located in a layered soil undergoing
consolidation settlement is depicted in Fig. 1. The pile is
discretized into a finite number of cylindrical bar elements.
The load deformation behavior of the pile can then be ex-
pressed as
(1)
where [Kp ] = pile stiffness matrix; {w p } = nodal displacement
vector; and {P} = nodal load vector. For piles with cross-
section geometry other than circular, an equivalent circular
pile that gives the same perimeter area is used. The compres-
sion stiffness of the actualyile is preserved by using an equiv-
alent Young's modulus, Ep ,
EpA c = EpA p (2)
where Ep = Young's modulus of the actual pile; A p and A c
= actual and equivalent circular pile cross-sectional areas,
...
(.)
,.~
Layer I
- I
.,-w.,-w,.,
La,... ID
. ~~t%r' ....
~
(a) (b)
FIG. 1. Downdrag on Pile In Layered Soli Deposit: (a) Pile In Lay-
ered Soli Undergoing settlement; (b) Discretization of Problem
JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING / JUNE 1995/457
 respectively. In the absence of any externally applied load,
{P} is a consequence of the relative displacement between the
pile and surrounding soil. The soil spring at the pile shaft is
governed by the hyperbolic equation
Pi = Wi/(~
K,.
+ Rf Wi.)
PU/
(3)
where the subscript i denotes the node number; Pi == nodal
force; k Si = initial tangent of the hyperbolic curve; Wi ==
relative pile-soil settlement; Rf == a hyperbolic constant; and
PHi = maximum allowable nodal load given by
(4)
where Is; == limiting shaft friction; and As; shaft area as-
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sociated with node i. The constant Rf is assumed to be unity
in this study.
By defining two dimensionless parameters Pi and Wi' (2)
may be written in a more compact, dimensionless form as
Wi ~ P;I(1 - P.) (5)
where
(6a-c)
The stiffness of the spring at any given load level is evaluated
as the tangent to the hyperbolic curve, which may be written
as
dp/dw = k,)(1 + WY (7)
Initial Soil Spring Stiffness at Pile Shaft
At low stress level, the interface behavior is essentially
elastic and the initial spring stiffness, k,;, may be correlated
to the elastic small strain soil parameters. For the pile shaft,
the general form of the relationship derived by Randolph and
Wroth (1978) for a pile in an isotropic, homogeneous, elastic
soil medium has been adopted.
k'i = 2'ITG;l;lln(r",/r,,) (8)
where G i == soil shear modulus; I == pile segment length; rm
== limit radius; and ro == pile radius. For a homogeneous soil
or a Gibson's soil in which the stiffness increases with depth,
Randolph and Wroth proposed the following expression
for r",
r", = 2p(1 - v;)L (9)
where L == pile length; v; == Poisson's ratio; and p == ratio
G LlZ/G L' The terms G LIZ and GLare the soil shear moduli
at middepth and at the pile toe, respectively. In the present
study, which deals with layered soils, the inhomogeneity fac-
tor p proposed by Lee (1993) is adopted
p = JG iz dz/GLL (10)
Other empirical correlations for rm in layered soils have
also been suggested (Lim et al. 1993). A survey of these
proposed relationships shows that r m generally ranges from
O.5L to 2.5L for typical Lid values of 25 to 200. Moreover,
k'i as expressed by (8) is proportional to G i and inversely
proportional to In(rn;lr o ). Hence, the effect on k s ; due to a
change in r m will be significantly smaller than that caused by
the same percentage change in G i • Despite the greater impact
of G; on k,;, relatively little study has been carried out on the
appropriate method for determining G; for downdrag anal-
ysis. A detailed discussion on the correlation of G i with con-
ventional soil data is included in this paper.
458/ JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING / JUNE 1995
J. Geotech. Engrg., 1995, 121(6): 457-465
Initial Spring Stiffness at Pile Toe
The soil behavior at the pile toe is also described by (1),
with Pi representing the maximum end bearing force and W;
the relative pile toe-soil displacement. The initial tangent,
k,;, is correlated with elastic soil parameters based on the
solution of a rigid punch on a semi-infinite elastic half-space
(Randolph and Wroth 1978)
k'i = 4G;r)(1 - v;) (11)
NUMERICAL PROCEDURE
Since the soil spring modeling the interface is nonlinear,
the equation governing the development of negative skin fric-
tion has to be solved incrementally. At each step, the incre-
mental nodal displacement is computed from the equation
[Kp]{llwpt == [K,]{llw, - Ilw,,}n (12)
where {IlW c} == a vector of incremental free field soil settle-
ment; and {IlWp } == a vector of incremental pile node dis-
placement. The subscript n denotes the increment number.
The soil spring stiffness matrix [Ks ] is computed at the be-
ginning of the increment using the known pile node displace-
ment. Rearranging (12) leads to
[Kp + K,]{llwpt == [K,]{llw c}" (13)
By applying a known value of {Il.W c}n, (13) can be solved for
{Il.Wp }. At the end of each increment, the pile nodal displace-
ment is updated as
{wpt = {Wp}"_1 + {Ilwp}" (14)
Although a reasonably accurate approximation to the hy-
perbolic load-displacement curve can be obtained by using
small incremental steps, a hybrid incremental-iterative pro-
cedure has been adopted instead. This method allows the use
of larger incremental step size without compromising on so-
lution accuracy. The procedure involved in the proposed nu-
merical scheme is outlined here:
1. At the beginning of the nth increment, compute the
elements of [K s ] using (7).
2. Solve (13) to obtain {Il.Wp }n'
3. Compute a new matrix of [Ks ] based on the tangent
modulus at the displacement {wI' },,-I + T){Il.W p }", where
0<T)<1.
4. Repeat the steps 2-4 until changes in {Il.Wp }" are small.
5. Update the nodal displacement vector using (14).
6. Repeat steps 1-5 for the next load increment.
A computer program names NSFpile (Teh 1994) has been
coded using the proposed method. The case studies described
in this paper were conducted using this program.
EVALUATION OF SOIL PARAMETERS
Eqs. (4), (8), and (11) show that the hyperbolic soil spring
constants are functions of the soil stiffness and the interface
shear strength. The required soil parameters include unit skin
friction (Is) at the interface, soil shear modulus (G i ), Pois-
son's ratio (v;) and ultimate end bearing capacity (qn)' These
parameters are often not directly available in the published
case studies. A framework for determining these parameters
from the available test data is established to enable a rational
back-analysis to be carried out.
Unit Skin Friction, f s
At the pile shaft, the limiting spring force is related to the
unit skin friction Us), The ~-method is adopted in this study
and Is is expressed as
 (15) TABLE 2. Recommended Input Parameters for Sand, Interface
Friction Angle
where a~ = effective overburden pressure adjacent to the 8a
pile shaft at the time when the downdrag is to be computed. Pile material (degrees)
The manner in which a ~ is estimated will be described in (1 ) (2)
more detail in a later section.
Rough concrete <1>'
The coefficient ~ is a function of the soil type, pile material Smooth concrete 0.8<1>' to <1>'
and the method of pile installation. For a saturated clay, ~ Steel 0.5<1>' to 0.9<1>'
can be determined using an empirical correlation similar to Timber 0.8<1>' to 0.9<1>'
that proposed by Flaate and Seines (1977) aKulhawy (1984).
(16)
where OCR = overconsolidation ratio; and the subscript NC TABLE 3. Recommended Input Parameters for Clay, Poisson's
denotes normally consolidated clay. If field vane data are Ratio
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available, ~NC can be estimated as follows: Consistency v'a

s
(1 ) (2)
(17)
Soft nonconsolidated clay 0.3 to 0.4
where I.l. = Bjerrum's correction factor (Bjerrum 1972) for Firm clay 0.2 to 0.3
vane shear strength. The I.l.-curve is reproduced in Fig. 2. In Stiff over consolidated clay 0.1 to 0.2
the absence of test data, ~NC can be taken as 0.22. apoulos and Davis (1980).
For sand, ~ is a function of the lateral earth pressure coef-
ficient, K., and the interface friction angle, /)
~ 100
/3 = Ks tan B (18) c:1 80 C--f
V
Different values of K s and /) have been reported in the lit- ~ /'
erature (Poulos and Davis 1980; Tomlinson 1986; Kulhawy ~ 80 V
40 J
1984). The recommended values for large-displacement piles
(NAVFAC 1982) are summarized in Tables 1-3. ~
~ 20
I
I
~ 0
Shear Modulus, G, o 10 20 30 40 50
CORRECTED SPT BLOWCOUNT. N_
When soil is modeled as an elastic material, the theory of
elasticity yielded the following equation: FIG. 3. Correlation between Relative Density and SPT Blow Count
Corrected for Overburden Pressure (Holtz and Gibbs 1979)
1200 1.2

1000 ... ~
E'
(19a,b)
G i = 2(1 ; v;)
\~ ri
0
2(1 + vs )
0 800 -... 0.8
~
where E; and E j = drained and undrained initial tangent
~ 600 1\ t--- ~ 0.6 u.. moduli; and v; and V s = drained and undrained Poisson's
ratios, respectively.
.g"
w 400
Ii
\ 0.4 c(
>
w
z The stress-strain curve of a saturated clay determined from
undrained compression test can be idealized as a perfect
200 ~ E,Jc, (fGr OCR < ])
0.2 w
0
..J
hyperbola. Based on the formulation proposed by Duncan
et a1. (1980), E j can be related to the secant deviatoric mod-
o I- o
u:::
ulus at 50% failure stress level (E 50 ) as
o 20 40 60 80 100 E i = 2E50 (20)
PLASTICITY INDEX, PI Taking V s to be 0.5 for the undrained condition, the initial
RG. 2. Variations of E..,/c u for Clay with OCR < 3 (Duncan and shear modulus may be expressed as
Buchlgnanl1976) and Correction Factor (....) for Vane Shear Strength
(Blerrum 1972) with Plasticity Index G i = (2/3)E50 (21)

For clays with an OCR less than 3, E 50 may be estimated

TABLE 1. Recommended Input Parameters for sand from the curve shown in Fig. 2. This curve is derived from
D: the correlation proposed by Duncan and Buchignani (1976).
Compactness (%) Kb Kc nC For sand, E,~ is determined from the following (Duncan
s
(1 ) (2) (3) (4) (5) et a1. 1980)
Very loose o to 15 0.6 to 1.0 250 0.7 (22)
Loose 15 to 35 1.0 to 1.4 500 0.7
Medium dense 35 to 65 1.4 to 1.6 1,000 0.7 where K = modulus number; n = modulus exponent; and
Dense 65 to 85 1.6 to 2.0 1,500 0.7
Very dense 85 to 100 2.0 to 2.4 2,000 0.7
Pa = atmospheric pressure. Based on a large collection of
test data, Wong and Duncan (1974) had derived typical values
aNAVFAC (1982).
of K and n (Tables 1-3). The coefficient of earth pressure at
·Poulos and Davis (1980), NAVFAC (1982), and Tomlinson (1986).
<Wong and Duncan (1974). rest, K o ' is computed from the empirical equation proposed
by Mayne and Kulhawy (1982)
JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING / JUNE 1995/459

J. Geotech. Engrg., 1995, 121(6): 457-465

 Ko = (1 - sin <1>')OCR,;n4>' (23) (27)
where <1>' = effective friction angle in degrees. where N 60 = blow count corrected for field procedure.

Poisson's Ratio Effective Overburden Stresses

The Poisson's ratio for soil is frequently estimated from The parameters i, and G; are assumed to be functions of
empirical relationships. For sand, the following equation based the effective stress. In a downdrag problem the effective stresses
on the theory of elasticity can be used are not constant but change with time as excess pore pressure
dissipates. In the evaluation of in the appropriate effective
(24) stresses are those prevalent at the time when downdrag is to
For clays, Poulos and Davis (1980) had recommended a range be computed. For most practical problems, it corresponds to
of values based on soil consistency (Tables 1-3). the final effective stresses at the end of primary consolidation.
On the other hand, the vafues of G; should reflect the changes
Ultimate End Bearing Pressure in soil properties that occur during the period of consolidation
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and an average G; should therefore be used. Hence, G; is

The ultimate bearing pressure at the pile tip is determined
using the following equation:
where N c and N q = bearing capacity factors. The values
recommended in NAVFAC (1982) have been adopted in this
study.
Correlation of Dr and ~' with Standard Penetration
Test (SPT) Data
The determination of the sand parameters (K" K m K, n,
and v;) requires either the input of relative density (Dr) or
friction angle (<1>'). These data are not given in the case rec-
ords reviewed in this study. Only the blow counts from stan-
dard penetration tests (SPT) are available. Hence, D, and <1>'
are estimated from the blow counts using published corre-
lations.
The relative density is estimated from SPT blow counts
corrected for overburden pressure (Nco,,) using the correla-
tions proposed by Holtz and Gibbs (1979). The proposed
relationship has been simplified and plotted in Fig. 3. The
internal friction angle is estimated from D, using the corre-
lation by Meyerhof (1956):
<1>' = 28 + 0.15D,
where <1>' is in degrees and D, is expressed as a percentage.
The correction of blow count for overburden pressure is
determined using the correlation proposed by Liao and Whit-
man (1986)
evaluated based on the average of the initial and "final" ef-
fective stresses.
For sand, due to the rapid dissipation of pore pressure, i,
(25) and G; are computed from the final effective stresses assuming
no excess pore pressure.
RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSIS OF CASE RECORDS
Case records of seven test piles have been reviewed. The
required input parameters are determined using the proce-
dures described in the preceding section. The procedure has
been followed consistently in all cases in order to verify the
applicability of the proposed method. Details of each case
study are described in the following sections.
Case Study 1: Tokyo Bay, Japan
Fukuya et al. (1982) reported the measurement of down-
drag on a test pile located at a recently reclaimed land called
Ohgishima, off the coast of Kanagawa Prefecture, in Tokyo
Bay. The reclamation work took 3 years from November 1971
to December 1974. A steel pipe pile was driven closed-ended
with a diesel hammer during October-November 1973. The
pile was 37.5 m long, with an outside diameter of 610 mm
and a wall thickness of 9.5 mm. The equivalent pile modulus
(26) was 12.7 GPa. The pile was driven through 7 m of sand fill
and 30.5 m of silt, clay and gravel into a bearing stratum of
dense sand. The soil profile and the C u data from unconfined
compression tests are shown in Fig. 4. The water table was
assumed to be at 2 m below the ground surface. The pile was
monitored for about 41 months, until March 1976. The ground

AXIAL FORCE IN PILE (kN)

Settlement (mm) Cu (kPa) f. (kPa) ;; '"
0 '"
0
;; 0'" .... ;; ;; u:
G, (MPa)
.... 0 0 0
DepdI{-) 0 0 0 '"
0
0
0
0 0
'"
0 0 0 '"
0 0 0 0 ;; '" '"
0 0 0
'"
0
0
0

• EUedqS..dfll
0

'-20kNIm' ....14

S."ySih
Y "'16kM/w1J 10 • 10

.
PI-oIO 10 so

Gn~
Y"lOkNfni N-U
I
•I
g
:r :r
20
SUlyOar r 20 Ii:W
"'.•
Y-l6ld'lfa1' PI-4OIOSO [l.
W
Cl Cl

C1ayt1 SII1 30 30
T -1I'r>WaJ
PI-1O ••
37.'
DeueS.1UI N.,. 40 40
(0) (b) (e) (eI) (e)

I_ Measured - Computed I
(f)

FIG. 4. Case Study 1: Tokyo Bay, Japan (Fukuya et al. 1982): (a) Soil Profile; (b) Settlement Profile; (c) Variation of Measured c u ; (d)
Variation of Computed fs; (e) Variation of Computed G,; and (f) Comparison of Measured and Computed Axial Forces in Pile

460/ JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING / JUNE 1995

J. Geotech. Engrg., 1995, 121(6): 457-465

 TABLE 4 .
Determination of f and G, for Sand Fill, Gravel, and Dense Sand Layers for Case 1
K
0,
. n t. G,
<1>' I)
Depth 'Ymoist 'Ysaturated No,," (%) (degrees) Ko v' K.(degrees) Table Table (kPa) (MPa)
Soil type (m) (kN/m3 ) (kN/m 3 ) Eq. (27) IT., Fig. 3 Eq. (26) Eq. (23) Eq. (24) Table 1 Table 2 1 1 Eq.15) Eq. (19)
(1 ) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11 ) (12) (13) (14) (15) (16)
Sand fill 0 18" 20" 11 0 52 35.8 0.42 0.3 1.53 25 1,090 0.7 0 0
7 - - - 86 - - - - - - - - 61.4 21.49
Gravel 13.5 - 20" 13 125 57 36.5 0.41 0.29 1.6 25 1,190 0.7 94 29
16.5 - - - 155 - - - - - - - - 116 33.71
Dense sand 37.5 - 20" >50 296 90- 41.5 0.34 0.25 2.15 25 1,900 0.7 - 76.64
Note: The ultimate end bearing capacity in the dense sand computed using Eq. (25) is 58.3 MPa.
"Assumed value.

TABLE 5. Determination of f. and G, for Silt and Clay Layers for Case 1
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Initial Conditions Before Reclamation Final Conditions in March 1976 Initial Shear Modulus
p~ = t. G,
,
Plasticity CU IT: OCR OCWIT: IT. OCR = Cu [3 (kPa) Average Eso/cu (MPa)
Depth index (kPa) (kPa) Eq. (28) (kPa) (kPa) p~/rr: (kPa) Eq. (16) Eq. (15) C u (kPa) Fig. 2 Eq. (21)
(m) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11 ) (12) (13) (14)
8 40-50 28 7 38 263 92 2.86 47 0.37 34 37 350 8.64
13 40-50 21 40 2.97 119 122 1 26.8 0.22 26.8 24 350 5.58
17.5 -50 37 75 2.74 205 160 1.29 43 0.25 40 40 300 8.00
23 -50 50 110 2.48 273 194 1.41 56.2 0.26 50.4 53 300 10.62
25 -50 70 122 3.32 405 205 1.98 77.9 0.31 63.6 74 300 14.80
32.5 -25 65 170 1.98 337 255 1.32 70 0.25 63.8 67.5 700 31.50

AXIAL FORCE IN PILE (kN)

PILE COMPR':SS~N ~m) 0 § § §
o en 0010

Dcplb(m)
o 70
o
Fill pl•••d
2~ 10
bcfon> 1900

13 ----111----- 70
~
:I:

20-
Clay
15
aic 20

27- 30
30

40 _---JJ- _
' - ' " ' : " - - - - - ' 373 ' - - - -...... 73.7 ' - - - -......49.1 o 40 " ' - - - - - - -
Exx:es! Pore - l k h ) OJ (MPI) S.(nm)
I• Measured ... No dlaslpatlon ... Full dissipation I
(a) (b) (c) (d) (e)
If)

FIG. 5. Case Study 2: Sorenga, Norway (Bjerrum et al. 1969): (a) Soil Profile; (b) Overburden Pressure and Excess Pore-Pressure Distri-
butIons; (c) VarIation of Computed f.; (d) VariatIon of Computed G,; (e) Settlement Profile; and (f) Comparison of Measured and Computed
Pile Compression and Axial Forces In Pile

settled approximately 290 mm during this period. The settle-
ment profile obtained in March 1976 is shown in Fig. 4(b).
Primary consolidation had nearly completed. The maximum
downdrag was measured at about 2,390 kN. The neutral point
was located at approximately 82% of the pile length be-
lowground.
In the computation, the parameters for the sand fill, gravel,
and the bottom dense sand layers were based on average SPT
N-values. The stress history of these deposits was not known.
The OCR was assumed to be 1.0 in the computation of K o .
The detailed data are summarized in Table 4.
For the silt and clay layers, ~NC and OCR were not known.
They were estimated from the correlation proposed by Mesri
(1975) and Lacasse et aI. (1978)
(Cjp')YANE = (0.22 ± 0.04) x OCR082
where (cu/P')YANE = normalized and corrected field vane
strength. Since no field vane tests were conducted, the cor-
rected field vane strength was assumed to be the same as the
Cu from unconfined compression tests (Nakase et aI. 1972).
The coefficient ~NC was taken to be 0.22 and the OCR was
estimated from (28). Table 5 summarized the actual param-
eters used to obtain is and G;. The computed variations of is
and G i with depth was shown in Figs. 4(d) and 4(e), respec-
tively.
The computed and measured variation of downdrag with
depth are shown in Fig. 4(f). Generally good agreement has
been obtained. At a surface settlement of 290 mm, the max-
imum computed downdrag of 2,335 kN compares reasonably
with the measured value of 2,390 kN.
Case Study 2: Sorenga, Norway
Bjerrum et aI. (1969) reported the monitoring of downdrag
(28) in two test piles at Sorenga, in the harbor of Oslo. Two piles
were installed in the fall of 1966. Only the pile without an
enlarged base (denoted as pile G in the original paper) is
reviewed in the present study. The steel pipe pile was driven
to rock at 40 m. The pile had an external diameter of 500
mm and a wall thickness of 8 mm. The equivalent pile mod-
JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING / JUNE 1995/461

J. Geotech. Engrg., 1995, 121(6): 457-465

 6m 16m
I I I

DcpIh(m)
01: o
SetUemenl (mm)
g
I'>
g
c.>
g
AXIAL FORCE IN PILE (kN)
o
...
8
N
8
(,01
8
..
8
o ----:-N,...._'"'m=:--- o +--+--+-"rl o 1';-----~
2 --~:.::::..;:.=...--

-io- FBI '" Wcalbered

S
Oa)'
6 y -17_

~ 10
~ 10
g
SonOal'
Y-ISkNfml
oS to
t
UJ
PI-70
w
o 20

20
22------
Oa)'
Mod. SIIlf
y-17_ PI-SO • 3 0 " - - - -_ _------'
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26 slidaa)'
29 y - 1 9 _ PI-SO • Mu. PMtI \. . . . . . .-Sal1 --8012 --Sol 3
30L----...J
SaDd
UI
lbl Ie) (dl (el
(a)

FIG. 6. Case Study 3: Bangkok, Thailand (Indraratna et al. 1992): (a) Soli Profile; (b) settlement Profile; (c) Effective Stress Distributions;
(d) Variation of Computed f.; (e) Variation of Computed G,; and (f) Comparison of Measured and Computed Axial Forces In Pile

60ra 140m AXIAL FORCE IN PILE (kN)

+--+---+ en
-.
9:
-.
UI
N
0
I'\)
ttl

Of::: o
o g 0 g g 8

Depth(-)
_JI1II
HewfUl
0
SetUemenl (mm)
0 0 w 0 g;-
'" 0
... 0 g;
'. (kPa)
8
~N
'"
g; 8 g; 0
Gf (MPa)
r:l ..
0 g:
•
2
0
1 Y-17kN1.- 3 N--14
10
Meci. Plae S._d
y 0'9"""'" N-ol4to3
10
IIInD SI.,. 0.,
T • u.s tNhra' '1-50 :[
:I:
l-
ll.
l!:l 20
:.u
~7.s
~:::" 30
DeaR S.ad II: Cnvel
., -20kNIm' N-1I1050 30

I- Measured -- Computed I
" c.) Cb) Ce) Cd)
(e)

FIG. 7. Case Study 4: Melbourne, Australia (Walker and DarvaIl1973): (a) Soli Profile; (b) Settlement Profile; (c) Variation of Computed
f.; (d) Variation of Computed G,; and (e) Comparison of Measured and Computed Axial Forces In Pile

ulus was 13 GPa. The site was mantled by 13 m of fill followed Nevertheless, two analyses were conducted. The first as-
by 27 m of soft clay overlying bedrock [Fig. 5(a)]. The fill sumed no dissipation of excess pore pressure; and the second
was placed at the end of last century and consisted mainly of assumed full dissipation. The computed variations of Is and
sawdust and sandy organic mud. The water table was located G; with depth are shown in Figs. 5(c) and 5(d). The bedrock
at 2 m belowground. Small excess pore pressures were re- was assumed to be rigid and nonyielding. The profile of soil
corded before piling [Fig. 5(b)]. Two years after pile instal- settlement was not known. The settlement profile is assumed
lation, the pile head and the surrounding ground were found to be constant in the fill layer and linearly decreasing in the
to have settled about 13.8 mm and 70 mm, respectively. The underlying clay as shown in Fig. 5(e).
maximum downdrag was 2,500 kN. The computed downdrag and pile compression are shown
The unit weights of the fill and clay were not available. in Fig. 5(f) together with the measured data. Generally good
They were back-calculated from the overburden pressure dis- agreement has been obtained between the measured and com-
tribution reported by Bjerrum et at. (1969). The moist and puted values. It was also noted that the small excess pore
saturated unit weight of the fill were estimated to be 16 and pressure has very little effect on the final results. The maxi-
18.5 kN/m3 , respectively. The saturated unit weight of the mum computed downdrag assuming full dissipation of excess
soft clay was 19 kN/m 3 . The only known information on the pore pressure is 2,380 kN, which compares well with the
fill was its composition. The following parameters were as- measured value of 2,500 kN. The neutral point was located
sumed: ~ = 0.3; Eso/cu = 500; and v; = 0.35. The soft clay at the pile tip as expected for an end bearing pile.
layer was assumed to be normally consolidated with a ~ of
Case Study 3: Bangkok, Thailand
0.22 and v; of 0.35. A plasticity index of 20, typical for clays
in that region, was assumed. The corresponding Eso/c u ratio Indraratna et at. (1992) reported a field study of downdrag
was deduced to be 1,000 from Fig. 2. The excess pore pres- on driven piles at a site 10 km east of Bangkok. The hollow
sures at the end of the test were not reported. Since the fill prestressed concrete pile was 27 m long with an external di-
was placed more than 70 years ago, the change in excess pore ameter of 400 mm and a wall thickness of 75 mm. The equiv-
pressure during the 2-year test period was likely to be small. alent pile modulus was 30.5 GPa. The pile was driven through
462/ JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING / JUNE 1995

J. Geotech. Engrg., 1995, 121(6): 457-465

 Effective Stresa (lePe) f s (kPa)
Settlement (mm)
g
Cu (kPa)
... Gj (MPa)
DopIb(m) o ~ ~ ~ o g: 8 § 8 0 8 8 ~ 8 ..
00000
CD f\) m N ..
00000
CD CD

o
o
2
,11I
SUI1 Sa... t ........... ,..
PI-.
••
9
IJ
1-20~
~ 10 \.\'.
~.
g
.,..
20 \0'
25---- ~ \
0-
IludySUI W
o
1_11_3
P1-20
30
. 'a.
35----
SudJSl1t
1_19_3
431_.:.;",--.::;15_ _
40
'.
'\
.\
\
.
"
_ Sa_
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50---- 50 ........- - - - - - '

(a) (b) (e) (4) (e) (f)

AXIAL FORCE IN PILE (kN) AXIAL FORCE IN PILE (kN) AXIAL FORCE IN PILE (kN)
I\) ...... f\) c,.) .. N
§ §
~ ...... ...... fI,,)

0
0 § §
o
o § § § § o g g 8 § 8

10 10

g 20 g 20
J:
I-
0-
w
b:
w
0 30
• o 30

•
40 40
• 30
•
50 50 - ' - - - - - - - - - - - - '
(gl

FIG. 8. Case Study 5: Tokyo, Japan (Endo et al. 1969): (a) 5011 Profile; (b) Settlement Profile; (c) Variation of Measured cu; (d) Effective
Stress Distributions; (e) Variation of Computed f.; (f) Variation of Computed G,; and (g) Comparison of Measured and Computed Axial
Forces In Plies

fill and soft clay into a stiff clay stratum. The soil profile
including the new fill is shown in Fig. 6(a). A test embank-
ment (12 m x 22 m x 2 m high) was constructed to induce
ground settlement. The pile was monitored for 9 months. The
ground settled about 270 mm during this period. The settle-
ment profile is shown in Fig. 6(b). Piezometer readings in-
dicated that the primary consolidation had completed. The
maximum downdrag reached 305 kN. The neutral point is
located at approximately 85% of the pile length belowground.
Indraratna et al. reported a value 5 MPa for E' and a v;
of 0.2 for the fill material, which is equivalent to a G i of 2.08
MPa. The Gi and v; values of the weathered clay are 1.7 MPa
and 0.33, respectively. The average unit skin friction, Is, of
these two soils were assumed to be 10 kPa, which corre-
sponded approximately to a 13 of 0.3. The stress increase due
to the surcharge was computed using Boussinesq's solution
for finite areal load. The profiles of preconsolidation pres-
sure, effective overburden pressure before and after fill place-
ment are shown in Fig. 6(c). The available data on the bearing
stratum do not permit a direct estimate of the pile toe bearing
capacity. Three sets of c' and <1>' values were tested: (1) c'
= 50 kPa and <1>' = 23°; (2) c' = 20 kPa and <1>' = 26°; and
(3) c' = 0 kPa and <1>' = 28°. The corresponding qb-values
are 1.75 MPa, 2.47 MPa, and 3.15 MPa, respectively. The
computed profiles of f, and G i are shown in Figs. 6(d) and
6(e).
The computed and measured downdrag profiles are shown
in Fig. 6(f). The effect of different end-bearing pressures on
the computed downdrag was insignificant. The computed
downdrag are in close agreement with the measured data.
Case Study 4: Melbourne, Australia
Walker and Darvall (1973) reported the downdrag of a
steel pipe pile driven closed-ended through a highly stratified
soil [Fig. 7(a)]. The pile was 34 m long, with an external
diameter of 760 mm and a wall thickness of 11 mm. The
equivalent pile modulus was 12 GPa. After the pile was driven,
a test embankment (100 m x 200 m x 3 m high) was con-
structed. The pile was monitored for about 8 months. Primary
consolidation was completed within the first 4 months and
the final vertical stresses did not exceed the preconsolidation
pressures. The ground settled about 29 mm after 4 months
[Fig. 7(b)]. The maximum downdrag was measured to be 1.8
MN.
For the analysis, the properties of the fill and sand were
derived from the SPT N-values. The moist and saturated unit
weights were assumed to be 17 kN/m 3 and 19 kN/m3, re-
spectively. The water table was deemed to be located at 1.5
m below the original ground surface. The stress increase due
to the surcharge was determined using Boussinesq's solution.
No data on the silt layer were available, so it was assumed
to have properties of a sand with a relative density of 25%.
For the silty clay, I3Nc was assumed to be 0.22. Consolidation
test yielded an OCR of 1.57 at a depth of 18.5 m. This OCR
value was assumed to be applicable to the entire clay layer.
The average plasticity index of the silty clay was about 65.
JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING / JUNE 1995/463

J. Geotech. Engrg., 1995, 121(6): 457-465

 Based on these parameters, is and G; at various depths were
obtained [Figs. 7(c and 7(d)]. Based on a corrected N-value
of 22, the sand at the pile toe was estimated to have a Dr of
74% and 4>' of 39°. This resulted in a qb of 33 MPa.
The computed and measured downdrag forces are shown
in Fig. 7(e). Good agreement has again been obtained.
Case Study 5: Tokyo, Japan
Endo et al. (1969) reported the measurement of downdrag
on three vertical piles and two batter piles at a site located
about 3 km west of downtown Tokyo. Only the vertical piles
were analyzed. The piles had an outside diameter of 609.6
mm and a thickness of 9.5 mm. The equivalent pile modulus
was 12.7 GPa. Two of the piles were founded on a loose silty
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sand stratum at 43 m depth. One was driven closed-ended
(cE43) and the other was open-ended (oE43). The third pile,
31 m long, was a friction pile. It was driven closed-ended with
its toe ending in the silt deposit (cF31). The piles were driven
in June 1964. Measurements were monitored until October 1%7.
It was reported that settlement in the area was caused by pump-
ing of ground water for industrial purposes. The soil profile
consisted of 2 m of fill, 37 m of silt, 6 m of loose diluvial sand
followed by a layer of dense sand [Fig. 8(a)]. The ground-water
table was at 1.5 m below the surface. The settlement profile
obtained in April 1966 is shown in Fig. 8(b). The ground surface
settled 131 mm. The variation of undrained shear strength with
depth based on the unconfined compression tests are shown in
Fig. 8(c). The effective vertical stresses and the maximum past
pressures are shown in Fig. 8(d).
For the analysis, the fill was assumed to have a Dr of 50%
and a moist and saturated unit weight of 18 kN/m 3 and 20
kN/m\ respectively. The computed t and G; at 2 m depth
are 22.4 kPa and 9.95 MPa, respectively. The diluvial sand
at 43 m has an average SPT N-value of 20. The corrected N-
value was 8, which gives rise to a Dr of 42% and a 4>' of 34°.
The computed q/, and G; were 30.55 and 70.38 MPa, respec-
tively. For pile cF31, the end bearing capacity in the silt was
computed based on an assumed friction angle of 30°, which
results in a qb of 3.93 MPa. The computed f, and G; profiles
are shown in Figs. 8(e) and 8(f), respectively.
The computed and measured downdrag of the three piles
are shown in Fig. 8(g). The computed values for piles oE43
and cF31 are in good agreement with experimental data. Larger
scatter was observed in the computed and measured down-
drag of cE43. One possible explanation could be attributed
to local variation of soil properties. This can be seen in the
sudden increase of measured downdrag between the depths
of 20 m to 25 m for cE43, which was not observed in the
other two piles.
CONCLUSIONS
A simplified load-transfer method was proposed for the
analysis of downdrag on single piles in layered soil. A con-
sistent procedure has been established for the evaluation of
the input parameters from conventional soil test data. The
case records of seven test piles consisting of various pile types
in different soil deposits around the world were analyzed.
Results of the analysis have confirmed that the proposed ap-
proach is capable of predicting with reasonable accuracy the
downdrag on single piles.
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464/ JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING / JUNE 1995
J. Geotech. Engrg., 1995, 121(6): 457-465
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JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING / JUNE 1995/465