A. J.

FRANCIS
M.Sc., Ph.D., M.C.E., F.I.C.E., M.I.Struct.E., F.I.E.Aust., Chief Technical Advisor, Unesco Project, Karadeniz
Technical University, Trabzon, Turkey; Formerly Head, Department of Civil Engineering, University of
Melbourne.

L. K. STEVENS
Ph.D., B.C.E., M.Eng.Sc., A.M.I.C.E., M.I.E.Aust., Head, Department of Civil Engineering, University of
Melbourne.

REPORT ON BEHAVIOUR AND DESIGN OF

SLENDER POINT-BEARING PILES IN SOFT SOIL*
This report is based on research work, much of it carried out at the
University of Melbourne since 1960, on the behaviour of slender
point-bearing piles passing through soft soil. It is intended for the
use of designers, and deals with aspects of design on which little
guidance has hitherto been available. These are:
(a) the load-carrying capacity of such piles under axial load, and in
particular the degree of support which soft soils provide against
lateral buckling; and
(b) the resistance to flexure and lateral displacement of such piles.
The most commonly neglected and yet perhaps the most im-
portant stage of an engineering research project is the final one: the
presentation of the principal findings in a simple, concise form which
the practical designer can use easily. The authors, who have been
responsible jointly for the direction of the Melbourne work since its
inception, hope that the report will be of some help in this respect.

INTRODUCTION

1. At many building sites of economic importance throughout the world, consider-

able depths of very soft soil, typically normally consolidated estuarine silts, overlie good
foundations of hard material. One way of supporting structures like bridges on such
ground is by means of groups of slender piles driven through the soft soil to point
bearing on the hard strata below. In such circumstances designers need to know what
support the soil can be expected to provide against
(a) buckling of the piles as slender columns, and
(b) lateral and bending forces on the piles.
2. Little guidance on these matters is to be found in codes of practice. The British
Civil Engineering Code of Practice No. 4, for example, recommends that in soft clay
a pile should be designed as a pin-ended, laterally unsupported column of length equal
to half the embedded depth. The 1956 New Zealand Bridge Manual, on the other hand,
states that 'full support may be assumed from all soils except the most fluid of muds'.
The truth generally lies somewhere between these two rather extreme statements,
neither of which gives an engineering definition of the soils it refers to.
3. In spite of the earlier lack of scientific understanding of the problem, engineers
concerned with the design of harbour works such as jetties have long known that test

*ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS — The authors wish to express their gratitude to the Country Roads Board, Vic-
toria, who financed the early research work at the University of Melbourne, and to the Australian Road
Research Board, who supported the project generously over a number of years. They are also grateful to the
following research students and research fellows who contributed much to the successful outcome of the
work: Drs P. J. Hoadley and A. R. Toakley, and Messrs N. R. Savory, B. Roberts, I. M. McKenzie,
D. Wilson, J. Irwin, and B. Crossley. The contributions of their colleagues and former colleagues, Professor
D. H. Trollope, Dr J. R. Morgan and Dr P. J. Moore are also deeply appreciated.

4 AUSTRALIAN ROAD RESEARCH

 FRANCIS, STEVENS — SLENDER POINT-BEARING PILES

piles driven into soft muds can carry substantial axial or lateral loads before failure,
even when only partially embedded, and have designed their jetties on the basis of
this information.
4. In recent years the problem of the behaviour of slender piles of soft soil has
been studied in several centres. As a result, there is now a considerable body of
experimental and theoretical evidence to indicate that substantial support against
buckling is afforded by very soft soils, and the nature of the problem is well enough
understood to enable safe, economical designs to be produced. Probably the first major
structure in Australia with a foundation of slender piles designed on a scientific basis
was the Arts Centre, Melbourne (1962). This large building is supported on several
hundred 18 in diameter prestressed concrete piles up to 100 ft long, driven through
silt with an undrained shear strength of 1 to 2 psi, to point bearing on basalt layers.
5. In this report the main findings of the work at the University of Melbourne
and by workers elsewhere are presented in a form which it is hoped designers will
find useful. The reader who wishes to study the research work in detail is referred
to the list of references at the end of the report.

ELASTIC BEHAVIOUR OF PILES

ELASTIC BUCKLING OF A UNIFORM PILE IN A SPRING MEDIUM (Refs. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5)
6. The simplest case is that of a fully embedded elastic pile of uniform cross-
section pinned at the surface and its toe, where it rests on a hard stratum, and sub-
jected to an axial compressive load at its head. If the soil is so soft that it acts as a
fluid, the pile will buckle in a single half-sine wave (Fig. 1) at a load given by the
familiar Euler formula.
EI
P cr — (1)
L2
where EI is the flexural rigidity and L the length.
7. If the soil is uniform and linear-elastic in behaviour, its resistance to lateral
deflection of the pile can be represented approximately by assuming that it behaves
like an elastic spring — or 'Winkler' medium (Fig. 2a). In such a medium, which
will be designated as type (a) soil, the total force f exerted on unit length of a pile

Pc r

Fig. 1

Vol. 4, No. 10, December, 1972 S

 FRANCIS, STEVENS — SLENDER POINT-BEARING PILES

1
unit

lengths

Fig. 2a Fig. 2b

of width b by the soil at a point where the lateral displacement is 8 (see Fig. 2b),
is given by the relationship
f = k8 (2)
where k is the coefficient of lateral reaction of the medium. In such a medium, which
cannot transmit shearing forces, the lateral force on the pile depends only on the
lateral deflection of the pile at that point. In a real elastic continuum such as an
ideal soil on the other hand, this lateral force depends on the lateral displacement
of the pile as a whole. Nevertheless, the assumption of a spring medium has been
found both from theoretical considerations and experimentally to give sufficiently
accurate results (Refs 6 and 7). Analytically, a spring medium is very much simpler
to handle than an elastic continuum, and many different end conditions, types of soil
and so on have been studied theoretically on this assumption.
8. As one would expect, the buckling behaviour depends on the relative elastic
rigidities of the pile and soil, i.e., on the ratio EI/k.
9. An infinitely long pile will buckle into a number of half-waves (Ref. 4) of
length equal to

= EI
(3)
k
10. In piles of finite length L, the possibile buckling modes are shown in Fig. 3.
If L is an exact multiple of the pile it will buckle with N half waves each of length
1 = = L/N. The elastic buckling load P„ is then exactly twice the buckling load
of an unsupported pile with the same half wave length, i.e.,
27r 2 E I
P<<_ = =2 EIk (4)
(1' ) 2

11. The effect of the soil is therefore twofold: it reduces the effective length and
increases the buckling load to twice the value it would have in air with the same
wavelength.
12. For piles with length other than an exact multiple of 1', the buckling mode will
still develop with equal half waves as shown in Fig. 3. Changes from one buckling

6 AUSTRALIAN ROAD RESEARCH

 FRANCIS, STEVENS - SLENDER POINT-BEARING PILES

or Or Or

F12—
= 3.46
n=2
= 2.45E

/ / /// // )/ /

n =•3

// / / // / / d
/ ///

n=4 Note Jr = 1k
4E
Hard stratum

Fig. 3

mode to the next occur at unique values of the buckling load when either of the two
associated modes is equally likely. Thus for a length L = V2 1' the buckling load is
the same whether the mode has one or two half waves. Similarly at L = V 6 l' there
is a transition from two to three half-waves. For longer piles, the transition from n half-
waves to (n 1) occurs when L = Vn(n + 1). 1' in approximately (n When
n is large the half-wave length is close to 1' and it is conservative to adopt the following
rules for design.

Long Piles; L Per = 2V E I k

7r2 EI
Short Piles L < 1'/V 2, Per =
L2
the spring medium support being ignored.
Other end conditions, partial embedment and variations of axial load and soil stiffness
are considered in Appendix A.

Vol. 4, No. 10, December, 1972 7

 FRANCIS, STEVENS — SLENDER POINT-BEARING PILES

ELASTIC FLEXURAL BEHAVIOUR OF A UNIFORM PILE IN A SPRING MEDIUM (Ref. 8)

13. In the design of a bridge foundation or a jetty, for example, it is often necessary
to estimate the flexural properties of a pile in a soil of known elastic properties when
it is subjected to displacements at its head. These displacements may be either
rotation without translation (defined as case 1) or translation without rotation (defined
as case 2) or some combination of these two basic types of deformation (see Fig. 4).

14. Analyses carried out on piles with the head free to translate, yield results which
may be conveniently condensed into the following recommendations. Here the pile
may be regarded as effectively fixed at a certain depth 1,„ below ground level, the
support of the soil above this depth being ignored. For the designer, the problem
then reduces to that of calculating the flexural properties of a pile length, le = (11 + 1m )
unsupported laterally and fixed at its base. Then for case 1 the rotation a at the head
of the pile is given by
M (11 +1m,)
a= (5a)
4 EI
while for case 2 the translation A at the head is given by
M (11 + 1,2 ) 2
A= (5b)
6 EI

15. In the case of fully embedded piles the concept of an effective depth described
above does not give the correct value for the horizontal reaction R at the head, and
it is necessary to introduce correction factors p and T.
In case 1 the concept would give
3M
R (6a)
21e,
but the correct value is
3 Mp
R (6b)
210

/1

(a) (b)

Case 1
12 Case 2

Fig. 4

8 AUSTRALIAN ROAD RESEARCH

 FRANCIS, STEVENS — SLENDER POINT-BEARING PILES

Similarly, for case 2 the correct value of R is

2 MT
R= (7)
1e2

Type (a) soil (uni;orm stiffness)

16. (a) Fully embedded piles

{Case 1: lini a 0.9, p = 1.33 (8)

For 1., /1' 1.0, 0.8, T = 1.33
Case 2: 4..2 /1'

(b) Partially embedded piles, cases 1 and 2

1 /1'< 0.5
For 11/1' > 1.0, 12/1' > 1.0: p11 = 7 = 1.0 (9)

Type (J) soil (stiffness proportional to depth)

(a) Fully embedded piles

Case 1: 1„,1 /1' < 1.0, p = 1.16 (10)

For 1,/1 > 1.0,
{ Case 2: 1.2 /1' < 0.9, 7 = 1.30

(b) Partially embedded piles, cases 1 and 2

1„,/1' < 0.75

For 11/1' > 1.0, 12 /1' > 1.0: (11)
p = 7 = 1.0
17. In the case of piles with shallow embedment, when 11/1' > 0.5 and 12/1' < 0.5,
the pile may be regarded as rigid for both cases and in both types of soil. A
statically determinate analysis will then give the required relation between force and
displacement at the pile head.
18. An important conclusion to be drawn from the foregoing discussion is that,
whether the problem is one of buckling or flexure, the most important region of the
soil is that near the surface and down to depths of about 1.5 1'. We shall see later
that such depths are usually quite shallow.

EVALUATION OF THE COEFFICIENT OF LATERAL REACTION

THEORETICAL FORMULAE

19. In nearly all reported analyses of pile flexure and buckling, a spring medium
has been assumed in order to make the mathematics more tractable. It has been
shown that this assumption of a spring medium gives a reasonably close approximation
to the behaviour of a pile in a continuous elastic isotropic medium. For the case of
an infinitely long pile buckling in an infinite medium, for example, the buckled form
is sinusoidal whether the medium is an elastic continuum or a linear spring medium
and the errors introduced are small except for short stiff piles.
20. By comparing the results of analyses in these two media it is possible to
derive expressions for k in terms of the elastic properties (Es and the Poisson's ratio,

Vol. 4, No. 10, December, 1972 9

 FRANCIS, STEVENS - SLENDER POINT-BEARING PILES

ki,) of the continuous medium. Two such formulae, which give quite similar values
for k as a rule, are:

12 b4 E 13/12
s
(Vesic, Ref. 6)
k = 1.30
El X [ (1 -
p.,2) (12)

22.35 Es (1—iu)
(Glick, Ref. 9) k= 21 (13)
(1 + µ) (3 — 41u,) (4.6 logio) (— — 0.44

where b is the width of the pile normal to the direction of buckling and 1 is the
wavelength of the buckled form. E s the elastic modulus of the soil for short-term
or immediate loading conditions may be determined (Refs 3 and 10) from con-
solidated undrained triaxial tests on undisturbed samples, taking for preference the
secant modules at 50 per cent of the ultimate strength to give the short term value
k i . The sample should be loaded with conditions similar to that expected in the
field which implies an increasing lateral stress with a constant vertical stress equal
to the effective overburden pressure (Ref. 10). For long-term loading, drained
triaxial tests should be employed, using the same method of loading as above to
obtain the long-term coefficient Ice.
21. Alternatively, Es may be obtained from the coefficient of volume decrease
my measured in oedometer tests, as follows:
(1 — )
Es = 3 (14)
my
22. Recommendations on the value of which should be adopted vary. It is
suggested here that for short-term conditions, 0.5 may be taken, and for long-term
conditions, 0.4.
23. It is interesting to see what value of 1' is obtained for typical long piles in
different conditions (Ref. 8). Two examples will illustrate the general trends.
(a) Soft alluvial silt having a shear strength of 2-3 psi and 1/m, = 310 psi.
(i) Reinforced concrete pile 12 in square section, 1 = 1728 in (Ref. 4). From
eqn (13) taking iu, as 0.4 and using the value of Es obtained from eqn (14),
the value of k1 (long-term loading is found to be 130 psi). Then from
eqn (3), 1' = 18.8 ft or 18.8 d, where d is the width.
(ii) Reinforced concrete bored pile 36 in diameter, I = 82500 in (Ref. 4). 1' is
found to be 49.4 ft or 16.5 d.
(b) Stiff sandy clay, shear strength 20 psi, 1/my = 3500 psi, iu, = 0.4.
(i) Reinforced concrete pile 12 in square section: = 9.70 ft = 9.70 d.
(ii) Reinforced concrete bored pile, 36 in. diameter: 1' = 25.4 ft = 8.5 d.
The value of in the soft alluvial silt (a) illustrates the supporting power of
even a very poor material. It may also be noted that the greatly increased supporting
power of soil (b) with a k value more than eleven times that of soil (a), approxi-
mately halves the value of 1'.

CORRELATION OF THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL ESTIMATES OF K

24. One of the most important aims of the Melbourne work has been to see how
well the values of k given by the above formulae agree with those obtained from

10 AUSTRALIAN ROAD RESEARCH

 FRANCIS, STEVENS - SLENDER POINT-BEARING PILES

the observed behaviour of actual piles under test. The very soft silt used in most
of this work is variable, and properties are difficult to measure accurately. Never-
theless, the agreement has been found to be reasonably satisfactory, and the methods
of calculating k given in paras 19-23 appear to be the best at present available.
25. The most important tests in the Melbourne programme were those carried
out in South Melbourne between 1966 and 1968 on five full-scale test piles. These
test piles were about 36 ft long with various cross-sections, and were driven in ground
most of which consisted of a grey silty clay with the following properties: liquid limit
39 per cent, plasticity index 17, Es = 30 to 150 psi, c' = 1.1 psi, 4 = 11 degrees, c„ =
3.75 psi. Thee value of k; (the short-term coefficient obtained from laboratory tests
was from 25 to 130 psi). Each pile was instrumented with closely spaced strain gauges
from which it was possible to obtain the curvatures and thence, by double integra-
tion, the lateral deflexions along the pile. Thus the number of half waves of the
deflected shape could be found, from which it was possible to determine the value
of k. By double differentiation of the bending moments derived from the curvatures,
the lateral forces exerted by the soil aong the pile could also be found, and from a
knowledge of the deflexions and forces at the same points, another set of estimates
of lc; was obtained. Although these were not as consistent as the value determined
from the half-wave-length, a range of values of 2-84 psi was obtained for one pile
compared with 72 psi from the half-wave-length.
26. In some earlier works (Refs 3 and 4) on test piles 86 ft long an average
value of lc; of 100 psi was obtained from the mechanical properties of the soil,
and this agreed well with that derived from the half-wave-length. Many tests on
model steel strip piles in reconstituted silty clay have also shown reasonable agree-
ment. In these model tests, the piles failed elastically, and k could therefore be
calculated from the measured values of P„. In practical full-scale tests, an elastic
buckling failure is very difficult to obtain since material failure usually intervenes
before a well established buckling mode can develop.
27. If laboratory tests of the precision required to determine E's are not available,
it has been suggested that the undrained shear strength c„ be measured in situ by
field vane or penetrometer, and k; taken as 18-30 times c„. The Melbourne work
supports this recommendation. Another method (Ref. 15) of obtaining an estimate
of k is by applying a lateral load to the head of a test pile and measuring the
lateral displacement A and the rotation a of the head of the pile. Then if it is
uniform soil, k i is given by
4
k = 4 EI (15)
A
Good correlation with other methods of determining k; was found in the South
Melbourne tests.
28. To sum up, it can be said that the various methods of finding k ; all show
reasonable agreement with one another and justify the use of the procedures in
paras 19-23.
EFFECT OF NON-LINEAR SOIL CHARACTERISTICS AND ECCENTRICITY OF LOADING
29. Real soils are not linear-elastic and the tangent modulus of elasticity decreases
as the strain increases. This is a dangerous characteristic in a buckling situation
because the equilibrium load is reduced with increase of displacement in the post
buckling range. If a pile deflects laterally from the beginning of loading, as it will
when eccentric or lateral loads are applied, the maximum axial load capacity may

Vol. 4, No. 10, December, 1972 11

 FRANCIS, STEVENS - SLENDER POINT-BEARING PILES

be significantly reduced. There may also be a catastrophic loss of load capacity

after the maximum has been reached even though the pile itself remains elastic.
30. To study this action, a large number of tests on model piles of steel strip
with varying eccentricities of loading, were carried out at Melbourne (Ref. 11).
These tests confirmed that there can indeed be a pronounced reduction in the elastic
buckling load. In the worst case the maximum load capacity with a large eccentricity
was reduced to 19 per cent of that without eccentricity. For smaller eccentricities
the reduction is less but there is considerable scatter in results for small eccentricities.
A regression analysis of 218 tests produced the following relationships which may
be used to assess the effects of eccentricities on the elastic critical load.
Pull 1
(16)
Pcr 48 e
1.5
1'
where Pult is the maximum observed load capacity,
Pcr is the elastic critical load without imperfections or eccentricity of loading,
e is the eccentricity of loading, and
1" is the half wave-length defined in eqn (3).
31. It has not been possible to confirm whether the same kind of relationship
holds for practical full-scale piles since these are usually designed so that the material
properties of the pile are the controlling factors on failure rather than elastic in-
stability. The same mode of action would, however, undoubtedly develop if elastic
buckling occurred, and this underlines the desirability of designing to prevent this
action. The severe effect of eccentricity is also emphasised by these test results, and
there is clearly a need to avoid eccentricity of axial loading in very slender piles
acting in compression, or conversely, to ensure that piles subjected to lateral load
are not subjected to significant axial loads.
EFFECT OF SUSTAINED LOADING (Refs 3 and 4)
32. Another question which is often raised relates to the capacity for very soft
soils to sustain the lateral support over a significant period of time as pore pressure
adjustment and soil water migration occurs. It can be said, however, that for the tests
carried out in the South Melbourne silts, this did not happen. One of the 86 ft long
test piles was loaded for seven months with a load of 40 kips which was 61 per cent
of the ultimate failure load. The axial load in this pile, although its toe rested on
a basalt layer was supported almost entirely by skin friction, as the measured strains
indicated, and there was no appreciable relaxation in this friction over the period of
the test. In the later full-scale tests in South Melbourne, skin friction, though present,
was much less significant. Most of the load was carried by point bearing. Three of
these piles carried up to 70-75 per cent of their 'squash' loads (the ultimate strength
as a short column) for periods of 6-13 months with very little increase in lateral
deflexion along the pile.
33. If the soil reduces in stiffness around a pile loaded to near its critical load,
possibly because of lateral displacement and/or the passage of time, it is possible in
theory at least for the pile to 'unwrap' from its deflected form into another with fewer
wave-lengths. This could be disastrous, for the carrying capacity would suddenly be
reduced. This possibility has been investigated theoretically (Ref. 11) for rigid-plastic
and elastic-plastic soils, and fortunately, it appears from energy considerations that
it is a most unlikely eventuality. The experimental evidence bears out this conclusion
since unwrapping is very difficult to produce.

AUSTRALIAN ROAD RESEARCH

12
 FRANCIS, STEVENS — SLENDER POINT-BEARING PILES

GROUP ACTION
Analysis of pile groups
34. Groups of piles that are connected by a pile cap may be analysed by standard
methods of structural analysis in which the flexural stiffness of the piles are assessed
in accordance with the method described in paras 13-18. These analytical methods
have been fully described by Francis (Ref. 8).

Effect on load capacity

35. Another question relates to the extent the load-carrying capacity of a pile is
reduced when it is one of a closely grouped set of piles all loaded to the point of
buckling. A few experiments on model piles have been done which confirm that the
elastic buckling load is reduced, but no general recommendations can be made. In
the present state of knowledge on this subject, which is far from complete (because
no work has been done on full-scale piles failing by non-elastic action), the best
rule to follow is probably that due to Davisson (Ref. 12). He suggests that k should
be reduced by a maximum of 65 per cent when the spacing of the piles is 21 diameters,
while at spacings of 8 diameters or more, no reduction is necessary. Between these
limits k should be obtained by linear interpolation. Effects of the non-elastic failure
of a pile on a neighbouring pile have been found to be negligible for quite close
spacing and this would appear to indicate that Davisson's formula is conservative.
Effects of vibration
36. There is a possibility that continued vibration may in time reduce the carrying
capacity of a pile in very soft soil. Again this is a question which can only be,
definitely resolved by work on full-scale piles, but this is extremely difficult and ex-
pensive. At the University of Melbourne, vibrations giving accelerations of up to
0.30 g at 30 c/sec have been applied to model steel strip piles in very soft silt without
affecting the elastic buckling load (Ref. 13). Vertical vibrations up to 0.136 g at 24
c/sec applied to the soil mass likewise had no effect. Severe horizontal vibration of
the soil, giving velocities up to 0.7 ft/sec, did, however, cause a 50 per cent reduction
in P„; but this was more violent than would ever be experienced in practice from
road traffic or adjacent pile-driving, even without allowing for the effect of the scale
of the model experiments. The available evidence, therefore, suggests strongly that
no concern need be felt on this score for bridge or building usage not in earthquake
zones.
Effects of general soil movements
37. The analyses and tests have been performed with a soil medium that does not
undergo significant lateral movement. Conditions in which excavations or embankments
slip and cause lateral movement have not been considered. Such movements could
produce dangerous conditions through increases in flexural stress leading to material
failure. When such a situation arises it would be advisable to keep the axial stress to
a low level and thus allow the material flexibility of the slender pile to accommodate
limited amounts of deformation. Prediction of the extent of movements of this type
would, however, be very difficult.

ULTIMATE STRENGTH OF SLENDER PILES UNDER AXIAL LOAD

3 8. A slender pile in soft soil may fail in compression by elastic buckling at the
load Pc , by failure as a short column at the 'squash' load P1, or in an intermediate
manner involving elastic-plastic buckling at a load P11 .

Vol. 4, No. 10, December, 1972 13

 FRANCIS, STEVENS - SLENDER POINT-BEARING PILES

39. As in other instability situations where there is a possibility of deterioration

in stiffness and carrying capacity due to non-elastic action, the aim should be to ensure
that P„ is well in excess of P p. Under these conditions the ultimate load will be
very close to Pp.
40. In cases where P Cr is less than about 10 Pp, a reduction in the ultimate load
capacity below the value of Pp should be expected. Precise analyses may be made
by programmes such as that produced by Hoadley (Ref. 15) but the results are only
as good as the data on material properties. These analyses are not readily available and
some simpler, if less accurate method for predicting ultimate loads is required. One
such method has been proposed by Granholm (Ref. 2) where the ultimate load is
related to the elastic critical load and the squash load by the formula:
1 1 1
(17)
Pu Per Pp
41. This empirical relationship has been found to underestimate the true ultimate
loads in all full-scale tests to failure conducted or noted in the Melbourne studies.
On the evidence of at least ten full-scale tests, the Granholm formula (Ref. 2) gives
estimates of the ultimate levels that are well on the safe side for design.
42. In the case of axial load with eccentric application or with flexure from moderate
lateral loading, Pp may be taken as the short column failure load corresponding to
full plasticity.

DESIGN PROCEDURE
43. In the efficient use of material it is desirable to design a pile so that material
failure governs the ultimate load capacity. Failure modes involving elastic instability
or amplification of flexural stresses through instability effects should be avoided.
44. The Granholm interaction formula indicates, and tests confirm, that this
desirable state will be achieved if the elastic critical load P„ is well in excess of the
squash load Pp . The pile then acts as a short strut and stresses may be calculated
ignoring instability effects.
45. The steps to be taken in design are set out in flow chart form in Fig. 5. Soil
and pile loadings must first be obtained and a preliminary design selected.
46. For the case of lateral loading inducing flexure only, no special limitations
need be observed and the methods described in paras 13-18 may be applied directly.
It should be recognised, however, that slender piles in soft soils will develop little
resistance to lateral loads even with quite large displacements.
47. For cases when axial loads are applied, the determination of P„ the elastic
critical load is of prime importance. The methods developed in paras 6-12 and
Appendix A may be used with values of k derived from the soil properties as described
in paras 19-37.
48. For an elastic critical load P„ greater than about 10 Pp, when Pp is the pile
squash load, it is considered that instability effects will have negligible effect on the
failure load and the pile may be designed as a short column.
49. For Per less than 10 Pp, the Granholm interaction formula (Ref. 2) which
was discussed in paras 38-42 may be used to obtain conservative values of the failure
load. If however, P„ < 3 Pp, instability effects can become large and amplification of

14 AUSTRALIAN ROAD RESEARCH

 FRANCIS, STEVENS — SLENDER POINT-BEARING PILES

Soil Survey

Pile Type

Flexural

Preliminary Design
Axial

Preliminary Design

Analysis by
Section 2.2

Evaluate pile and

soil parameters

Compare with
required load and
deformation

Analyse for Per ,

Pcr<3PP P >IG?p
Section 2.1 cr

3Pp<Pcr<10PP
Severe Instability No instability
problem.
Problem Limited instability
Analyse as short
Problem
column
Analyse for Pu
by Section 4.

Redesign or More
Precise Analysis Compare with

Compare with required load

required load

Per = Elastic buckling load

p = Short column failure load

Fig. 5

Section 2.1: refer to paras 6-12

Section 2.2: refer to paras 13-18
Section 4 : refer to paras 38-42

Vol. 4, No. 10, December, 1972 15

 FRANCIS, STEVENS - SLENDER POINT-BEARING PILES

flexural effects from small eccentricity or other imperfections may lead to a substantial
reduction in load capacity as described in paras 29-31. Redesign to give a higher
value of P„ is then recommended, or if this is not practicable, a more precise analysis
may be attempted. In general, however, it is recommended that the value of P„
should be at least 3 Pp for efficient use of material and to allow the use of the simple
short column design approach.

APPENDIX

ALTERNATIVE END CONDITIONS AND OTHER VARIATIONS FOR

AXIALLY LOADED PILE
FULLY EMBEDDED PILES

50. Frequently the head and toe of a pile are fixed against rotation. Evidently
if L is large in relation to 1' the pile will buckle in a number of half-waves, the
lengths of the intermediate waves being approximately 1', and the end fixity will have
little effect on the buckling load. A study of the computer analyses for this case
shows that it is conservative to make the following assumptions (Refs 4 and 5).
(a) Whcn L/1" < 1, ignore the effect of the soil, i.e., assume that
47/2E'
Per —
L2
(18)
(b) when L/1' > 3, assume that P„ = 2VEIk;
(c) when 1 < L/1' 3, to obtain Per use linear interpolation between
(a) and (b).

51. If the head or toe is pinned and the other end is fixed, the following may be
conservatively assumed:
(a) When L/1' < 1, ignore the effect of the soil, i.e., assume that
Per = 2.04 7r2EI/L2;
(b) when L/1' > 1, assume that 13121. =

52. An interesting case is where the pile is pinned at the toe and free to displace
laterally at the head. In the absence of soil such a pile obviously cannot carry any
load at all; but a study of the computer results shows that they can be represented
conservatively by the following:
(a) When L/1' < 0.5, assume that P„ = kL2/3; 1
(20)
( b) when L/1' > 0.5, assume that Per = VEIk.

Thus, unless the pile is very short it can carry half as much load as if it were
pinned at the head instead of being free — which is at first sight a surprising result.

16 AUSTRALIAN ROAD RESEARCH

 FRANCIS, STEVENS — SLENDER POINT-BEARING PILES

53. Sometimes the axial load may vary along the pile because of skin friction
(Fig. 6a). If L/1' < 1/V2, the support given by this soil should be ignored, and the
buckling load taken as
P„ = mir2 EI/L2 (21)
where m = Pmax/ Pay,
Pmax and Pay being the maximum and average loads in the pile. If L/1' > 3,
the variation in axial load should be ignored, and Per taken as
Per = 2VEIk (22)

54. For values of L/1' intermediate between 1/V2 and 3, P„ should be obtained
by linear interpolation between the buckling loads for these two values of L/1'. These
rules may be used whether the variation of load along the pile is linear or not.
55. The elastic properties of normally consolidated silts increase roughly in a linear
manner with depth below the surface (Fig. 6b). In this soil, here designated Type (b),
the lateral resistance at depth x can be written as
f =ko x 5 (23)
where ko is the rate of increase in k with depth. Here the parameter 1' should be
taken as

1" = '5
1/277-4EI/k. (24)
For a pin-ended pile in such soil, the support of the soil should be ignored if
L/1' < 0.5, while for L/1' > 1, Per may be taken as

Per = 2.5 VEI3 k02 (25)

PARTIALLY EMBEDDED PILES

56. In bridge construction, in particular, it is very common for piles to be only

partially embedded, as shown in Fig. 6c. If the pile is in uniform soil (Type (a) ) a
study of the computer analyses leads to the following general recommendations con-
cerning elastic buckling loads.

P max

Fig. 6a Fig. 6b Fig. 6c

Vol. 4, No. 10, December, 1972 17

 FRANCIS, STEVENS — SLENDER POINT-BEARING PILES

For piles pinned or fixed at the head and toe, and provided that 12 > 1.5 1":
(a) when 11/1' < 0.25, assume that P„ = 2JEIk;
(b) when 11 /1' > 1.0, assume that the pile is fixed at a depth of 172 below the surface
and neglect the support afforded by the soil; i.e., take Pc, as the smaller of the
values given by eqns (26) and (27):
2.04EI
P = (pinned head) or
er (li 1'/2)2
(26)
477-2EI
Per = ± 172) 2 (fixed head)

P„ = 2VEIk (27)
(c) for values of 11/1' intermediate between 0.25 and 1.0, determine P, by linear
interpolation between these limits.
It is recommended that the toe of the pile be assumed to be pinned even if it is driven
some distance into a hard stratum.
57. For piles in which 12 /1' < 1, the support afforded by the soil should be neglected.
Linear interpolation may be used for piles with an 12 /1' value between 1 and 1.5.
58. For piles whose stiffness increases linearly with depth below the surface (Type
(b) soil) the same general conclusions as above may be applied, provided that 1' is
taken as 51/274EI/ko, that the depth to effective fixity is assumed to be 0.751' instead
of 0.51', and that 2.5 5VEI31(02 is substituted for 2 \TEik in (a) above.

APPENDIX B

ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE

59. The following example is intended to illustrate the application of the informa-
tion presented in this report to the analysis of a typical pile used in a foundation as
shown in Fig. 7. The pile is effectively fixed at the pile cap and is 16 in square
prestressed concrete with F', = 5000 psi and E = 5 X 106 psi. The ground has the
following properties: 1/m, = 312 psi (soil a) and 1000 psi (soil b); ,j, = 0.4.
The safe working load of a typical vertical pile in the group will be determined for
a load factor of 2.
3(1 — 2µ,)
For soil a: Es 312 X 0.6 = 187.2 psi.
nav
16 X163
Also, I= = 5470 in4
12
Then from eqn (12), k is found to be 199.6 psi.
From eqn (3) we then find that 1' = 28.3 ft.
Hence
11/1' = 28.0/28.3 = 1.0 and 12 /1' = 109/28.3 = 3.85
Since soil b starts at a depth of 85 ft or 3.00 1', buckling will occur in the weaker
soil a, and soil b need not be considered further.

18 AUSTRALIAN ROAD RESEARCH

 FRANCIS, STEVENS - SLENDER POINT-BEARING PILES

'Pile capl

28'

Piles under
consideration
for design
Fig. 7 Soil A 85

22'

60. The partially embedded section near the head when fixity is provided will be
considered first. Referring to Appendix A, paras 56-58, since 11 /1' = 1.0 we may
assume that each pile is effectively fixed at a depth l'/2 below the surface. The pile is
also fixed at the pile cap, and therefore, from eqn (26)
47r2EI 47r2EI
Per1 = 4.22 X 106 kips
(11 l'/2) 2 (42.15 X 12) 2
There is, however, ample depth within soil a for buckling to develop at a wave-
length of approximately 1' at a load P„2 given by eqn (4) in para 10;
Per2 = 277-2EI/ (1') 2 = 4.68 X 103 kips
The buckling load P Cr should be taken as the smaller of these two values, corresponding
to that of the partially embedded section, i.e.,
Per = 4.22 X 103 kips.
The 'squash' load Pp = F'CA = 5000 X 162 = 1.28 X 106 lb.
Therefore, Per /Pp = 4.22 X 106 / 1.28 X 106 = 3.30 > 3, which meets the requirement
suggested in para 43.
In eqn (17):
1/P„ = 1/Per + 1/Pp = 1/4.22 X 106 + 1/1.28 X 106
from which
Pu = 0.98 X 103 kips.
The working load for the required load factor of 2 is therefore 0.98 X 103 / 2 =
0.49 X 103 kips.

REFERENCES
1. Timoshenko, S. P. and Gere, J. M., Theory of Elastic Stability, (2nd Ed.), p. 94,
McGraw-Hill (1961).
2. Granholm, H., On the Elastic Stability of Piles Surrounded by a Supporting
Medium, Centraltryckeriet, Stockholm, Sweden (1929).

Vol. 4, No. 10, December, 1972 19

 FRANCIS, STEVENS - SLENDER POINT-BEARING PILES

3. Francis, A. J., Savory, N. R., Stevens, L. K. and Trollope, D. H., The behaviour
of slender point-bearing piles in soft soil, Symp. on the Design of High Buildings,
Univ. of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Univ. Press (1961).
4. Francis, A. J., Stevens, L. K. and Trollope, D. H., Flexure and load-carrying
capacity of slender piles in soft soil, Symp. on Bearing Capacity of Piles, Central
Building Res. Inst., India (1964).
5. Toakley, A. R., Buckling loads for elastically supported struts, Proc. ASCE, 91,
EM3 (June 1965).
6. Vesic, A. B., Bending of beams resting on an isotropic elastic solid, Proc. ASCE,
87, EM2, I, 35 (April, 1961).
7. Barden, L. A., The Winkler foundation model, Struct. Eng., 41: 9 (Sept. 1963).
8. Francis, A. J., Analysis of pile groups with flexural resistance, Proc. ASCE, 90,
SM3, (May 1964).
10. Hoadley, P. J., Francis, A. J. and Stevens, L. K., Load testing of slender steel piles
in soft clays, Proc. Int. Conf. on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engng, Mexico
(1969).
11. Hoadley, P. J., Francis, A. J., Stevens, L. K. and Trollope, D. H., The buckling
of slender piles under complex loading, Proc. 3rd Conf. ARRB, Vol. 3, Pt 2,
(1966).
12. Davisson, M. T., Estimating buckling loads for piles, Proc. 2nd Pan Amer. Conf.
on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engng, Brazil (July 1963).
13. Irwin, J., M.Eng.Sc. Thesis, Melbourne Univ. (1969).
14. Phillips, J. T. and Hoadley, P. J., Failure testing of slender piles at Sydney airport,
Proc. 5th Aust.-N.Z. Conf. on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engng, Auckland
(1967).
15. Hoadley, P. J., Ph.D. Thesis, Melbourne Univ. (1969).

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