TYPES OF PILES

Classification of pile with respect to load transmission and functional

behavior

End bearing piles (point bearing piles)

Friction piles (cohesion piles )
Combination of friction and cohesion piles

End bearing piles

These piles transfer their load on to a firm stratum located at a considerable

depth below the base of the structure and they derive most of their carrying
capacity from the penetration resistance of the soil at the toe of the pile (see
figure 1). The pile behaves as an ordinary column and should be designed as
such. Even in weak soil a pile will not fail by buckling and this effect need
only be considered if part of the pile is unsupported, i.e. if it is in either air or
water. Load is transmitted to the soil through friction or cohesion. But
sometimes, the soil surrounding the pile may adhere to the surface of the
pile and causes "Negative Skin Friction" on the pile. This, sometimes have
considerable effect on the capacity of the pile. Negative skin friction is caused
by the drainage of the ground water and consolidation of the soil. The
founding depth of the pile is influenced by the results of the site investigate
on and soil test.

Friction or cohesion piles

Carrying capacity is derived mainly from the adhesion or friction of the soil in
contact with the shaft of the pile (see fig 2).
 Figure 2:Friction or cohesion pile
Figure 1:End bearing piles

Cohesion piles

These piles transmit most of their load to the soil through skin friction. This
process of driving such piles close to each other in groups greatly reduces
the porosity and compressibility of the soil within and around the groups.
Therefore piles of this category are sometimes called compaction piles.
During the process of driving the pile into the ground, the soil becomes
molded and, as a result loses some of its strength. Therefore the pile is not
able to transfer the exact amount of load which it is intended to immediately
after it has been driven. Usually, the soil regains some of its strength three
to five months after it has been driven.

Friction piles

These piles also transfer their load to the ground through skin friction. The
process of driving such piles does not compact the soil appreciably. These
types of pile foundations are commonly known as floating pile foundations.

Combination of friction piles and cohesion piles

An extension of the end bearing pile when the bearing stratum is not hard,
such as firm clay. The pile is driven far enough into the lower material to
develop adequate frictional resistance. A farther variation of the end bearing
pile is piles with enlarged bearing areas. This is achieved by forcing a bulb of
concrete into the soft stratum immediately above the firm layer to give an
enlarged base. A similar effect is produced with bored piles by forming a
large cone or bell at the bottom with a special reaming tool. Bored piles
which are provided with a bell have a high tensile strength and can be used
as tension piles (see fig.3)

Figure 3:under-reamed base enlargement to a bore-and-cast-in-situ pile

Classification of pile with respect to type of material

Piles are usually made of timber, concrete or steel. Timber can be used for
the manufacture of temporary piles and when the wood is available at an
economical price. Concrete is used for the manufacture of pre-cast concrete
piles, cast in place and pre-stressed concrete piles, while steel piles are used
for permanent or temporary works.

Timber
Concrete
Steel
Composite piles.

Timber piles

Used from earliest record time and still used for permanent works in regions
where timber is plentiful. Timber is most suitable for long cohesion piling and
piling beneath embankments. The timber should be in a good condition and
should not have been attacked by insects.
For timber piles of length less than 14 meters, the diameter of the tip should
be greater than 150 mm. If the length is greater than 18 meters a tip with a
diameter of 125 mm is acceptable. It is essential that the timber is driven in
the right direction and should not be driven into firm ground. As this can
easily damage the pile. Keeping the timber below the ground water level will
protect the timber against decay and putrefaction. To protect and strengthen
the tip of the pile, timber piles can be provided with toe cover. Pressure
creosoting is the usual method of protecting timber piles.

Advantages and disadvantages of Wood piles

+ The piles are easy to handle

+ Relatively inexpensive where timber is plentiful.

+ Sections can be joined together and excess length easily removed.

The piles will rot above the ground water level. Have a limited bearing
capacity.

Can easily be damaged during driving by stones and boulders.

The piles are difficult to splice and are attacked by marine borers in salt
water.

Concrete piles

Concrete piles can be divided to pre-cast and cast in place concrete piles:

Pre- cast concrete Piles or Pre fabricated concrete piles

it is formed and reinforced in a high-quality controlled concrete, Usually used

of square (see fig 1-4 b), triangle, circle or octagonal section, they are
produced in short length in one meter intervals between 3 and 13 meters.
They are pre-caste so that they can be easily connected together in order to
reach to the required length (fig 1-4 a). This will not decrease the design
load capacity. Reinforcement is necessary within the pile to help withstand
both handling and driving stresses. Pre stressed concrete piles are also used
and are becoming more popular than the ordinary pre cast as less
reinforcement is required.

Figure 4:a) concrete pile connecting detail. b) squared pre-cast concert pile

The Hercules type of pile joint (Figure 5) is easily and accurately cast into the
pile and is quickly and safely joined on site. They are made to accurate
dimensional tolerances from high grade steels.
 Figure 5:Hercules type of pile joint

Advantages and disadvantages of Pre- cast concrete Piles

+ Are easy to splice. Relatively inexpensive.

+ Stable in squeezing ground, for example, soft clays, silts and peats pile
material can be inspected before piling.

+ Can be driven in long lengths.

+ Can increase the relative density of a granular founding stratum.

Displacement, heave, and disturbance of the soil during driving.

Can be damaged during driving. Replacement piles may be required.

Cannot be driven with very large diameters or in condition of limited

headroom.

Cast in place Concrete piles

Cast in place concrete piles are the most type commonly used for
foundations due to the great diversity available for pouring concrete and the
introduction of the pile into the soil. Driving and drilling piles are two types of
cast in place concrete piles; however, the implementation of these piles in
place may be accompanied by some problems such as arching, squeezing
and segregation.
These piles are divided to:

Piles are poured in tubes with underneath heels and left when lifting the
tubes. some of those types:

Simplex pile: it is a tube of cast of diameter 40 cm, has an

underneath heel, it is banged underground by an automatic hammer
until reaching the arable land for the establishment, then concrete is
poured inside it and banged by another hammer. In the meantime,
the pipe is raised with a certain amount so as not to enter the soil
inside. This pile can bear about 40 50 ton.
Frankie pile: It is a number of tubes entering each other in order
to easily access to great depths within the earth. A heel of
reinforced concrete can be used and left in the ground to prevent
the entry of cold water pipes. This pile can carry a load of 50 80
ton.
Vibro pile: It is a steel pipe of diameter 40 cm, has a conical heel
with a separate flange, it is banged underground by an automatic
hammer until reaching the arable land for the establishment, then
the heel is removed and put into a tube, after that concrete is
poured. The tube is moved up and down (about 80 times per
minute) in order to compact concrete. This pile can bear about 60
ton.
Strong pile: this pile is largely similar to Simplex pile except that
the bottom heel is made from reinforced concrete covered with cast
heel. This pile can carry a load of 25 30 ton.
Under rimed pile: this pile is used at black clayey soil and lands of
non residual soil, so this soil is very dangerous to be established on
it.
Piles with open tubes without heel, then concrete are poured inside
the tube. The pipe has a diameter of 40 cm and an average concrete
well of 12 to 15 meters depending on the level of land to be
established. Some these piles:
Strauss pile: Which is very similar to the Simplex pile but without
a heel. Soil can be removed from the tubes by special devices and
 concrete is poured instead of soil. The maximum load that can be
carried by these piles is from 20 25 ton.
Kimbersol pile: A well is done of diameter about 80 cm, until
reaching the arable land for the establishment, then the bottom of
the well is compacted using a rounded hammer and filled with
concrete with a ratio of 1 : 5 (cement : sand). This pile can carry a
load of 80 120 ton.
Welfchaulzer pile: a pipe of diameter 30 40 cm is banged until
reaching the arable land for the establishment, and the inside soil is
removed, then steel bars are placed and the opened upper hole is
covered tightly Leaving holes to connect the compressed air so that
leachates can be expelled, then concrete is poured by a ratio 1 : 4.
Raymond pile: Consists of cylindrical chips inside each other with a
diameter of 40 60 cm at the top of the pile and 20 28 cm at the
bottom. It is banged inside by a Mandrill and the cylindrical chips
are leaved in the soil and filled with concrete.

Advantages and disadvantages of cast-in-place concrete piles

+ Can be inspected before casting can easily be cut or extended to the

desired length.

+ Relatively inexpensive.

+ The piles can be cast before excavation.

+ Pile lengths are readily adjustable.

+ An enlarged base can be formed which can increase the relative density of
a granular founding stratum leading to much higher end bearing capacity.

+ Reinforcement is not determined by the effects of handling or driving

stresses.

Heave of neighboring ground surface, which could lead to re consolidation

and the development of negative skin friction forces on piles..
 Tensile damage to unreinforced piles or piles consisting of green concrete,
where forces at the toe have been sufficient to resist upward movements.

Damage piles consisting of uncased or thinly cased green concrete due to

the lateral forces set up in the soil. Concrete may be weakened if artesian
flow pipes up shaft of piles when tube is withdrawn.

Light steel section or Pre-cast concrete shells may be damaged or

distorted by hard driving.

Cannot be driven where headroom is limited.

Time consuming; cannot be used immediately after the installation.

Limited length.

Bored and cast in -place (non -displacement piles)

+ Length can be readily varied to suit varying ground conditions.

+ Can be installed in very large diameters.

+ End enlargement up to two or three diameters are possible in clays.

+ Material of piles is not dependent on handling or driving conditions.

+ Can be installed in very long lengths.

Concrete is not placed under ideal conditions and cannot be subsequently

inspected.

Water under artesian pressure may pipe up pile shaft washing out cement.

Cannot be readily extended above ground level especially in river and

marine structures.
 Boring methods may loosen sandy or gravely soils requiring base grouting
to achieve economical base resistance.

Steel piles

Made of sectors in the form of H, X or of thick pipes (see fig. 6). They are
suitable for handling and driving in long lengths. Their relatively small cross-
sectional area combined with their high strength makes penetration easier in
firm soil. They can be easily cut off or joined by welding. If the pile is driven
into a soil with low pH value, then there is a risk of corrosion, but risk of
corrosion is not as great as one might think. Although tar coating or cathodic
protection can be employed in permanent works.

It is common to allow for an amount of corrosion in design by simply over

dimensioning the cross-sectional area of the steel pile. In this way the
corrosion process can be prolonged up to 50 years. Normally the speed of
corrosion is 0.2-0.5 mm/year and, in design, this value can be taken as
1mm/year

a) X- cross-section b) H cross-section c) steel pipe

Figure 6 Steel piles cross-sections

Advantages and disadvantages of Steel piles

+ The piles are easy to handle and can easily be cut to desire length.
+ Can be driven through dense layers. The lateral displacement of the soil
during driving is low (steel section H or I section piles) can be relatively
easily spliced or bolted.

+ Can be driven hard and in very long lengths.

+ Can carry heavy loads.

The piles will corrode,

Will deviate relatively easy during driving.

Are relatively expensive.

Composite piles

Combination of different materials in the same of pile. As indicated earlier,

part of a timber pile which is installed above ground water could be
vulnerable to insect attack and decay. To avoid this, concrete or steel pile is
used above the ground water level, whilst wood pile is installed under the
ground water level (see figure 7).
 Figure 7: Protecting timber piles from decay:
a) by pre-cast concrete upper section above water level.
b) by extending pile cap below water level

Classification of pile with respect to effect on the soil

A simplified division into driven or bored piles is often employed.

Driven piles

Driven piles are considered to be displacement piles. In the process of driving

the pile into the ground, soil is moved radially as the pile shaft enters the
ground. There may also be a component of movement of the soil in the
vertical direction.
 Figure 8: driven piles

Bored piles

Bored piles (Replacement piles) are generally considered to be non-

displacement piles a void is formed by boring or excavation before piles is
produced. Piles can be produced by casting concrete in the void. Some soils
such as stiff clays are particularly amenable to the formation of piles in this
way, since the bore hole walls do not requires temporary support except
cloth to the ground surface. In unstable ground, such as gravel the ground
requires temporary support from casing or bentonite slurry. Alternatively the
casing may be permanent, but driven into a hole which is bored as casing is
advanced. A different technique, which is still essentially non-displacement,
is to intrude, a grout or a concrete from an auger which is rotated into the
granular soil, and hence produced a grouted column of soil.

There are three non-displacement methods: bored cast- in place piles,

particularly pre-formed piles and grout or concrete intruded piles.

The following are replacement piles:

 Augered
Cable percussion drilling
Large-diameter under-reamed
Types incorporating pre caste concrete unite
Drilled-in tubes
Mini piles
 Types of Piles
Piles can by classified on the basis of following characteristics:

1. Mechanism of Load Transfer (Also See: Load Capacity of

Piles)
2. Method of Installation
3. Type of Materials

Classification of Piles on the basis of load transfer

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Types of piles based on the mechanism of Load Transfer:

End/Point Bearing Piles:

If a bedrock or rocklike material is present at a site within a reasonable

depth, piles can be extended to the rock surface. In this case, the ultimate
bearing capacity of the pile depends entirely on the underlying material; thus
the piles are called end or point bearing piles. In most of these cases the
necessary length of the pile can be fairly well established.
Instead of bedrock, if a fairly compact and hard
stratum of soil is encountered at a reasonable
depth, piles can be extended a few meters into
the hard stratum.

Friction Piles:

In these types of piles, the load on pile is

resisted mainly by skin/friction resistance along
the side of the pile (pile shaft). Pure friction
piles tend to be quite long, since the load-
carrying. Capacity is a function of the shaft
area in contact with the soil. In cohesion less
soils, such as sands of medium to low density,
friction piles are often used to increase the
density and thus the shear strength. When no layer of rock or rocklike material is present at a
reasonable depth at a site, point/end bearing piles become very long and uneconomical. For
this type of subsoil condition, piles ate driven through the softer material to specified depth.

Friction cum end bearing piles

In the majority of cases, however, the load-carrying capacity is dependent on both end-
bearing and shaft friction.

Classification of Piles according to the Method of Installation of piles

Driven or displacement piles
They are usually pre-formed
before being driven, jacked,
screwed or hammered into
ground. This category consists of
driven piles of steel or precast
concrete and piles formed by
driving tubes or shells which are
fitted with a driving shoe. The
tubes or shells which are filled with
concrete after driving. Also
included in this category are piles
formed by placing concrete as the
driven piles are withdrawn.

(Also See: Types of Soil

Settlement )

Bored or Replacement piles

They require a hole to be first

bored into which the pile is then formed usually of reinforced concrete. The shaft (bore) may be
eased or uncased depending upon type of soil.

Types of Piles based on Materials

Timber piles

Timber piles are made of-tree trunks driven with small end as a point
Maximum length: 35 m; optimum length: 9 - 20m
Max load for usual conditions: 450 kN; optimum load range = 80 - 240 kN

Disadvantages of using timber piles:

Difficult to splice, vulnerable to damage in hard driving, vulnerable to decay unless treated with
preservatives (If timber is below permanent Water table it will apparently last forever), if
subjected to alternate wetting & drying, the useful life will be short, partly embedded piles or
piles above Water table are susceptible to damage from wood borers and other insects unless
treated.

Advantages:

Comparatively low initial cost, permanently submerged piles are resistant to decay, easy to
handle, best suited for friction piles in granular material.

Steel piles

Maximum length practically unlimited, optimum length: 12-50m

Load for usual conditions = maximum allowable stress x cross-sectional area
 The members are usually rolled HP shapes/pipe piles. Wide flange beams & I beams
proportioned to withstand the hard driving stress to which the pile may be subjected. In
HP pile the flange thickness = web thickness, piles are either welded or seamless steel
pipes, which may be driven either open ended or closed end. Closed end piles are
usually filled with concrete after driving.
Open end piles may be filled but this is not often necessary., dm

Advantages of steel piles:

Easy to splice, high capacity, small displacement, able to penetrate through light obstructions,
best suited for end bearing on rock, reduce allowable capacity for corrosive locations or provide
corrosion protection.

Disadvantages:

Vulnerable to corrosion.
HP section may be damaged/deflected by major obstruction

Concrete Piles

Concrete piles may be precast, prestressed, cast in place, or of composite construction

Precast concrete piles may be made using ordinary reinforcement or they may be
prestressed.
Precast piles using ordinary reinforcement are designed to resist bending stresses
during picking up & transport to the site & bending moments from lateral loads and to
provide sufficient resistance to vertical loads and any tension forces developed during
driving.
Prestressed piles are formed by tensioning high strength steel prestress cables, and
casting the concrete about the cable. When the concrete hardens, the prestress cables
are cut, with the tension force in the cables now producing compressive stress in the
concrete pile. It is common to higher-strength concrete (35 to 55 MPa) in prestressed
piles because of the large initial compressive stresses from prestressing. Prestressing
the piles, tend to counteract any tension stresses during either handling or driving.
Max length: 10 - 15 m for precast, 20 - 30 m for prestressed
Optimum length 10 - 12 m for precast. 18 - 25m prestressed
Loads for usual conditions 900 for precast. 8500 kN for prestressed
Optimum load range: 350 - 3500 kN

Advantages:

1. High load capacities, corrosion resistance can be attained, hard driving possible
2. Cylinder piles in particular are suited for bending resistance.
3. Cast in place concrete piles are formed by drilling a hole in the ground & filling it with
concrete. The hole may be drilled or formed by driving a shell or casing into the ground.

Disadvantages:
 1. Concrete piles are considered permanent, however certain soils (usually organic)
contain materials that may form acids that can damage the concrete.
2. Salt water may also adversely react with the concrete unless special precautions are
taken when the mix proportions are designed. Additionally, concrete piles used for
marine structures may undergo abrasion from wave action and floating debris in the
water.
3. Difficult to handle unless prestressed, high initial cost, considerable displacement,
prestressed piles are difficult to splice.
4. Alternate freezing thawing can cause concrete damage in any exposed situation.

Composite piles

In general, a composite pile is made up of two or more sections of different materials or different
pile types. The upper portion could be eased cast-in-place concrete combined with a lower
portion of timber, steel H or concrete filled steel pipe pile. These piles have limited application
and arc employed under special conditions.