TG Piles
TG Piles
TG Piles
Expert
Series
TGPILES
Pile Group Analysis
and Pile Cap Design
2.1 Analysis
2.1.1 Analysis and load distribution 4
Chapter 6 ASSUMPTIONS 37
Many of the practicing engineers are aware of the fact that for standard pile cap
design, the tables in the Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute (CRSI) Handbook are
used assuming that one of the given pile arrangements would satisfy the user's
design criteria, and there is not any moment transfer from column into a pile cap.
Due to the importance of pile caps in the deep foundations for load distribution, an
exact analysis is required to determine the individual pile loads and the design of the
cap for the revised pile arrangement. TGPILES program gives the user this
flexibility by providing the following:
1. The actual pile configuration can be analyzed to get the loads on each pile
and determine if any of the piles are over-stressed. Also, the program will
print the exact location of the centroid of the pile group with respect to the
column location. This is very useful to determine the moments due to the
new eccentricity.
2. If some of the piles are found to be over stressed, one or more piles can be
added at any location to reduce the stress on the other piles.
3. Once the user has determined a pile configuration which satisfies the load
criteria for the piles, he can proceed to design the cap for this arrangement.
4. The program has many error checking sections which insures all the given
data is correct and satisfies the code requirement.
Pile groups are analyzed to compute the load distribution to each pile based
on its location, for the combination of axial load and bending moments (if
any).
In order to calculate the load in each pile, the following steps are taken:
2.1.1.1) Each pile carries an equal amount of the load for a concentric
axial load on the cap, or for n piles carrying a total load P, the
load Q per pile is:
Q = p/n
The pile locations and their relative distances are imperative as to the proper
functioning of and load distribution to the pile system through the cap. Following indicates
some of these requirements.
Shear criteria is the most critical part of the pile cap design. Unlike spread footings
where ACI guidelines simply provide for checking of one way (beam action) and two way
(punching) shears, pile caps create various conditions. These conditions are produced due
prescribed in the ACI code at section d/2 (Vc=4 ofc') about the column for the two way
to different pile configurations for each cap. The investigation for spread footing is
the one way shear criteria (Vc=2 ofc') (ACI 11.12). However, as the depth of the pile cap
shear and at a section "d" from the face of the column in either direction of the footing for
increases , the distance "d" falls outside one or more piles which makes the ACI approach
Inapplicable. To accommodate this deep beam criteria, other formulas must be utilized for
pile cap design.
The ACI prescribed formulas for this condition become inapplicable for the pile
caps as the depth increases and the distance of the closest pile to column face becomes
less than the "d" distance. This requires an Exact deep beam shear analysis. Following
formula as expressed in the Concrete Reinforcing Steel Manual satisfies this condition:
*Vc = 0.85(d/R)(1+d/c)(2*Fc')(b*d)
Where :
This condition similar to the two way shear criteria requires a special deep beam
investigation. ACI formulas for footings again become Inapplicable as the depth increases.
For this criteria one way shear must be investigated along both axes of the pile cap. There
are to conditions for this shear criteria.
For "d" less than the distance of the closest pile to the column face, the following formula
is utilized :
Where "d" falls outside any of the piles , the following formula is utilized :
Where:
TGPILES checks the shear along both axes of the pile cap for all applicable conditions as
it iterates and increases the depth.
2- ONE WAY SHEAR, AT “d” FROM FACE OF THE COLUMN IN THE SHORT
DIRECTION (ACI METHOD)
3- ONE WAY SHEAR, AT “d” FROM FACE OF COLUMN IN THE LONG DIRECTION (ACI
METHOD)
5- ONE WAY SHEAR, AT FACE OF COLUMN IN THE SHORT DIRECTION (DEEP BEAM
METHOD)
6- ONE WAY SHEAR, AT FACE OF COLUMN IN THE LONG DIRECTION (DEEP BEAM
METHOD)
individual entity to prevent punching shear. The punching shear allowable stress, Vc=4 ofc'
Along other conditions, the maximum load on each pile should be considered as an
C = ((d+Pd)
Vc= .75 * 4 ofc'*C*d
Where:
Pd = Pile Diameter
Corner Failure at 45 degree angles is another consideration near the edges of the
pile. This condition becomes more significant as the spacing between piles is increased.
The area to be considered for this condition extends a distance of d/2 past the single pile
at the corner area. The allowable shear is calculated as follows:
C = (E+Pd+d/2) * 4
Vc = .75* 4 ofc' * C * d
Where:
Pd = Pile Diameter
E = Edge distance
C = Circumference
L = o2(2E+Pd) + Pd
Vc = .75* 2 ofc' * L * d
Where:
Pd = Pile Diameter
E = Edge distance
Upon determination of the depth of pile cap, then the adequacy of the section for
flexure and required area of steel is determined by strength design method of ACI 318 for
the following load combinations:
U = 1.4DL
U = 1.2DL+ 1.6LL + 0.5Lr
U = 1.2DL+ 1.6Lr + 1.0LL
U = 1.2DL+ 1.6WL+ 1.0LL + 0.5Lr
U = 0.9DL + 1.6WL
Where:
DL = Dead Load
LL = Live Load
Lr = Roof Live Load
WL = Wind Load
Note: If a value is calculated for Roof Live Load, then Live Load should not include
the roof value.
From the above equations, the largest value will be used for calculation of ultimate
column load. Since the depth required is usually established by shear, the steel ratio is
usually near or controlled by the minimum ratios required by the ACI Code (ACI318- 10.5
and ACI318- 7.12).
The theoretical steel area based on stress and strain equilibrium is also calculated.
TGPILES calculates the required rebar area and selects the lightest bar size which satisfies
all the code requirements based on applied loads and minimum rebar areas.
System Of Units:
Select the type of units to be used. This will be used throughout the program and all values
provided by the user are assumed to be in the selected unit. (SI Metric or FPS English)
Number of Piles:
Provide Number of piles in the group. (Maximum 200 piles) This section should be left blank
if Generate option will be used.
Pile Coordinates
X and Y coordinate of the center of each pile relative to the column center line should be
provided. The column centroid is used as the point of origin in an orthogonal coordinate
system for the pile group. (x axis is always in the horizontal direction and y axis is
perpendicular to it). Do not provide any coordinates if Auto Generate option will be utilized.
Loading Information:
All loading shall be provided in working values for calculation of loading on the piles.
Axial Loads
Provide Dead, Live, Roof live load, and Wind working axial loads.
Bending Moments
Bending moments for Dead, Live and Wind loads may be entered for both the X and Y axis.
Working Capacity/Pile
Working load capacity per pile.
The user also has the option of generating the pile coordinates for symmetrical pile layouts.
To utilize this option, number of piles should not be specified as it is determined by the
generate screen based on the values provided. Click on the Generate button to go to the
generate screen. In this screen, the user should provide number of rows and columns of the
pile group along with the spacing between the center of the piles. The software does not
accept values below minimum requirements by the ACI code and will provide the minimum
requirement. Once all the values are provided click on “Generate Geometry” button and click
“Return” to go back to main screen. This will show the total number of piles and coordinates
for all the pile locations. Once all coordinates have been generated, the user may edit some
of the coordinates by going into the coordinate box of the Analysis screenand change the
desired pile locations.
3.1.2.1- File- Standard options such as “New”, “Open”, “Save”, “Save As” are provided.
Existing files may be opened from any directory and saved to any directory. “Examples” option
provide for examples provided with the program and are indicated in the program manual.
3.1.2.3)- View- This option provides for graphical verification of the pile locations and
coordinates. In this screen, “Options” button provides for addition of numbers and coordinates
for each pile.
The “Return” option maybe used to return to the Previous screen. This option is also
available at the “Design data screen”.
Once, pile group geometry has been verified, and pile group has been analyzed and number
of them adjusted to provide loading within allowable limits. Then, user may proceed to design
screen to design the pile cap.
3.1.2.5)- Help - This feature provides the full TGPILES manual available to the user.
Once the pile loads are satisfactory, the Pile Cap may be designed based on these loads. In
this phase, the program first determines the required depth for the pile cap due to the shear
force. This depth has to satisfy the ACI criteria for both axes as explained in the Design
Criteria Section. After the depth is established the program calculates the flexural reinforcing
steel. TGPILES designs the flexural steel bar size based on satisfying the ACI development
length for the pile cap size and minimum and maximum spacing requirements. In addition,
among all of the bars which meet the above criteria, the bar size with the most economical
weight is selected. In order to get to this screen the user should choose the design data tab
at top of the Analysis Screen.
Pile Diameter:
Pile diameter (in. or mm.)
“ View”- provides the Pile group geometry as was shown in the Analysis screen.
4.1.1) Pile Coordinates- This section provides the pile configuration information provided
by the user in the main screen.
4.1.4.1.1 - “Analysis Data” Returns the user back to the Main Input screen. This is
typically done, when changes are needed in the pile configurations due to overstress
conditions indicated in the results of this section.
4.1.4.1.2 - “ Design Data” Returns the user back to the Design Input screen. This is
typically done to proceed with design of the pile cap after the results in this screen are
satisfactory.
4.1.4.1.3- “Print” This options prints the complete Analysis Results in a device
specified by the user.
4.1.4.2.1)- “Analysis Result” - This option provides for the graphical illustration of the
piles which maybe Over-stressed or in Uplift conditions. This makes it easy to identify the
location of the pile in the group, specially in large pile groups, and make modifications to
eliminate the over stress condition.
4.1.4.2.2)- “ Design Result”- This option is only activated if the “perform Analysis and
Design” option is selected from the Design screen.
In this section there are seven tabs from which three indicate input information, three provide
various portions of the results, and one is the complete output result of the analysis and
design.
4.2.1) Pile coordinates- This is similar to the Analysis output tab explained earlier.
4.2.2) Loading Information- This is similar to the Analysis output tab explained earlier.
4.2.3) Pile Cap Parameters- In this section all the user provided information in the design
screen regarding column shape, dimensions, concrete strength, steel yield strength, steel
cover at the bottom, edge distance, and pile diameter are printed for future references. At this
stage, the ultimate column load based on ACI load combinations present is also printed.
4.2.8.1.1 - “Analysis Data” Returns the user back to the Main Input screen. This is
typically done, when changes are needed in the pile configurations due to overstress
conditions indicated in the results of this section.
4.2.8.1.2 - “ Design Data” Returns the user back to the Design Input screen. This is
typically done to make revisions to the design data based on the design results.
4.2.8.1.3- “Print” This options prints the complete Analysis and Design Results in a
device specified by the user.
In this section Graphical results for Analysis and design are displayed.
TGPILES has many error tracking sections in order to verify that the input conforms with ACI
guidelines. The following conditions are also checked.
TGPILES also provides for many code checks during its design process to assure conformity
with the ACI code. The following is a brief description:
The program provides messages if any of the above exists. In some cases, the user is
warned with the condition and program proceeds, however, if violation of any code sections
exists, the program provides the message for user and stops the calculations. These
messages are printed in the output sections of the software.
i. All the given loads (axial and moments) are unfactored (working) loads.
ii. Maximum load combinations are used to calculate the shear force and also
the ultimate moments.
iv. Weight of the pile cap is not included in the pile loads during the preliminary
analysis. However, the pile cap weight is included in the loads on the piles
during the design portion of the program.
v. If wind forces exist, the user may compare the axial pile loads to 1.33
times the allowable pile capacities.
vi. Flexural steel cover should include the depth of embedment of the piles in
the cap.
ix. The analysis is based solely on structural loads and cap configuration. It
does not account for soil effects including: soil conditions, group
interaction, water pressure, or earth pressure.
EXAMPLE PROBLEMS
fc' = 4 ksi
fy = 60 ksi
SOLUTION:
From TGPILES output use the total depth of 33"(d=23"). We will verify that this depth does
satisfy all shear criteria. Please note that minor differences between hand calculation
and TGPILES results are due to use of rounded number for depth in hand calculations.
Due to the symmetry of the pile configuration, only the X direction will be investigated.
d = 23" and Wx = 12" (Wx is the distance from the closest pile to column face in the
direction of investigation)
d/2 = 11.5" < Wx , So ACI method can be utilized (See section B-2.1):
We must first establish the applicable method to be used for this criteria:
Wx = 12" and d = 23" , Since Wx < d, ACI method is not applicable and the shear must
be investigated at the face of the column (deep beam method) :
C= B (23+8) = 97.34
Vc = (.75)(4/3000)(97.34)(23)/1000
Vc = 367.87 Kips
(TGPILES prints Vc= 348.96)
C = (15+8+11.5)(4) = 138
Vc = (.75)(4/3000)(138)(23)/1000
Vc = 521.54 Kips
(TGPILES prints Vc= 500.90)
Vu = (80)(1.4) = 112 Kips
(TGPILES prints Vu= 112.16)
L = (/2)((2x15)+8)+8 = 61.74
Vc = (.75)(2/3000)(61.74)(23)
Vc = 116.67 Kips
(TGPILES prints Vc= 113.18)
So, the controlling criteria in this pile arrangement was corner pile one way shear.
First Calculate the rebar required along X-axis based on the calculated depth. Since the
pile layout is symmetrical, this applies to both directions:
Calculate the moment at the column face about Y axis, using the maximum working
load capacity per pile:
K = (2688.X1000.)/(0.90X66X23X23) = 117.27
C = (2)(23.53)(85.54)/60000. = 0.0671
1) Theoretical value
As1 = (.0015)(66)(23) = 2.277 sq. in.
2) Minimum rebar area
As2 = (200/60000)(66)(23) = 5.06 sq. in.
3) Temperature rebar area
As3 = (.0018)(66)(33) = 3.92 sq. in.
Since the minimum area is greater than the theoretical area, calculate 1.33 times the
theoretical area (ACI code 10.5.2) :
As4 = 2.277X1.33 = 3.01 sq. in. (USE THIS VALUE)
As4 is less than As3, so, use As3 for the required flexural area.
As (required) = 3.92
(TGPILES prints required steel area = 3.83 )
#6 15.42" 24"
#7 21.03" 24"
#8 27.69" 24"
So, we must choose between #6 and #7 bars, as any bar larger than #7 exceeds the
available length.