PILING ENGINEERING by W.G.K. Fleming, A.J.Weltman, M.F.Randolph & W.K. Elson Page no.

123 After the pile is installed, the excess pore pressures will dissipate, primarily by radial flow of pore water away from the pile, and the soil will consolidate. During this process; the water content of the soil will decrease, and its shear strength increase. Seed and Reese (1955) report a decrease in watear content of 7% close to a pile driven into San Francisco Bay mud. This was accompanied by a threefold increase in the remoulded strength of the soil (measured from samples taken from close to the pile). A similar figure for the decrease in water content adjacent to a displacement pile has been reported by Francescon (1982), from tests on model piles installed in soil of varying overconsolidation ratio. The axial capacity of a driven pile will vary with time after installation, because of this consolidation process. Seed and Reese report a sixfold increase in pile capacity, over a period of 30 days. Similar increases in capacity have been discussed by Vesic (1977) and by Thorburn and Rigden (1980). Analytical studies of the stress changes caused by pile installation, and of the consolidation process, have shown that the shear strength of the soil may increase by between 50 and 100% close to the pile, over a time period which is governed by the dimensionless ground cht/r20, where ch is the coefficient of consolidation in a horizontal plane, t is the time since installation of the pile, and r 0 is the radius of the pile (Randolph et al., 1979; Randolph and Wroth, 1979).

FOUNDATION ANALYSIS AND DESIGN by Joseph E. Bowles Page no.580 Piles in cohesive soils should be tested after some time lapse to allow the remolding effect to be essentially recovered. This time period should be on the order of 30 days.

FOUNDATION DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION by M.J. Tomlinson Page no.387 to 388 Piles driven, jacked, or screwed into the ground cause displacement of the soil. As a result, consolidation takes place and pore-water is squeezed out under the lateral pressures set up when the piles are forced into the ground. This porewater takes some time to dissipate. Consolidation of the soil is relatively slow and a heave of the ground surface is inevitable at the early stages after driving. As consolidation proceeds the excess pore-water pressure is dissipated into the surrounding soil or into the material of the pile and the heaved-up ground surface subsides. Soft clays and soft silts are sensitive to the effects of remoulding by pile driving (see.p.69); thus there is an immediate and considerable drop in shear strength of the soil around the pile, depending on the value of the sensitivity. However, the shear strength is generally restored with the passage of time, since loading tests at increasing intervals of time on piles driven into soft sensitive soils show that ultimately the skin friction is approximately equal to the undisturbed shear strength. The effect of time on the increase in skin friction in soft sensitive clays is shown in Fig.7.9 for steel, concrete, and timber piles driven into such soils at Gothenburg (Sweden), San Francisco and Drammen (Norway). There is little difference in the rate of increase in carrying capacity for the three different materials. Fig.7.9 shows that at least 75 per cent of the ultimate carrying capacity is achieved within 30 days of driving. This points to the need for delaying test loading of piles for atleast 30 days in cases where a relatively high proportion of their carrying capacity is gained from skin friction in soft sensitive silts and clays.

FOUNDATION DESIGN by Wayne C. Teng Page no.222 Driving piles in clay considerably effects the engineering properties of the clay. A clear understanding of this effect is essential. The pile driving operation disturbs the clay surrounding each pile. In an annular ring several inches thick around the pile surface, the clay loses a part of its strength due to the disturbance. (The disturbance beyond about one pile diameter is moderate). Immediately the disturbed clay begins to lose water due to the stresses set up by volume displacement. If the clay in this disturbed zone is very sensitive to disturbance, it may lose a large part of its strength and become unable even to support the soil above, hence, it begins to consolidate under its own weight. The strength is usually regained very rapidly as a result of water expulsion. In Fig.8-15 an example is given to illustrate the speed at which this particular soil regains its strength. In about 30 to 50 days, 90 percent or more of its original undisturbed strength is regained. Eventually the clay in the disturbed zone may become stronger than the virgin soil.

FOUNDATION ENGINEERING HANDBOOK by Hans F. Winterkorn and HsaiYang Fang Page no.563 to 565.

Clays are not only compressed but also disturbed due to pile driving. Taylor (1948) shows the consequences of this, by analyzing the changes in shear strength. A pile driven into a deep deposit of a soft, impervious, saturated clay causes horizontal displacements which are equal in all directions. Thus, the shaded element 1 of soil on the horizontal cross section in Fig. 19.19 is forced to the shape and position represented approximately by 1. Under the large shearing strain, there must be a considerable amount of disturbance to the soil structure. Thus the clay loses much strength at points adjacent to a pile and only a relatively small amount of skin friction exists during driving. Casagrande (1932) estimated that the remolded zone (zone 1 in Fig. 19.20) extends to a thickness of diameter of the pile and the zone in which the compressibility is considerably affected, to a distance of 1.5 diameters. The clay loses much strength at points adjacent to a pile. Figure 19.21 gives the changes in the shearing strength which are due to pile driving. Curve I represents this strength before the pile driven. Curve I represents this strength before the pile is driven. Immediately after driving curve II is valid: there is a substantial strength drop. A large hydrostatic excess pressure develops in the clay, which is due partly to the disturbance and partly to the high radial compression. The gradients resulting from these excess pressures start a process of consolidation. This process builds up skin friction at a fairly fast rate, as clearly evidenced by the fact that driving resistance considerably increased after a driving pause. Curve III represents the strength occurring a day or so after driving; curve IV gives a rough idea of strengths a few weeks after driving. Later, the soil may regain its total original strength; in some instances even higher values have been recorded (Fellenius, 1955; Bjerrum, Hansen, Sevaldson, 1957).