Hat-type Steel Sheet Piles for Improvement

of Construction Productivity in Singapore

Hat-type steel sheet piles (partially including NS-SP-J steel sheet piles for adjacent construction) were
adopted for construction on earth-retaining walls for the main rainwater pipeline of the Singapore Public
Utilities Boards (PUB) Outlet Drain Project in Singapore.
Hat-type steel sheet piles have predominantly been used for the marine and river works to date. They have
been adopted for overseas urban civil works consecutively due to the following advantages:

+Advantage 1: Rapid and stable installation

One Hat-type steel sheet pile has a width of 900mm, which is the worlds largest width for one hot-rolled
steel sheet pile as compared with conventional U-type and Z-type steel sheet piles. Hat-type steel sheet piles
can reduce the number of times of placement compared to that of U-type steel sheet piles and have a more
robust cross-sectional area than Z-type steel sheet piles which can shorten the construction period directly.
This brings about many advantages such as less deformation of the cross-sectional area when a pile is
positioned and high-accuracy installation. Moreover, Hat-type pile joints are left-right asymmetric and one-
directional. Therefore, the construction of high-quality structures can be realized by rapid and stable
installation even in a limited narrow space for an urban area.

+Advantage 2: No need to consider reduction factor for sectional properties during designing
Eurocode design criteria have been applied for steel sheet pile design in Singapore. In the case of the design
of steel sheet piles, it is necessary to consider the reduction factor of sectional properties due to the lack of
interlock integrity of the steel sheet pile caused by the interlock slips between steel sheet piles. The interlock
of Hat-type steel sheet piles does not slip because the interlock located on the outermost side of the wall is not
affected by the external force caused by soil pressure and water pressure. This enables streamlining of the wall
structure.

+Advantage 3: Various sizes available

Hat-type steel sheet piles come in four types of
cross-sectional shapes (NS-SP-10H, NS-SP-25N, NS-SP-45H,
and NS-SP-50H), allowing selection of the best and
most economical cross section with respect to the necessary
cross-sectional performance of an earth-retaining wall.

NSSMC will contribute to high-quality infrastructure

improvement, moving forward with application of its
products and solutions to the overseas construction markets
Pic.1 PUB Outlet Drain Project
such as in the Asia and Pacific region.
(Hat-type steel sheet pile)

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 Hat-type sheet piles and H-profiles were adopted for construction of Gardens by the Bay Station, Thomson-
East Coast Line, Project T228, and for the Singapore Land Transport Authority (LTA).
Hat + H steel sheet piles (hereinafter referred to as Hat + H) are highly efficient composite sections that
consist of hat-type sheet piles and H-profiles. They have already been adopted for several permanent structures
overseas, such as river embankments and quay wall structures. This is the first case of the method being
adopted in a temporary retaining wall structure for an MRT project overseas. In Singapore, H-beam as the
soldier pile and the U-type sheet pile wall are generally adopted for the temporary wall, but there are three
advantages to adopting Hat+H as shown below.

+Advantage 1: High Stiffness & Sectional efficiency

Hat+H can be treated as the composite section, or mono-section, by simply combining two members that
have prominent performance to enhance the stability of the wall and design optimization. Hat-type has a
slender section with a width of 900mm. H-types provide high rigidity to the section and make it possible to
reduce the weight of members by around 30 to 50 percent.

+Advantage 2: Ease of handling during construction phases

Hat+H can attain 900mm width in 1 pile installation. This means that the number of piles can be reduced in
prescribed wall elongation. While the conventional walls are installed with soldier piles and U-type sheet piles
separately, Hat+H are installed with pre-combined sections simultaneously. The assembling of Hat+H is easily
performed by simple filet welding exerted on site near the construction phase. As a result, rapid construction
can be realized.

+Advantage 3: High applicability for temporary wall

Hat+H can be installed smoothly because of its closely optimized sections for preventing the plug effect at
the tip portion of piles which leads to difficulties of installation. In addition, Hat+H can be extracted easily
after the main structure has been constructed especially in the case of soil improvement work executed because
the contact area between pile and soil is smaller than that of the conventional wall. NSSMC verified these
performances by a piling test implemented in Singapore.

The present success with this major Singapore MRT

project and our many other excellent technical proposals
and proven delivery capabilities will enable us to move
forward with efficient development and enhancement of
productivity of infrastructure not only in Singapore, but
also in other ASEAN countries

Pic.2 Thomson-East Coast Line Project (T228)

(Hat+H steel sheet pile)

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1. Outline of Hat-type steel sheet piles

1.1 Introduction
Almost eighty-five years have passed since Yawata Iron and Steel Works began domestic steel
sheet pile domestic production in 1931. During that period, U-shaped sheet pile was mainly used for
permanent construction walls such as river and port harbor constructions.
In 1997, the width of the steel sheet piles increased from 400mm to 600mm in order to satisfy the
social requirements in terms of reducing the construction cost. After that, by further reduction of the
construction cost, the demand increased for steel sheet piles in a variety of constructions other than
river and port harbor constructions.
In order to satisfy such demands, the development of new high-performance steel sheet pile
products with excellent construction workability, higher structural reliability and high economic
efficiency in place of traditional U-shaped steel sheet piles was required. Against such background,
we developed Hat-shaped steel sheet piles with an effective width of 900mm in 2005.

1.2 Technology and advantages of Hat-type steel sheet piles

The Hat-type steel sheet pile has a large section with an effective width of 900mm and has
interlocking joints located on the outer edge of the wall which are asymmetric to each other. The

13.2
profile and sectional properties of the Hat-type steel sheet piles are shown in Fig. 1 and Table 1,
10.8

respectively.

300
230

900 900

17
15
13.2
10.8

370
368
300
230

900 900 900 900

a)NS-SP-10H b)NS-SP-25H c)NS-SP-45H d)NS-SP-50H

17
15

Fig.1 Line-up of Hat steel sheet pile

370
368

Tab.1 Sectional properties of Hat steel sheet pile

900 900

Pic.3 Hat-type steel sheet pile

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1.3 Advantages of Hat-type steel sheet piles

Compared to conventional U-type steel sheet piles, Hat-type steel sheet piles have the following
advantages.

1) Superb drivability (Rapid construction)

The number of piles used can be reduced due to the 900mm width.

2) High structural reliability (Reduction factor = 1.0)

It is not necessary to consider the reduction in sectional properties and the possible lack of
shear force transmission at the interlocks can be omitted, whereas for U-type steel sheet piles
it is necessary to consider the reduction factor.

3) Excellent cost-effectiveness (Reduction of steel weight of walls)

The amount of steel per unit wall can be reduced, resulting in improved total cost.

2. Clarification of actual higher sectional performance of Hat- rather than U-type considering
joint slippage

2.1 Interlock integrity of steel sheet piles

When a wall using U-type steel sheet piles is subjected to bending due to soil pressure or other
horizontal load, a large bending shear force occurs in the interlocks of the sheet piles because these
interlocks are located at the center of the wall (neutral axis position). In this case, if the shear force
does not transmit sufficiently between the adjacent piles, the interlocks slip from each other, and the
moment of inertia and section modulus of the wall of the sheet piles are reduced (Fig. 2). The degree
of reduction is expressed by the reduction factor.

U-type Fig.2 Theoretical behavior due to interlock integrity

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 In contrast, for a wall using Hat-type steel sheet piles, the reduction of sectional properties is not
required because interlocks are located at the most outer edge of the wall, which means that the shear
force does not occur in the interlocks (Fig. 3). Reduction factors of sectional properties are determined
by the design code. An example of the Eurocode is shown below (Table 2).

Hat-type
Fig.3 Theoretical behavior due to interlock integrity
Table 2 Reduction factor described in Eurocode-3
Type of U-pile unit B D
Singles or Uncrimped doubles 0.40-0.80 0.30-0.55
Crimped or Welded doubles 0.70-1.00 0.60-0.90
Where,
B: Factor accounting for the possible reduction of the section modulus of U-type due to insufficient shear
force transmission in the interlocks
D: Factor accounting for the possible reduction of the moment of inertia of U-type due to insufficient share
force transmission in the interlocks

2.2 Verification of the sectional performance of Hat-type steel sheet piles through the bending
test

Research on structural hat-type steel sheet piles through the bending test was conducted at Nanyang
Technological University in Singapore, supervised by Prof. Chiew (2015) as shown in Pic.4.
Flexural rigidity in the elastic range was equivalent to the theoretical version, and the section
maintained elasticity by its calculated plastic load as shown in Fig.4. Therefore, the reduction factor
of Hat-type steel sheet piles is B=1.0, D=1.0.

Pic.4 Bending test for Hat-type steel sheet pile Fig.4 Load-displacement relationship

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 2.3 Full-scale horizontal loading test

The horizontal loading test was conducted to compare the interlock integrity between hat-type and
U-type sheet piles. The load-displacement relationship and the bending strain distribution in the cross
section were measured. In the case of U-type sheet piles, the neutral axis slides with the increase in
the load, because the interlocks slip from each other. Therefore, the sectional performance (moment
of inertia, section modulus) is reduced. In contrast, hat-type sheet piles maintain the neutral axis and
the interlock integrity, because the interlocks are located at the outer most edge of the wall. These
differences were verified in this test.
The set-up for the horizontal loading test is shown in Fig.5. Two parallel sheet pile walls were
installed. The relationship between the jack load and the horizontal displacement of the sheet pile is
shown in Fig.6. The stiffness gradient of Hat-type25H is as good as or higher than that of U-typeIV.
From this, the lack of stiffness caused by the interlock slippage is confirmed in the case of U-typeIV,
because the moment of inertia of U-typeIV in the full shear transfer condition is higher than that of
25H (I= U-typeIV: 38,600cm4/m, Hat-type25H: 24,400cm4/m) as shown in Table 3. The degree of
the lack of stiffness caused by the interlock slippage was analyzed.
The sectional strains at the G.L.-2.6m and -4.0m level are shown in Fig.7. The Hat-type25H wall
shows the sectional strain distribution as a single wall, and the neutral axis located around the center
of the wall. The U-typeIV wall has two neutral axes. Therefore, the interlock slippage occurred and
the two sheet piles in the wall height direction express resistance separately.

Tab.3 Sectional properties of sheet pile

Section Joint Width Unit Section Moment
Efficiency (mm) Weight Modulus of Inertia
2 3/
(kg/m ) (cm m) (cm4/m)
UtypeIV 1.0 400 190 2,270 38,600
0.6 1,360 23,200
Hat25H 1.0 900 126 1,610 24,400
Hat45H 1.0 900 163 2,450 45,000

Fig.5 Overview of the set-up for the horizontal loading test

Fig.6 Measured load-displacement relationship

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 The deformation condition after horizontal loading
is shown in Pic.5. In the case of U-typeIV,
interlock slippage occurred. In contrast, in the
case of Hat-type25H, interlock slippage did not
occur as hypothesized.
The reduction factor due to interlock slippage
of the U-type sheet pile should be considered.

Without slippage
Interlock slippage
occurred

Pic.5 Deformation condition after horizontal loading

a) U-type(-2.6m) b) Hat-type25H(-2.6m)

c) U-type(-4.0m) d) Hat-type25H(-4.0m)
Fig.7 Sectional bending strain distribution

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2.4 Evaluation of the reduction factor of steel sheet piles

The reduction factors D, B were estimated based on the sectional strain distribution. Once the
load exceeds 350kN, these values are converged. These results indicate a value of around 0.4 as
shown in Fig.8.
The reduction factors have a relatively wide range in the initial load phase. By increasing the load,
the reduction factors converged to a stable value. In this test, the reduction factor was converged
around 0.4. This value can be compared with the design value described in the Singapore National
Annex as shown in Table 4.

Hat-type, 1.0 Hat-type, 1.0

U-type Lower Limit

U-type

(a)Moment of inertia (b)Section Modules

Fig.8 Relationship between load and estimated reduction factor due to interlock slippage

Table 4 Reduction factors described in Singapore National Annex

Reduction factor B and D

Type of Number of
Highly unfavorable Unfavorable Favorable
U-pile unit Structural
conditions conditions conditions
support levels
B D B D B D
Singles or 0 0.40 0.30 0.50 0.35 0.60 0.40
Uncrimped 1 0.55 0.35 0.60 0.40 0.70 0.45
Doubles >1 0.65 0.45 0.70 0.50 0.80 0.55

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2.5 Excavation test

The excavation test was conducted to verify Hat-type steel sheet pile wall stiffness as compared
with U-type. At first a cofferdam was constructed by steel sheet piles (Hat-type and U-type). Next,
the inside of the cofferdam was excavated, and then the horizontal displacement of each sheet pile
was measured as shown in Fig.9 and Pic.6. As the result in Fig.10 shows, the horizontal displacement
of sheet pile could be reduced by adopting Hat-type25H as compared with U-typeIV.
Based on this test, we performed FEM analysis (code; PLAXIS) to estimate the lack of interlock
integrity of U-typeIV (Fig.11). When the excavated depth reached G.L.-5.8m, the displacement
simulated by PLAXIS was close to the field test data. The moment of inertia of U-typeIV was adjusted
around 0.4 times that of a single sheet pile, indicating that the reduction factor for the moment of
inertia was around 0.4 as shown in Fig.12.

Excavation

Pic.6 Excavation inside the cofferdam

Fig.9 Constructed cofferdam Hat25H Utype Hat25H Utype

Utype
Fig.11 Estimation of the reduction factor using FEM analysis

Hat25H

Fig.10 Relationship between excavated

depth and horizontal displacement of sheet pile

Fig.12 FEM analysis result

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 3. Confirmation of installation time (piling speed) and robustness for repetitive use

3.1 Repetitive piling test

Hat-type steel sheet piles have a large section with an effective width of 900mm, and the width of
the Hat-type is more than double that of the U-type. Therefore, the number of steel sheet piles required
for construction could be reduced as compared with the U-type as shown in Fig.13. Therefore, the
construction period could be dramatically shortened and the construction cost reduced by using Hat-
type steel sheet piles.
As a case study, under the condition that the construction elongation is 500m, and sheet pile length
is 12m, Hat-type25H and U-typeIV were compared as shown in Fig.14. As a result, the total
installation length of Hat-type25H could be reduced 8,333m as compared with the U-type.
The total wall weight could be reduced about 400MT, meaning that the Hat-type steel sheet pile
could reduce the weight by about 30-40% as compared with the U-type as shown in Fig.15.
Therefore, Hat-type steel sheet piles can contribute to the reduction of construction costs, and
development of the construction market.
Hat-type

pe(25H,45H)
900

U-type

(IV)
400

Fig.13 Comparison of number of sheet piles required for construction

60000
Moment of Inersia per 1m wall width(m3/m)

16000 1200 Hat shaped Sheet Pile

387MT 50H 30-40%
Reduce 50000
14000
Total wall weight (MT)

45H
Total Installation Length(m)

1000 reduce
12000 Interlock efficiency
40000
8,333m =1.0(Hat shaped) L
800
10000 Shorten
30000
8000 600 25H

6000 20000
400 Interlock efficiency
10H
4000 =0.6(U shaped)
10000
200
2000 U shaped Sheet Pile

0 0
0
1U Hat
2 1U 2Hat 80 120 160 200 240
SP 25H SP 25H Unit weight per 1m wall width (kg/m2)

Fig.14 Case study results Fig.15 Relationship between section performance

and unit weight

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 The repetitive (5 times) piling test by the hydraulic press-in method was conducted under a typical
geology in Singapore (Pic.7). This method drives a steel sheet pile into the ground foundation
statically by taking advantage of the resistant force from already driven steel sheet piles, which holds
the counterforce in hydraulic press-in driving. This method is appropriate for construction work in
urban areas where low vibration and low noise construction work are required or where construction
space is confined.
As a result, the installation time of the Hat-type was equal to or faster than the U-type as shown in
Fig.16. Therefore, the construction periods could be shortened when using the Hat-type steel sheet
piles as compared with the U-type sheet piles.

Pic.7 Hydraulic press-in method

Average: 10min Average: 16min

Average: 14min

SPT N-Value

Fig.16 Installation time of sheet pile

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 3.2 Vibratory hammer method

The Hat-type steel sheet piles with an effective width of 900mm enable installation using a
conventional vibratory-hammer, which is the same installation method as that used by the U-type
shown in Pic.8. The installation method can be selected according to the construction conditions with
regards to Hat-type steel sheet piles.

Pic.8 Conventional vibratory-hammer

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This field study was supervised by Prof. Chiew Sing Ping of Singapore Institute of Technology
(SIT), witnessed by engineers from the Building & Construction Authority (BCA), Land Transport
Authority (LTA), Public Utilities Board (PUB) of Singapore and other engineers and professionals
from the construction industry. We also received support and cooperation from M/s Antara Koh Pte.
Ltd., M/s Avenue Engineering Pte. Ltd., and M/s Kiso Jiban Consultant Pte. Ltd. in carrying out the
field tests. Our team would like to express our high appreciation for all support and cooperation
received.

REFERENCES
Teshima, K. et al. 2012. Application of High Stiffness Steel Sheet Pile for the Retaining Wall and
Quay Wall.: Seminar dan Pemeran HAKI2012.
Matsui, N. et al. 2015. High Stiffness Steel Sheet Pile for Temporary Retaining Works.: HATTI2015
Harata, N. et al. 2008. Development of Hat-type Sheet Pile 900.:Nippon Steel Technical Report,
No.97, pp11-18.
Eurocode 3. Design of steel structures Part 5, Piling.
Otsushi, K. et al. 2016. Line-up Expansion oh Hat-shaped Steel Sheet Pile (NS-SP-45H, 50H).:
Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Technical Report, No.113, pp.57-63.
Matsui, N. et al. 2015. Novel Compound Steel Sheet Pile for Earth Retaining Works.: The IES Journal
Part A: Civil & Structural Engineering.
Tatsuta, M. et al. 2016. Approach to Development of Overseas Construction Steel Product in the Civil
Engineering Field.: Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Technical Report, No.113, pp.133-140.

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