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Displacement-pile behaviour in a soft marine

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Article in Canadian Geotechnical Journal · January 2011

DOI: 10.1139/t94-024

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Displacement-pile behaviour in a soft marine clay h

B.M. LEHANE' AND R.J. JARDINE

Imperial College, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2BU, England
Received January 22, 1993
Accepted November 4, 1993

The paper presents the results of field experiments performed using the Imperial College instrumented displace-
ment pile in a soft, sensitive marine clay at Bothkennar, Scotland. These results are compared with data from sim-
ilar programmes of experiments performed in other clay types with this pile so that some of the major factors con-
Can. Geotech. J. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by University of Western Australia on 12/05/13

trolling displacement-pile performance may be identified.

Key words: displacement pile, instrumentation, sensitive clay, effective stress design.

Cet article prCsente les rtsultats dlexpCriences rkalisCes en nature dans une argile marine molle sensible au
remaniement, B Bothkennar, Ecosse, avec le pieu B dkplacement instrument6 de 1'Imperial College. Ces rksultats sont
comparCs avec les donnkes de programmes semblables d'expkriences realiskes avec ce pieu dans d'autres types
d'argile de sorte que certains des facteurs majeurs contrblant la performance en dkplacement du pieu peuvent &tre
identifiks.
Mots cle's : pieu de dkplacement, instrumentation, argile sensible, calcul en contraintes effectives.
[Traduit par la rkdaction]
Can. Geotech. 1. 31, 181-191 (1994)

Introduction
This paper presents the results from a programme of
Imperial College (IC) instrumented pile tests performed in a
For personal use only.

soft clay deposit at Bothkennar, Scotland. Radial effective

stresses and shear stresses were monitored at a number of
locations along the pile shafts during installation, equalization,
and load testing. The testing programme was designed to
investigate factors affecting pile performance such as pile
length, equalization period, loading direction, and drainage
conditions during loading.
The Bothkennar results are compared in the final part of
the paper with those found in a parallel series of experi-
ments performed in a glacial clay site at Cowden, north-
east England (Lehane and Jardine 1994), and in an earlier IC
test series in London clay (Bond and Jardine 1991).

Site conditions and test procedures

Site and soil description
The UK Science and Engineering Research Council have
set up a soft clay test bed site at Bothkennar, Scotland, on the
southern bank of the Forth estuary (see Fig. 1). The ground
conditions have been investigated thoroughly using state of
the art sampling, laboratory testing, and in situ test tech-
niques. Details of these investigations a r e reported by
Hawkins et al. (1989), Hight et al. (1992), Smith e t al.
(1992), and others.
The Bothkennar clay was deposited in an estuarine or
shallow-marine environment. The soil, within the depths
penetrated by the instrumented piles (1-6 m), comprises a soft
black silty mottled clay with some local silt laminae; this
is overlain by a 1 m thick weathered firm crust. Plasticity
indices (PI) increase from -25% at 1.5 m to -50% between
4 and 6 m. Paul et al. (1992) have shown that these indices
are enhanced by the moderate proportion (-3%) of organic
residues bound to the clay minerals and that the PI reduces
to between 20 and 25% when the residues are extracted.
'present address: University of Dublin, Trinity College, Dublin
2, Ireland.
Printcd in Canada / Imprime nu Canada
FIG. 1. Site location.
The clay fraction increases from -15% at 2 m to -40% at
6 m and consists of rock flour, kaolinites, and illites; quartz
i s t h e principal mineral in t h e silt fraction (50-75%).
Postdepositional chemical alterations have led to some local
haematite bonding between silt particles (Paul et al. 1992).
The soil has a typical vane sensitivity of 5 and a liquidity
index between 0.5 and 0.9.
T h e profiles o b t a i n e d in p i e z o c o n e tests a n d q u i c k
undrained triaxial compression tests are shown in Fig. 2.
Below 2 m, both the piezocone end resistance (9,) and pore
pressure (u,) increase slowly with depth in a way similar
to that of the undrained shear strength (c,) profiles. The
peak values of c, vary with the sample type; 200 mm diam-
eter Lava1 samples (La Rochelle et al. 1981) gave strengths
typically 40% greater than those of 100 mm diameter piston
samples; Sherbrooke "block" samples (Lefebvre and Poulin
 CAN. GEOTECH. J. VOL. 31, 1994 > \

Cu (kPa1,UU tests
10 20 30
111

rPeak,lOOmm
piston samples

laval
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FIG.2. Bothkennar geotechnical profile.

TABLE1. Primary load tests at Bothkennar

te, L Test Tavp d, Base pressure

Pile (days) (m) condition Drainage (kPa) ci (mm) q, (MPa)
BKlT 0.8 6.0 Tension Undrained 15.3 0.90 12.0 ; -
BK2C 4.2 6.0 Compression Undrained 16.7 0.98 3.8 0.35 at 6 mm
BK3C/l 0.1 3.2 Compression Undrained 9.2 0.61 2.0 0.27 at 10 mm
BK3C/2 3.9 6.0 Compression Drained 17.4 1.02 5.0 0.51 at 13 mm
For personal use only.

BK4C 4.2 3.2 Compression Undrained 17.8 1.19 3.7 " 0.25 at 6 mm
NOTES: L, pile embedment; r,,,, equalization time prior to testing; d,, displacement at peak shaft capacity; a,adhe-
sion factor based on c, values from unconsolidated, undrained tests on 100 mm diameter piston samples.

1979) gave even higher strengths than Lava1 samples. This
dependence on sample quality is typical of lightly over-
consolidated clays.
The apparent overconsolidation ratio (OCR) (or vertical
yield stress ratio, YSR) at Bothkennar was estimated from
oedometer tests, which followed the standard, 24 h, incre-
mental load procedure (Fig. 2). These showed that the OCR
reduces from -1.9 at 2 m to -1.5 at 6 m. In situ horizontal
stress (KO) measurements using the self-boring pressure-
meter and standard relationships between OCR and KOsug-
gested that KOreduces from -0.65 at 2 m to -0.5 at 6 m.
Comprehensive research into the stress-strain, yielding, and
strength properties of Bothkennar clay was reported by
Smith et al. (1992), Hight et al. (1992), and others. We note
here that triaxial compression tests on the clay indicated
large strain friction angles (+Lv) of between 35 and 38".
Such high angles are thought to be primarily due to the pro-
portions of rock flour and colloidal organic material found
in the soil's clay fraction.
Behaviour in interjace shear
Soil-soil and soil-steel interface ring shear tests have
particular relevance to the behaviour of displacement piles.
L e h a n e and Jardine (1992) describe experiments on
Bothkennar clay which used interfaces of the same material
and roughness as those of the instrumented piles. The tests
also attempted to model the shearing history of soil elements
adjacent to the shaft during installation and load testing.
All samples were first subjected to fast preshearing (at
500 mmlmin) before being tested in slow (drained) shear.
The peak drained resistances corresponded to friction angles
of 3 2 & 2" i n both soil o n soil and soil to steel shear.
Postpeak reductions in friction angles were observed in
about one third of all tests, whereas little or no loss of
strength was recorded in the remainder. This unstable
response led to ultimate residual angles that ranged from
25 to 32".
Experiments in which rates of shearing were varied showed
peak resistances increasing by -6% per log cycle f o r
velocities up to -100 mmlmin. Above this limit, the rate
effects were negative, giving a 50% reduction in shear resis-
tance for a fivefold increase in velocity. This response con-
trasts sharply with that seen in equivalent tests on Cowden
till (Lehane and Jardine 1994).
Pile testing programme
The pile instrumentation and site procedures employed
at Bothkennar were generally the same as those described by
Lehane and Jardine (1994) for the earlier tests at Cowden.
The testing programme is summarized in Table 1, and the pile
configurations are shown in Fig. 3.
Four instrumented 102 mm diameter cone-ended steel,
tubular piles were jacked at a typical rate of 500 mmlmin
from the base of a 1 m deep cased hole to final depths of
either 3.2 or 6 m. The piles were load tested after allowing
an equalization period (t,,) of -4 days, with two exceptions:
( i ) Pile BK3 was installed first to 3.2 m and load tested
after just 2 h (BK3Cl1) to assess the short-term capacity.
The pile was then jacked on to a final penetration of 6 m and
retested after a period of 4 days (BK3Cl2). (ii) Pile B K l T
experienced a minor leak and was load tested after a short-
ened equalization period of 20 h.
All piles, except BK3Cl2, were load tested to failure by
applying 12 load increments over a period of about 1 h.
 LEHANE AND JARDINE
BK1T
Piles BKx BK3CI1
BK3C12 BKLC
Top load cell 8
displacement transducers
1
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Steel tubular piles
R = 50.8mm
Leading
I Efl Lagging I - 1 - [ 77
FIG.3. Pile configurations.
For personal use only.
Avemge shaft shear stress Tav ( k k )
FIG.4.Average shaft shear stresses during installation. Numbers
denote pause period (min) before each jacking stage.
The excess pore pressures generated by loading did not
decrease appreciably between application of the increments,
indicating that the conditions at the pile shaft were essentially
undrained. After attaining peak capacity, attempts were made
to maintain the maximum load by pumping the loading ram
continuously; this led to a maximum penetration rate of
-5 mrnlmin. For the special case of pile BK3Cl2, loading was
slowed down to ensure that all excess pore pressures dis-
sipated between load increments; the maximum pile pene-
tration rate measured in this test was 0.02 mmlmin.
The instruments, which included radial-stress, shear-stress,
pore-pressure, and axial-load sensors, were monitored con-
tinuously during all stages of the experiments. Except for
- r)-
Pressuremeter limit
pressure(PI )
1
FIG.5. Installation radial total stresses.
s o m e d a m a g e caused by the leakage in pile B K l T , all
remained completely stable throughout the field programme.
Note that in the following instruments are referred to by
their distance from the pile tip (h) normalized by the pile
radius (R) (see Fig. 3).
Field data from Bothkennar
The results of the field experiments are separated below
into those obtained (i) during pile jacking, (ii) after instal-
lation, as the stresses surrounding the pile equalized with
the new boundary conditions and (iii) during loading to
failure.
Pile installation
The piles were jacked into the ground at 500 mmlmin in
a series of 200 mm pushes that were separated by pause
periods. A period of about 3 min was generally required to
reset the jacks, but longer pauses of up to 3 0 min were
required on occasions when extra sections of pile were
added.
Shaft resistance
The variations with penetration depth of the average shaft
shear stress (T,,) recorded during a typical pile installation
are shown in Fig. 4. The resistance is seen to reduce from a
maximum at the start of a pile push to a minimum at the
end of the stroke. This trend was also observed during fast
shearing tests in the ring shear apparatus (Lehane and Jardine
1992). Although each peak value varied with the length of
the preceding pause period, the minimum resistances, in all
cases, tended towards a consistent lower bound envelope
of -5 kPa. It appears that T,, would remain on this enve-
lope if the piles were pushed continuously (i.e., with no
pause in jacking) to their final penetration depth. Such a
 184 C A N . GEOTECH. J. VOL. 31, 1994 > \

Pore pressure (kPa1 Pore pressure ( k P d

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Time ( m i d

FIG.6. Installation pore pressures.

condition of steady penetration is assumed in strain path

analyses of the installation process (Baligh 1985).
Further tests at Bothkennar (see Lehane 1992) indicated
that shaft resistances were relatively insensitive to the pile Time (min)
displacement rate at velocities up to 500 mmlmin: the neg-
ative rate effect seen in ring shear tests was not evident in the
field.
Radial total stress
Envelopes to the radial total stresses (ori) recorded for
all four pile installations are shown in Fig. 5. Values of ori
For personal use only.

are seen to lie between the initial undisturbed horizontal

stress (uhO)and the limit pressure measured in self-boring
pressuremeter tests (p,). The pressures recorded by instru-
ments at eight radii from the pile tip (i.e., at hlR = 8) were
typically - 0 . 8 ~but
~ reduced, within a given soil horizon,
~ the pile tip penetrated farther to hlR = 28.
to - 0 . 6 ~when
The tendency for uri (as measured at fixed depths) to reduce
with hlR stabilized when hlR exceeded 28. Comparable
reductions of stresses with hlR were shown by the local
shear stress measurements (7,).
Pore pressure
The installation pore pressures are summarized in Fig. 6.
It is significant that pressures recorded while the piles were
moving (u,) were always less than the stationary values
(us) measured during the installation pause periods. The
same phenomenon has been observed in other instrumented
pile tests (e.g., see Coop and Wroth 1989 or Lehane and
Jardine 1994) but occurs only at fast rates of displacement
and when pore-pressure sensors are located within material
that has been presheared in a previous jacking stage (Lehane
1992).
As with the orimeasurements, pore pressures (u,,, and us)
increased with depth and reduced with hlR. At fixed depths,
us values measured at hlR = 3 0 were only about 70% of
those recorded at hlR = 5 and approximately 35% of pore
pressures measured by piezocones with elements located at
hlR = 1.
Radial effective stress (cr;)
Whereas similar radial total stresses were measured in
the moving and stationary conditions, the discrepancies
between 11, and us led to relatively large differences between
the radial effective stresses c: computed during jacking and
in pause periods. Radial effective stress u i appeared to fall
rapidly during the first minute after jacking (as pore pressures
rose), reaching values that were close to (but greater than)
O1
c
10 100 1000 10000
Time (min)
FIG.7. Equalization measurements.
zero and well b e l ~ wthe initial undisturbed horizontal effec-
tive stress (o;,).
Interface friction angles (6)
Interface friction angles (6) mobilized during jacking may
be calculated as
This equation leads to 6 angles (12-18") that are consider-
ably less than the ultimate residual angles (S,,,) measured
during slow shear in pile-load and ring-shear tests. The
anomaly is thought to be due to differences, at high pile
velocities, between pore pressures acting on the pile shaft sen-
sors (u,) and those acting on the principal displacement
shear surface, which probably lies a short radial distance
from the shaft. The pore pressures acting on this surface
were assessed to lie between the recorded values of u, and
us; this assessment was based on the evaluation of pore
pressures from [ I ] , assuming the slow shear 6 value (S,,,)
and the local measurements of oriand T,,.
Equalization
Radial total stress
The changes in radial total stress (or) which took place
during equalization are summarized in Fig. 7. Here the data
 LEHANE A N D JARDINE
from all instrument levels are expressed using the nondi-
mensional ratio
where ariis the measurement made at the end of installa-
tion, and u, is the hydrostatic (ambient) water pressure.
A consistent pattern is seen: HIH, remained constant for the
first few minutes, but then reduced steadily, reaching an
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ultimate value of less than 0.5. If the material adjacent to the
pile was elastic (and isotropic) throughout the equalization
process, no such reduction would occur (Sills 1975). The
observed behaviour reflects the interaction of a yielding
zone close to the pile with the surrounding zone of (unyield-
ing) high stiffness clay.
Pore pressure
As witnessed during installation pause periods, pore pres-
sures rose rapidly to reach maxima (urnax)approximately
1 min after the end of installation. The subsequent varia-
tion of pore pressures (u) is shown in Fig. 7 in terms of the
pore-pressure dissipation factor U,, where
The typical times for 50 and 85% excess pressure dissipation
For personal use only.
are 12 h and 4 days, respectively. A clear trend was found
within the data spread for pressures to dissipate more rapidly
near the pile tip (due to the more three-dimensional drainage
conditions). Dissipation at hlR = 5 3 was consistently twice
as slow as that at hlR = 5, and about seven times slower
than rates inferred from piezocone dissipation measurements
in which the sensor was located at hlR = 1.
Dissipation curves obtained for the same hlR ratio, but
at different soil depths, were closely comparable, showing that
local variations in soil parameters were not important. Two-
dimensional uncoupled consolidation analyses of the dissi-
pation process indicated a mean radial coefficient of con-
solidation (c,) of -1 mm2/s.
Radial effective stress (a:)
The variations of a: during equalization are summarized
in Fig. 7 by normalising the a: values recorded at each
instrument position by their respective final equilibrium
value (a:,). After about 2 min, a: values increased rapidly
with time, reaching 85% of fully equalized values after
1000 min; near equilibrium was attained after 4 days. The
rate of a: equalization exceeded that for pore-pressure decay
because pore-pressure and radial-stress changes were prac-
tically equal during the latter stages of dissipation. The final
a:, values were between three and five times the minima
measured shortly after installation.
Summary profiles of a:, for the two pile lengths inves-
tigated are shown in Fig. 8. In both cases, a:, increases
with depth and falls between 0.8 and 1.4 times the free field
vertical effective stress (a:,). However, the magnitudes of
stresses acting on the shorter pile are about 50% greater
than those developed at the same depths by the longer piles,
proving that, as for the records, a:, reduces as the rela-
tive depth of the pile tip (hlR) increases. This feature has
been observed in all soils tested with the IC instrumented pile
(e.g., see Lehane and Jardine 1994).
185
FIG.8. Equalized radial effective stress profiles.
Load testing
Overall pile response
The overall pile response obseryed in first-time load tests
at Bothkennar is summarized in Ta6le 1 and described below.
(1) Excluding the short-term test (BK3C/1), the peak aver-
age shaft resistances (T,,,) fall within 10% of the mean
value of 16.8 kPa. a values (=T,,~C,) depend on the c, value
selected for their computation. For example, an average a of
-0.7 is calculated using the peak triaxial compression
undrained strengths of (high quality) 200 mm diameter Laval
samples, whereas a value of -1.0 is obtained if c, is taken as
the equivalent strength shown by (conventional) 100 mm
diameter Laval samples.
(2) The length of the equalization period has little effect
on capacity after 1 day has elapsed. It has, however, a crit-
ical influence over the first few hours, when capacities
increase to about three times those measured during com-
pletion of installation (see Fig. 4).
(3) The shaft load displacement curves showed nonlinear
characteristics from the earliest stages of loading. All com-
pression piles followed similar curves until they had mobi-
lized -85% of their peak capacity. However, the tension
pile (BKlT) exhibited only half the stiffness of the com-
pression piles.
(4) The ultimate base capacities (q,) measured in load
tests were comparable to the base resistances recorded dur-
ing the final stages of installation. However, the base loads
were -15% short of their ultimate values when the peak
overall capacity was attained. Both the short- and long-term
values of q, were similar to the cone resistances (q,) mea-
sured at similar depths in piezocone tests.
Loading effective stress paths
The variations of local stresses during the load tests are
described most concisely by plotting T,, against a: at each
instrument position. These "stress paths" are shown in Fig. 9
and indicate that, as at Cowden (see Lehane and Jardine
1994), the peak local shear stress (7,) can be described by the
simple Coulomb equation T, = a:, tan a,, or alternatively as
[4] T, = f, a:, tan 6,
where a:, is the preloading radial effective stress; a:, and
6, are the radial effective stress and obliquity at local shaft
 186 C A N . GEOTECH. J.
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For personal use only.
FIG.9. T,, VS.u: variations during load tests.
failure, respectively; and f L is the load test coefficient
(= u:~/u:,).
In all cases, radial effective stresses reduce during pile
loading, giving f, values of -0.85 when peak local shear
stresses are developed. The peak obliquities (6,) lie within
the narrow range of 25-30", and have a mean value of 28.5".
These relatively constant values of 6, and fL suggest that
both parameters are insensitive to the rate and direction of
loading and to the length of the equalization period: differ-
ences in capacity are associated primarily with variations
in the preloading radial effective stresses. The shaft shear
stresses derived from the axial load distributions (f,) were in
excellent agreement with the direct measurements made by
the shear-stress sensors (T,,) showing that, unlike the glacial
till at Cowden (see Lehane and Jardine 1994), 6, values
were insensitive to minor variations in the surface properties
of the pile.
The postpeak data from standard "undrained" pile tests
are not shown in Fig. 9. In these tests, the piles accelerated
from -0.2 mm/min to -5 mm/min as attempts were made
to maintain the maximum applied load after the shaft had
failed. Anomalously low postpeak pore pressures were
recorded (as during installation) which led to apparent ulti-
mate obliquities of only -15". However, these low pore
pressures (and 6 values) disappeared when the displacement
rate was reduced to below -1 mmlmin. Furthermore, when
a pile was reloaded, the 6, value recovered to match that
seen in the first test, proving that no permanent change in soil
fabric had taken place adjacent to the pile. A similar phe-
nomenon was observed in the IC pile tests at Cowden
(Lehane and Jardine 1994).
The slow (drained) pile test (BK3Cl2) was performed to
VOL. 3 1, 1994 ,I
FIG. 10. Comparison of DSS and pile test data.
investigate the postpeak behaviour more fully. The com-
plete, pre- and post-peak, stress paths are given in Fig. 9
(up to a postpeak displacement of 8 mm). Note that the pre-
failure portions resemble closely those of the undrained pile
tests: reductions in radial total stress (a,) occurred in the
drained experiment which compensated almost exactly for the
pore-pressure increases seen under undrained conditions,
when a, remained virtually const3nt. It may be surmised
from this that the soil adjacent to'the pile is sheared under
nearly constant volume condit.ions in both drained and
undrained tests. Postpeak, the drained test showed only a
slight reduction in 6 and little variation in a:.
Comparison of load test dnta with laboratory tests
The kinematic boundary constraints associated with an
incompressible pile undergoing undrained loading impose
a constant-volume, simple shear mode of deformation on
the soil elements close to the shaft. With this in mind, and
through numerical analyses of the complex consolidation
stress histories experienced by these elements, Azzouz et al.
(1990) proposed that undrained (constant volume) direct
simple shear (DSS) tests performed on samples KO consol-
idated at OCR ~ 1 . should
2 provide a reasonable model for
pile loading in all lightly overconsolidated clays.
Figure 10 shows the typical normalized constant-volume
DSS stress paths for Bothkennar clay at OCRs of 1 and 1.2.
The mean trend stress path established for the drained and
undrained pile tests is plotted in the same diagram. It i s
apparent that ( i ) the pile tests show smaller reductions in
a: up to peak than would DSS tests on soil at OCR S 1.2;
(ii) the peak obliquity (710:) coincides with the peak shear
stress in the pile tests (this is not true in DSS tests); and
(iii) the dramatic postpeak reductions in shear and normal
effective stresses seen in DSS tests were not evident in the
pile experiments.
It thus seems that, although pile loading involves a sim-
ple shear mode of deformation up to peak shear stress, DSS
tests on KO consolidated samples (at OCR I 1.2) overestimate
the changes in a: and underestimate 6. There appears to be
a departure from continuum behaviour when peak local
shear stresses are mobilized. Under these conditions, ring
shear interface tests yield 6 values (30 rt 2") that agree well
with the typical peak angle recorded in all pile tests, and
also match the ultimate angle measured under drained load-
ing conditions.
General trends
This third section summarizes and compares the results
from the Imperial College (IC) displacement pile tests in
Bothkennar clay and Cowden till (Lehane and Jardine 1994).
 LEHANE AND JARDINE
Bothkennar
aycl,
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oril qb
FIG. 1 1. Normalized installation radial total stresses.
For personal use only.
Results are also presented from the IC pile test programme
in London clay, described by Bond and Jardine (1991), so that
some of the main factors controlling pile performance in
clay soils may be identified. Lehane et al. (1994) synthe-
size these data with other high-quality instrumented pile
test data and propose a general effective stress approach
for the design of displacement piles in clay soils.
Installation
Radial total stress
The radial total stresses developed on a displacement pile
during installation (a,,) in clay depend primarily on (i) the
initial stresses in the ground, (ii) the clay's genesis and
stress history (which determine its consistency and state),
and (iii) the complex series of strain paths imposed on the
clay as the pile advances (including the load cycling asso-
ciated with driving or jacking).
These effects are illustrated in Fig. 11, which plots the
mean ratios of urito the pile end bearing capacity (qb) mea-
sured at all depths against the relative depth of the pile tip
(hlR) at which these ratios were recorded (q, values were, in
all cases, closely comparable to the piezocone end resis-
tance 9,). During steady penetration, conditions at the pile tip
are comparable to those near an expanding spherical cav-
ity and, to a first approximation, a, = q,. As the tip advances
below any given soil horizon (and the relative tip depth IzlR
increases), the stress concentration focused at the tip becomes
more remote and the soil unloads radially. The radial total
stress uri reduces to match the limit pressure for a cylin-
drical cavity (or pressuremeter test p, value) when IzlR =
3, and by the time the pile has penetrated farther to give a
hlR value of 50, uri has fallen to between 10 and 30% of
its maximum value (9,). Lehane (1992) showed that, in
addition to soil type, the rate of reduction of ariwith hlR
is also affected by the number and type of load cycles
imparted to the soil during installation.
\ \
4
I
Pore pressure
The pore pressures measured during installation showed a
comparable dependence on soil consistency and hlR. Three
further common features were observed:
(1) Pressures reduced at the beginning of a jacking stage
and remained at lower values (u,) as the pile penetrated
the ground. This reduction suggests that there is a tendency
for the presheared, partially equalized material adjacent to the
pile shaft to dilate when sheared. Values of u,,, were always
positive in the low-OCR Bothkennar clay, but were nega-
tive close to the pile tip at Cowden and negative along the
entire shaft in the very heavily overconsolidated London
clay (OCR = 30).
(2) On the completion of a jacking stage, pressures rose to
relatively steady large positive values (LL,),suggesting that
higher positive excess pore pressures existed farther away
from the shaft and a small volume of water flowed radially
towards the pile when it came to rest.
(3) Local measurements of shear and radial stresses sug-
gested that the pore pressures on the principal displacement
shear surface, which probably existed a short distance from
the pile, were roughly midway between u, and the station-
ary maxima us.
Radial effective stress
The large shear strains imposed by pile installation caused
significant destructuration of the sensitive Bothkennar Clay,
leading to large reductions in the radial effective stresses
from the initial undisturbed values (a;,). In contrast, instal-
lation in the insensitive Cowden till and London clay caused
the radial effective stresses to increase to values far greater
than ubo.
Equalization
Radial total stress
The radial stress changes observed during equalization
at each site are compared in Fig. 12 by plotting the mean
 CAN. GEOTECH. J . VOL. 31, 1994 ,i

Bothkennar
Can. Geotech. J. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by University of Western Australia on 12/05/13

Time ( m i d
FIG. 12. Relative reductions in radial total stresses during equalization.
For personal use only.

1.o

Bothkennar .

0.5

Time ( m i d
FIG. 13. Normalized variations of cr: during equalization.

variations of HIH, (defined in eq. [2]) with time. It is evident
that HIH, generally reduced at all instrument positions, with
the greatest relative reductions taking place in the low-OCR,
sensitive Bothkennar clay. A wider ranging review by Lehane
(1992) showed that equalized values of HIH, decrease with
increasing clay sensitivity and reducing OCR.
Pore-press~~re dissipation
Pore pressures rose immediately after installation, giving
pronounced short-term maxima before pressures decayed
towards hydrostatic values. Drainage was clearly more rapid
and three-dimensional near the pile tip. Analyses of the dis-
sipation curves showed that, when they were modelled using
 LEHANE AND JARDINE
linear consolidation theory, the best fitting radial coeffi-
cients of consolidation (c,,) fell between 0.5 and 1.5 mm2/s.
This range is compatible with coefficients measured in small-
strain swelling or recompression laboratory tests.
Radial effective stress
The radial total stress and pore-pressure changes observed
during equalization led to the variations of the radial effec-
tive stress (ui) with time shown in Fig. 13. In this figure, the
o: values recorded at all instrument levels are normalized
by the corresponding a: values measured after full equal-
Can. Geotech. J. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by University of Western Australia on 12/05/13
ization (u:,); the installation values of u:, plotted at t =
1 min, have been corrected for the anomalous pore pres-
sures recorded at high velocities (to values between u, and
us, as discussed earlier) so that this plot might be consid-
ered as representative of u: conditions on the principal dis-
placement shear surface. Two important features to note are
(i) the pronounced short-term minimum of u: in the dila-
tant Cowden till; (ii) the large overall increases in u: during
equalization at Bothkennar, the relatively neutral effect at
Cowden, and the net reduction of a: in the London clay.
Taken together, these data show that the degree of setup
decreases with increasing OCR.
Equalized radial effective stress
The radial effective stress after full equalization (IT:,) is a
critical parameter affecting displacement-pile capacity in
clays. The data presented in this paper and a detailed review
For personal use only.
of other high-quality instrumented pile tests in clays (Lehane
et al. 1994) indicate the following:
(1) The equalized lateral effective stress ratio (Kc), defined
as U : ~ / U ~ increases
,, systematically with OCR, e.g., at an
hlR value of 8, Kc values increased from 1.35 at Bothkennar
(OCR = 1.5) to 4 at Cowden (OCR = 6) and to 12 in the
London clay (OCR = 30).
(2) Kc reduces significantly as the relative depth of the
pile tip (hlR) increases, but the rate of reduction depends
on the soil type and the installation method; most pro-
nounced reductions occur close to the pile tip (hlR < 20).
(3) Clay sensitivity is an important parameter. The Kc val-
ues expected in a sensitive, low-OCR clay are less than half
those expected in a comparable, but insensitive, soil.
(4) Piles installed in low-plasticity clay-silts (PI < 20%),
such as those reported by Karlsrud et al. (1993), mobilize far
lower Kc values than "typical" clays and are more comparable
to the values recorded by Lehane et al. (1993) in loose to
medium-dense sand.
These trends are broadly compatible with predictions
made using the strain path method and the MIT-E3 soil
model (Baligh 1985; Whittle et al. 1988). However, this
approach may underpredict Kc and the rates of reduction of
Kc with hlR under some circumstances (see Lehane 1992).
The cylindrical cavity expansion method (Wroth et al. 1979)
overpredicts Kc values greatly at hlR values in excess of 5.
Load testing
Shaft shear stress - displacement behaviour
The most striking feature of the load-displacement curves
obtained from pile tests at Cowden and Bothkennar was the
distinctly softer response seen in tension; this feature was also
evident in the IC sand tests reported by Lehane et al. (1993).
Notably, tension and compression tests gave practically the
same curves in the London clay, indicating that directional
dependence is not a general feature of displacement piles.
\ \ 189
Fast-jacked p ~ l e s
"/R = 8
Depth = 5.5m
01 I I I I I I I
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Displacement (mrn)
FIG. 14. Normalized T,, variations with displacement during
load tests.
The test piles generally tended to fail progressively from
the top downwards. Comparisons are made in Fig. 1 4
between curves of normalized local shtar stresses [T,/(T,)~,,~]
against local2 displacement (d) for<fast-jackedpiles tested in
compression.
It is apparent that
(1) The Bothkennar tests showed a greater degree of pre-
peak nonlinearity than did the piles at Cowden or in the
London clay.
(2) The value of d at which local shear stresses reach
their peak clearly varies with soil type (and loading direction).
(3) Very significant postpeak losses in local shaft capac-
ity were seen in the London clay, with 8 reducing as the
soil fabric reordered. Such reductions have a marked influ-
ence on the overall peak capacity of long, compressible
piles. Only minor postpeak reductions in 6 were seen at
Cowden and Bothkennar.
Loading effective stress paths
Typical loading effective stress paths for the three soil
types are presented in normalized form on Fig. 15. These
and other data show that the load test coefficient, f, = $,/oic,
is only weakly dependent on the soil type and d ~ r e c t ~ oofn
loading, falling between about 0.8 and 1.0 in all cases.
However, the obliquities at peak shear stress (8,) are much
more sensitive to the soil and pile types, varying from
between -13" (reducing to 8" postpeak) for London clay to
a constant angle of -28" for Bothkennar clay. The shapes
of the stress paths, and studies of the fabric developed adja-
cent to piles (e.g., see Bond and Jardine 1991), suggest that
these obliquities are controlled by the residual sliding char-
acteristics of the soil-interface system. "Pile-modelling"
ring shear tests appear to provide the best means of assess-
ing such characteristics: it is suggested that they should
become standard tests for guiding the design of displace-
ment piles.
Conclusions
The most conclusive trends to emerge from the IC instru-
mented pile tests at Bothkennar and Cowden are listed below.
These features have been found to be compatible with data
from the earlier IC London clay pile tests.
'with corrections being made for compression of the pile.
 C A N GEOTECH J
Can. Geotech. J. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by University of Western Australia on 12/05/13
For personal use only.
FIG. 15. Mean effective stress paths followed during load tests. (Note
(1) The radial total stresses (a,,) and shear stresses (T,,)
developed on the shaft of a displacement pile during installa-
tion (at fixed distances from the tip) reflect directly the
initial consistency of the soil. Their profiles follow a similar
trend with depth to the piezocone test end resistance q,.
(2) The uri and T,, values acting at fixed depths reduce
as the pile penetrates to deeper levels (and the distance from
the pile tip, h , increases). T h e rates of stress reduction
depend on the soil type and the installation method.
(3) The rate dependence of shaft installation resistances
varies significantly between clay types. Fast shearing ring
shear soil-interface experiments predict these rate effects
with at least partial success.
(4) Pore pressures rise to reach maxima shortly after
installation, and then reduce monotonically to ambient val-
ues. The pore-pressure dissipation process can be modelled
approximately using linear radial consolidation theory.
(5) Radial total stresses reduce throughout equalization.
The greatest relative reductions take place in soft, sensitive
clays such as those found at Bothkennar.
(6) The radial effective stresses (a:) show temporary min-
ima shortly after installation. These were most pronounced
in the stiff, dilatant till at Cowden.
(7) The degree of setup depends on the OCR of the clay.
At Bothkennar, a: values after equalization (a:,) were three
times those measured just after installation (a:,). However,
VOL. 3 1, 1994 ! \
/ I
T,, =f,for Bothkenner and London clay).
at Cowden, a:, was comparable to and, in the London
clay, u:, was less than
(8) The equalized lateral stress ratios Kc (= u~,/cr:,) depend
primarily on the OCR and sensitivity of the clay and reduce
as the relative depth of the pile tip increases.
(9) In most cases, local shaft failure appears to be con-
trolled by the simple Coulomb criterion: T~ = @:, tan s,,
where a:, and 6, are the radial effective stress and obliq-
uity at peak local shear stress (T,),respectively; a:, is typi-
cally about 90% of c:, in first-time load tests performed
after full equalization.
(10) The angles of friction, 6,, are very sensitive to the soil
and pile type, but may be predicted accurately by appro-
priate ring shear interface experiments.
Acknowledgements
The research reported in this paper was funded by the
UK Science and Engineering Research Council (through
M T D Ltd.), A M O C O ( U K ) Exploration Co., Building
Research Establishment, C O N O C O ( U K ) Ltd., E x x o n
Production Research Co., Health and Safety Executive,
Mobil Research and Development Corp., and Shell (UK)
Ltd. The support of the sponsors and the efforts of all the
staff at Imperial College, especially Mr. Alan Bolsher, are
gratefully acknowledged.
 LEHANE A N D J A R D I N E , 191
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