Pile Design

Axial capacity (AASHTO in-situ SPT or BNBC 2020 Table 3.11.3.3), lateral capacity from a Winkler beam-on-elastic-foundation solve with a Broms closed-form cross-check, circular or rectangular P-M section design, and reinforcement detailing (confinement, shear, precast handling moments) for a single pile from a bore log.

BNBC 2020ACI 318-08
Pile type & geometry
Bore log (24 rows)
z (ft)NTypeγ (kcf)

γ blank = automatic (above GWT uses the "above" unit weight, below uses the "below" value).

Axial capacity method
AASHTO in-situ parameters

Qa = 154.1 kip · Qult = 462.3 kip

Qa = 154.1 kip · Qt = 129.1 kip at z = 80.0 ft0277 kip306090120Tip depth below cut-off (ft)Qa @ LAllowable compressionAllowable uplift
Allowable compression
154.1 kip
Allowable uplift
129.1 kip
Ultimate capacity
462.3 kip

Calculation

  1. 1Cumulative skin friction at the pile tip
    Q_s
    Q_s = 408.2
    Q_s408.2 kip
  2. 2End bearing at the pile tip
    Q_p
    Q_p = 91.6
    Q_p91.6 kip
  3. 3Ultimate axial capacity
    Q_{ult} = Q_p + Q_s - W_p
    Q_{ult} = 91.6 + 408.2 - 37.6 = 462.3
    Q_{ult}462.3 kip
  4. 4Allowable compression, FS = 3
    Q_a = Q_{ult}/FS_c
    Q_a = 462.3/3 = 154.1
    Q_a154.1 kip

    70.0 metric ton

  5. 5Allowable uplift, FS = 2.5
    Q_t = (0.7 Q_s + W_p)/FS_t
    Q_t = 129.1
    Q_t129.1 kip

    58.7 metric ton

Assumptions

  • AASHTO in-situ method: effective-stress β method for skin friction in sand/silt, α (adhesion) method in clay, SPT-N correlated end bearing — capped throughout at the entered ceiling values.
  • BNBC 2020 Table 3.11.3.3 method: driven-precast static formula with N60 corrected for hammer energy, rod length and sampler when the bore log's N is field-measured.

What this calculator does not check

  • The AASHTO in-situ method treats the pile as circular using the entered diameter, regardless of the selected pile shape — a square or rectangular pile needs an equivalent diameter entered directly for that method. The BNBC method uses the true perimeter and area of whichever shape is selected.
  • The BNBC method's pile self-weight deduction uses a fixed water unit weight of 18 kN/m³ carried verbatim from the source implementation rather than water's actual unit weight (9.81 kN/m³); the deduction is smaller than physically correct, so the reported allowable capacity is mildly on the unconservative side by that amount.
  • This is a port of the owner's own reference implementation; no published worked example has been reproduced against it. Treat results as indicative and check them against a hand calculation before relying on them.

Results are for preliminary sizing and educational use. They are not a design and must be reviewed, verified and sealed by a licensed or registered engineer before being used in construction.

pile-design v1.0.0 · · input 708fa72d48af9060