Module 13
Load transfer: shaft and base
Two resistances, added in the equation and never mobilised together in the ground.
What this module covers
- Split a pile's ultimate capacity into shaft and base contributions
- Explain why shaft and base mobilise at very different displacements
- Describe the load transfer curve and what it implies at working load
- Decide when a pile's self-weight matters and when it does not
Lessons
Where the load actually goes.
Start lesson →- 13.2
Mobilisation
Why the sum is a fiction, and a useful one.
Start lesson →
Module checkpoint
Check what you have taken in
2 questions
Question 1
A bored pile 0.6 m in diameter and 15 m long is in clay with su = 60 kPa and α = 0.5. What is its shaft resistance, in kN?
Question 2
At working load, which component is a typical slender pile in clay actually relying on?