Pile Capacity and Loading

The pile capacity and loading tab allows the input of the pile diameter and capacity as well as the definition of the applied loads from the associated column. The tab layout is:

The required inputs are:

Pile diameter – the diameter, in mm, of the circular piles

Pile Working Load – the safe working load (SWL) of the pile, in kN

Pile c/c spacing – the pile spacing, as a multiple of the pile diameter (min 1.5, max 6)

Minimum number of piles – set the minimum number of piles to be used in the pile cap

Unlike the standalone module, which requires the user to input a loading to be considered in the pile cap design, the integrated design module is linked to the loadcases used as part of the full MasterFrame analysis. Hence there are no loading inputs under the pile capacity and loading tab, but instead there are options to view the design outputs for each ultimate limit state loadcase.

The scan for critical loadcase will identify the critical loadcase for the pile cap design. This can be done for the current pile design, or for all design briefs currently applied in the model.

A further additional input for the integrated design is to specify the column orientation relative to the pile cap. While in the standalone design the major and minor input are specified by the input value, effectively defining the orientation of the column and/or pile cap, the column orientation is defined in a MasterFrame model by the column beta angle. Therefore, to define the force inputs relative to pile cap, it may be necessary to rotate the pile cap. This is done by selecting an orientation, in degrees, using the orientation drop down. The pile cap orientation is reflected in the graphical screen to aid orientation.