PLATE LOAD TEST

Presented by: Engr. Waqas hassan

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 Introduction
 Plate Load Test is used when shallow foundations are to be
used, or when temporary work structures such as piling rigs
or cranes are required on site.
 It checks the bearing capacity of soil near surface and also
settlement under a certain load.
 The standards applicable to this test are BS 1377 part 9 and
ASTM D1194.

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 Objective
 To obtain a load-settlement curve of a soil at a particular
depth so as to estimate the ultimate bearing capacity a
foundation.
 To obtain the value of Modulus of Sub-grade reaction.

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 Apparatus
 Test plate of square size (300 mm or 450 mm or 600 mm or
750 mm)
 Hydraulic jack (50 T capacity)
 Hydraulic pump (50 T capacity)
 Pressure gauge (to read 50 T load with a sensitivity of 0.5 T)
 Proving ring or load cell (50 T capacity)
 4 no of dial gauges (with sensitivity of 0.01 mm and a travel
of 50 mm)
 Loading platform equipment (girders, plates, sand bags etc)
or Truss with anchor rods

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 Apparatus

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 Size of plate
 Circular or square plates of 300-750 mm size
 Thickness of the plate should be greater than 4 times the
maximum size of particle present at the location but not less
than 25 mm
 In case of very dense gravely strata Multiple plates may be
used to prevent the buckling of plates.

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 Load Application Mechanism
The test load is transmitted to the column by one of the
following two methods

(i) By gravity loading or reaction loading method

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 Gravity loading Method
In this method
A loading platform is
constructed over the column
placed on the test plate
Test load is applied by
placing dead weight in the
form of sand bags, pig iron,
concrete blocks, lead bars etc.
on the platform.
A hydraulic jack is placed
between the loading platform
and the column top for
applying the load to the test
plate.

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 Gravity loading(Continued)
 the reaction of the hydraulic jack being borne by the loaded
platform. This form of loading is termed as reaction loading.

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 Reaction Truss Method
In this method
A steel truss of
suitable size is provided
to bear the reaction
of the hydraulic jack.
The truss is firmly
anchored to the ground
by means of steel
anchors and guy ropes
are provided for
ensuring its lateral
stability.

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 Reaction Truss Method(Continued)
 A hydraulic jack is placed between the loading platform and the
column top for applying the load to the test plate.

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 Testing procedure
 Select test location and depth at the point where the real
foundation will be constructed, if possible. If the test is
performed in a test pit, width of the pit should be at least 4
to 5 times of plate diameter.
 The loading platform should be erected over the test pit
such that, the vertical line drawn through the center of
gravity of the load passes through the centroid of the base
of the test pit.
 Position the test plate centrally at the base of the pit.
Ensure that the ground surface below the test plate is
perfectly horizontal and level

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 Testing procedure(Continued)
 Position the hydraulic jack over the plate so that when
hydraulic pressure is built up the jack pushes against the
loading platform
 Position minimum of two dial gauges diagonally at the
corners (preferably 4 at all corners of the test plate) to
record settlement of the plate
 The load is applied on the plate by pumping the hydraulic
pressure into the jack. The upward movement of the plunger
of the jack tries to push the loading platform up

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 Testing procedure(Continued)
 Note the initial readings of the dial gauges
 The load is applied through the hydraulic jack in convenient
increments. The load increments may be one fifth of the
expected safe bearing capacity or one-tenth of the ultimate
bearing capacity or any other smaller loads
 Settlement should be observed for each increment of load
after 1, 4, 10, 20, 40 and 60 minutes and thereafter at hourly
interval until the rate of settlement becomes less than about
0.02 mm per hour

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 Testing procedure(Continued)
 After completing the recording of settlement readings under
a load, the next load increment is applied and the dial gauges
readings are noted under the new load
 The maximum load that is to be applied corresponds to 1.5
times the estimated ultimate load or to 3 times the proposed
allowable bearing pressure

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 Calculation of Results
The process of calculating safe bearing capacity of soil
consists of four steps.
 Step-1 (Plotting a Load-Settlement Curve)
 Step-2 (Finding Ultimate Bearing Capacity)
 Step-3 (Calculating Safe Bearing Capacity)
 Step-4 (Calculating Settlement of Proposed Footing)

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 Step-1
The load intensity and
settlement observations of
the plate load test are
plotted in the form of load
settlement curves.
The figure shows four
typical curves of different
soils.

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 Step-1 (Continued)
 Curve I: This type of curve is obtained in case of loose
to medium cohesion less soil (i.e. 15 < N < 30). This type of
curve shows no clear point of failure.
 Curve II: This type curve is obtained in case of cohesive soil. As
the load increases the curve leans toward settlement curve.
 Curve III: This type curve is obtained in case of partially
cohesive soil (i.e. C-phi soil). This type of curve also does not
show a clear point of failure.
 Curve IV: This type curve is obtained in case of dense
cohesionless soil (i.e. N > 30). This type of curve is common
in case of dense sand or gravel deposits.

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 Step-2
 After drawing the load settlement curve, the next step is to
identify the failure point on the load settlement curve.
 In case of curve II & IV, the point of failure can be easily
identified by the sudden drop down of the curve.
 OR draw two tangent lines from the beginning straight
portion of the curve and end straight portion of the curve.
The point where these two tangents cross each other is called
the point of failure.
 The pressure corresponding to this point is called ultimate
bearing capacity of plate.

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 Ultimate bearing capacity by two tangents

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 Step-2 (Continued)
But in case of curve I &
III, it is difficult to find
out a clear point of failure
on the load settlement
curve.
To overcome this
problem , a log-log
chart is plotted.
 Such a plotting will give
two straight lines, the
intersection of which will
be considered as the failure
point.

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 Step-2 (Continued)
 In order to find out Ultimate Bearing Capacity of Footing in
sand following formula is used.
 Qult =Qplate(Bf/Bp)
 In case of clays Ultimate Bearing Capacity of Footing is equal
to that of Plate.
 Qult =Qplate

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 Step-3
 In order to calculate safe bearing capacity of the soil, divide
the ultimate bearing capacity of soil by a suitable factor of
safety.
 Safe bearing capacity of soil = Ultimate bearing capacity
/ Factor of safety
 The values of factor of safety normally used
are 2, 2.5 or 3 depending upon the site condition and
importance of the structure.

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 Step-4
 The following formula as suggested by Terzaghi and
Peck is used to calculate the settlement of footing for
granular soil.


S f  Sp

 B  B p  0.3 
  2

 
 B p  B  0.3 
  

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 Step-4 (Continued)
 For clayey soil the following equation can be used.

 B 
Sf  Sp  
B 
 p 

Where,
Sp = Settlement of plate, mm
Sf = Settlemnt of footing, mm
Bp = Width or dia of plate, m
B = Width of footing, m

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 Advantages
 Gain understanding of foundation behavior which will enable
the evaluation of foundation bearing capacity and settlement
under loading condition.
 Quick and easy to perform.

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 Disadvantages
•Plate bearing test can give
bearing capacity of subsoil up
to the depth about twice of
plate diameter only.
•There is a scale effect due to
size of testing plate is smaller
than the actual footing.
•) The Plate Load Test being
of short duration, does not
give accurate settlements
particularly in case of
cohesive soils.

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 Case Study
 The test site is located at
9th mile, kuching Malaysia.
 It was a commercial shop
lot project.
 The test pit was dug with
the help of excavator.
 Then the excavator was
Test Setup is completed and is ready for
parked above the pit as the loading
counter weight.

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 Case Study (Continued)
 A round plate with a diameter of 300mm was used in this
test.
 The working load was 200 kN/m2 and the maximum load
tested was 400 kN/m2.
 The test was stopped at 400 kN/m2 without proceeding with
unloading because the settlement had exceeded the allowable
value of 30mm.

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 Test loading Schedule

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 Test Results
 At 350kN/m2 the settlement was 29.85mm and at 400kN/m2
settlement was 35.77 mm.
 Therefore Ultimate bearing Capacity = 350kN/m2
 Allowable bearing Capacity = 175kN/m2 (Considering a safety
factor of 2)

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 Load vs Settlement Graph

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 Conclusions
 The plate load test method of determining Safe Bearing
Capacity of soil may be considered adequate for light or less
important structures under normal condition.
 In case of unusual type of soil stratum and for all heavy and
important structures, relevant laboratory tests or field test
are essential to establish the SBC of soil.
 If Plate load test gives unusually high bearing capacity,
Engineering judgment is to be used.

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 REFRENCES
 https://gstl.co.uk/site-services/plate-bearing-test
 http://civilblog.org/2015/11/08/how-to-calculate-
bearing-capacity-of-soil-from-plate-load-test
 ASTM D1194
 Google Images

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