US2558529A - H-beam composite pile - Google Patents

Description

June 26, 1951 J. H. THORNLEY' 2,558,529

H-BEAM COMPOSITE PILE Filed neo. 18, 194e 4 sheets-sheet 1 IN VEN TOR.

June 26, 1951 J. H. THORNLEY' 2,558,529 A H-BEAM COMPOSITE PILE June 26, 1951 J. H. THORNLEY' 2,558,529

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H-BEAM COMPOSITE PILE Filed Dec. 18, 194s 4 sheets-sheet 4 Patented June 26, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE H-BEAM COMPOSITE. PILE Joseph H. 'rhorn1ey, Great Neck, N. Y.

Application December 18, 1948, Serial No. 66,017 1 claim. (ci. s1- 53) section, such as an H-beam, for the essential load-bearing structure.

, Composite piles employing wood bottom sections and concrete upper sections are known. One form of such piles is shown in my prior Patent No. 1,954,188. The wood bottom section pile is generally employed in situations involving lighter loads. WoodV bottom sections are unsuitable if there is danger of the water table dropping below the tops of the same.

Composite piles employing steel tubing lled with concrete as the lower section and concrete upper sections have been satisfactorily constructed and installed. One form of such piles is shown in Patent No. 1,954,188. At present this type of pile is practically out of the question because of the cost and unavailability of steel pipe.

- The object of the present invention is to provide a composite pile based on the use of a metal LA beam bottom section, and a concrete upper section. An H-beam is preferable, but an equivalent heavy section may be used.

The embodiment of this concept in a practical structure and method of installation involves the f overcoming of certain diniculties, but its accomplishment in the present invention produces certain important advantages not heretofore attainable by the prior art.

As to the former, I would call attention to the fact that while the art is quite familiar with the installation of piles consisting of VH -beams throughout, the driving of a short length of H- beam to form the lower end of a composite pile is -a new feature and presents problems of its own. While it is a relatively simple matter to guide `correctly a long H-beam in pile driver guides, and to drive the same straight, av short section of H-beam presents a 'different problem. Furthermore, the junction of the top concrete section with the `H -beam bottom section presents problems in both the matter of installation and the matter of transfer of the load. My invention overcomes these diiculties simply and efliciently.

Certain unique advantages are attainable by the present invention, Aas will be apparent from the following:

It iis known to drive full length H-beams for` building piles, and installations of the same are now in use. The steel beam in contact with an inert soil presents no problem. However, I have encountered instances in which the soil conditions were found to be such that it was inadvisable to use H-beam piles in direct contact with the soil because of the corrosive effect of the same. Where the site at which the H-beam piles are to be driven includes a ll of cinders, or has served as a dump for chemicals or corrosive refuse, it is not permissible, because of the likelihood ofcorrosion, to put the steel H-beam piles in direct contact with the soil. In the case of the cinder ll, the upper portion of the piles down to a few feet below the lill where the pile entered the natural soil which was neutral was protected by a jacket or coating. Wherever the soil conditions are such as to involve possible corrosion of steel in contact with the soil, jacketing of the H -beam with concrete or some other material iscalled for. This involves additional time and expense and requires the use of extra material. An advantage of steel beam piles is the ease of installation by merely driving them to seat. Where they must be coated for part of their length, an expensive and cumbersome method of installation is involved, and the cost of materials is increased.

The pile of the present invention meets the requirements of such a situation. The lower H- beam section, cut to such a length as will insure its being entirely below the bottom of such corrosive layers of soil, is driven down through and penetrates the corrosive layers of soil, and is disposed in a neutral soil and rests upon bedrock or in another rm load-supporting stratum. The v concrete upper section, which is of a variable length to conform to the inequalities of the rock surface, extends through the corrosive Astrata down to and joins the H-beam section. While according to the preferred practice of the present invention, the concrete section is encased in a light corrugated steel shell, the shell is not or need not be gured as a load-carrying member, and may disappear without lowering the designed load-bearing ability of the pile. It serves primarily as a convenience in installing the concrete shaft.

The concrete section may be provided with metal reenforcement to increase its load-bearing ability within a given diameter. Such reenforcement of a concrete column is per se well known in the art. It may comprise rods disposed longitudinally and circumferentially in the form of a cage or in such other form as may be preferred. The concrete itself is suiciently lresistant to such corrosive influences as exist in cinder fills and dumps for various industrial wastes that an installation of piles of the present invention can be made where H-beam piles are not suitable. In installations of piles of the present invention it is not necessary to predetermine the length of the light shelled section, but merely to assure that the H-beam section will be short enough so that it will be wholly below the ocrrosive strata. The use of a long shell forming apparatus permits of wide variations in the length of the light shelled section.

In the preferred form of the present invention, a heavy steel plate is welded to and across the top end surface of the H-beam section. rIlhen upon the plate is erected and welded a short length of steel tubing long enough to form a coupling for connecting the H-beam section and the plunger or mandrel of a driving hammer. This permits the H-beam section to be more easilyhandled and to be guided while it is being driven in both the initial stage and subsequent stages. This coupling may take various forms. In the preferred form, the short length of tubing welded to the plate forms a socket into which the cylindrical end or point of the mandrel or driving member nts or telescopes. The relation of the parts may be reversed, i. e., the male part or stud of the coupling may be welded upon the plate and the mandrel of the driving hammer may provide a socket fitting over the stud. Through this coupling the H-beam section is guided and is driven. The same means which serves for guiding and driving the H-beam section serves also in the operation of making the junction between the light shell for the concrete section and for the transfer of load from the concrete section to the steel beam section.

The simplicity and convenience of this structure will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

Now in order to acquaint those skilled in the art with the matter of constructing and operating my invention, I shall describe, in connection with the accompanying drawings, a specific embodiment of the same.

In the drawings:

Figure l shows, partlyin side elevation and partly in longitudinal vertical section, the pile of the present invention installed in place;

Figure 2 shows, in side elevation, the operation of driving the H-beam section;

Figure 3 shows in side elevation and partly in section the mandrel and sleeve for the second stage of driving;

Figure 4 shows the mandrel removed and the helically corrugated light shell for the concrete section installed in place inside the sleeve;

vFigure 5 is an enlarged cross sectional View showing the junction of the helically corrugated shell joined mechanically and in fluid tight relation to the bottom section;

Figure 6 is a horizontal section taken on the line 6 6 of Figure 5- with the shell omitted and showing the sealing gasket which forms the fluid tight junction between the bottom of the shell andthe plate on the bottom section;

Figure 7 is a top plan View of a modified form;

tom section will be accepted under the proposed New York City Code for loads up to sixty tons. I have had `experience in driving the same to a length of one hundred and twenty-five feet. There is no inherent limitation as to length in the design. Such prior piles have usually consisted of cased or uncased upper sections of concrete and lower sections of steel pipe oi 10% inches outside diameter and .279 inch wall thickness for loads up to sixty tons. The pile of the present invention is suitable for loads and depths similar to those of the prior piles above mentioned, as well as for heavier loads, as will be later described.

The completed pile of the present invention, the preferred form of which is shown in Figure l, comprises'the lower H-beam section I. The particular length of the H-beam section will be such, as indicated by the borings previously taken, that together with the cased cast-in-place concrete section, it will bring the top ofthe composite pile `to the desired bearing level. Where a particular layer or stratum of corrosive soil is encountered care is taken to locate the H-beam section entirely below the same. For a pile intended to carry the above stated load, the beam may be a twelve-inch, 53 pound H-beam which is a standard section on the open market. A steel plate 2, which in this case may be fourteen inches by fourteen inches by 3A inch thick or other suitable dimensions, is welded to the end face of the top of the H-beam section l. As shown in Figure 6, the rectangular plate is registered with the rectangular outline of the H-beam. The plate may be circlar or polygonal in outline if desired. To the top of the plate 2 there is welded a short coupling section of pipe 3 which may, for example, be twelve to eighteen inches long, 10% inches O. D. by 1/4 inch wall thickness, forming in efect an extension of the -H-beam section, as indicated in Figure 2. This constitutes a unitary construction providing a socket by which the short H-beam section may be guided and providing also .a driving face by which the section may be driven. f

Upon the outside of the pipe section-3 there are attached, as by welding, lugs or projections 4 and 5 which are termed screw down lugs. They are shaped to enter the groove of the helically corrugated shell 6 and serve as an interrupted male screw thread to permit the shell to be screwed down against the top of the plate 2 with its lower end in engagement with the gasket or packing 1. The helically corrugated shell- 6 and the short pipe length 3 attached to the plate 2 are filled with concrete up to the top of the shell and provide a bearing face 8 upon which the load may be rested. Load transferring members of a structure to be carried in part by the pile may be connected to the upper end of the pile in known manner. As explained below, the concrete section may be reenforced longitudinally and circumferentially by appropriate reenforcement rods and embedded inthe concrete of the shaft. Such `reenforcing rods may be extendedout of the upper face 8 to reenforce the junction of a building frame member to the top of 'the concrete shaft. The rods may be combined with rings to form cages in well known manner.

The lower end of the bottom section l rests in this case upon bedrock l0 at the surface 9, having been driven into engagement withL the same.

The gasket 'I may comprise a ring of 'rope which acts as a gasket to make a liquid tight joint between the casing I1 and the plate -2 when the casing is applied as in Figure 3. The particular structure and formation of the gasket or packing 1 may be varied within the invention. Its function is the usual function of a gasket. By disposing the gasket I on the outside of the cylindrical socket member 3 the gasket cannot escape or become displaced when. the lower end of the shell 6 is threaded down along the screw down lugs 4, 5 against the gasket. The lower end of the shell 6 displaces the material of the gasket partly inwardly and partly outwardly as it is thrust against the plate 2. The inward movement is restrained by the socket member 3. The gasket is constrained to remain in place to be engaged by the lower end of the shell 6 and it forms theV desired seal therewith. Preferably it is impregnated with a bituminous compound.

The lower section unit, consisting of the H- beam section I, the plate 2 and the socket 3 integrally united as by welding, is initially driven into the ground in the manner indicated in Figure 2. The hammer I2 has a mandrel or driver I3 attached to the base of the hammer. This mandrel I3 fits inside of the pipe socket 3 and the pile section is thereby guidably attached to the base of the hammer. This permits the guidance and control of the H-beam section which must be started in a definite location and kept plumb during driving.

After a number of these bottom sections have been driven to approximately ground level, a pile driver equipped with a mandrel which may, for example, be of sixty to seventy foot length, indicated at l5 in Figure 3, and having its lower end or point I6 inserted in the socket 3, is employed to drive the section to seat. This mandrel is Surrounded by a sleeve of pipe I1 which is carried down with the plate 2 which forms a closure for the lower end of the sleeve.

The mandrel I5 has its lower end I6 centered in the socket 3 and it carries the sleeve I1 concentric with it and the socket 3 by means of the guiding projections I8 which form an interrupted ring about the surface of the mandrel. At its upper end the mandrel has a centering ring I9 and an overhanging shoulder which carries the sleeve I1 down with the mandrel. At its lower end the sleeve l'l rests upon and is sealed by. the impregnated rope gasket 1. This keeps water and sand out of the space later to be occupied by grout and concrete. The driving effect upon the lower H-beam section is essentially through the mandrel, and is not required to be delivered through the sleeve Il which is merely carried down with the mandrel to preserve a closed water-free bore within which the helically corrugated shell 6 may be lowered and attached to the H-beam section. The sleeve I1 is of an inside diameter such that it will permit introduction of the helically corrugated shell 6. After the particular pile section has been driven to refusal through the action of the hammer and the mandrel I5 with sleeve I1 as shown in Figure 3, the mandrel is withdrawn. The corrugated shell 6 is then lowered inside the sleeve I1, and by means of a special wrench the shell is threaded over the screw down lugs 4 and 5 as shown in Figures 4 and 5 to bring the lower end of the said shell into engagement with the gasket 1.

Then the shell 6 receives a charge ofr grout and is filled up with concrete. This cementitious filling is allowed to set in place. The sleeve 6 and the socket 3 and the space between the socket and the shell are filled as indicated in Figure 1. The drive casing or sleeve I1 may be withdrawn prior to filling the shell 6 with concrete or after the same is done. The sleeve I1 is not intended to form any part of the finished pile. Its purpose is to preserve the bore through the earth and to keep out extraneous matter until'the shell B can be set in place.

The sleeve I1 may be withdrawn any time after the shell 5 is-xed in place, but the preferred practice is to lill the shell 6 with concrete before pulling up the sleeve I1.

In the preferred practice, the sleeve I'I remains in place until the corrugated shell 5 has been put in place and filled. In that practice the tight closure made by the gasket l between the sleeve I1 and the plate 2 makes it unnecessary for the joint between the corrugated shell 6 and the plate 2 to be fluid tight. Obviously, if the sleeve Il should be withdrawn before the shell 6 is filled with grout and concrete, then the joint between the corrugated shell 6 and the plate 2 should be fluid tight.

By the above construction and procedure, the bottom section is under full control at all times during the driving. The attachment between the two sections which is strong and effective even before the concrete has had time to set, is capable of preventing separation by heaving. The screw threaded lugs 4 and 5 serve as a strong attachment between the two sections. -If desired, additional screw down lugs may be provided.`

While with the speciiic dimensions and construction -above described the load-carrying ability of the I-l-beam section may be greater than that of the concrete section, this is not essential but optional. The composite pile may readily be designed to provide a uniform load carrying ability throughout, equal to a full length H-beam pile. This is done by properly designing the relative dimensions and reenforcement of vthe concrete section and appropriate dimensioning the junction plate 2.

Suitable reenforcement, such as longitudinal rods 2E, attached to circumferential or helical rods 25, may be disposed in the shell 6 with the lower end thereof extending into the tubular tenon 3. Longitudinal rods may extend throughout the entire length of the concrete sha'ftand shorter longitudinal rods and circumferential rods disposed onlyV at the bottom of the concrete shaft, or at both the bottom and top, or, if desired, both longitudinal and circumferential reenforcing may extend throughout the entire length of the shaft. The determination of this reenforcement factor is within the skill of the designer. Such reenforcing cage may lie inside the stud or tenon 3 or outside the same, as the design of the parts may dictate.

In Figures '7 and 8 I have illustrated a modified form of tenon consisting in this case of a section of I-beam 28 welded to the top of the plate 2. This plate 2, as in the previous embodiment, is welded to the upper end of the H-beam section I. Screw down lugs 29, 29 for cooperation with the corrugations of the shell 6 may be disposed at opposite corners or at all four corners of the I- beam section as illustrated in Figures 7 and 8. Where the modification of Figure 'lis employed the base of the hammer and the lower end of the mandrel I6 may have an `appropriate fitting forked to extend over the web of the I-beam section 28 to provide the necessary coupling between the H-beam section and the hammer and the mandrel. The driving hammer for the initial driving of the H-beam section to ground level, and the lower end of the mandrel I6 will in each case be provided with a suitable face or coupling fitting the particular form of the tenon `28. The manner of installing the H-beam and the concrete section superposed on the same is as described in connection with the preferred modification above.

In Figures 9 and 10, there is shown a further modified form of tenon for connecting the driving mechanism during the driving of the H-beam section, and for coupling the same to the concrete section above, as heretofore explained. Inthis case, the socket is formed as a rectangular box section, preferably, but not necessarily, of two channel beam sections 39, 32, with the channelled sides facing each other, and having their edges joined by welding, either with or without an additional reenforcing strip 33 at the junction of the leading edges of these channel members. Instead of two pieces of channel, four pieces of angle iron may be utilized. In this case the driving hammer and the mandrel I will each have a suitable point tting in the generally rectangular socket 34 formed on the insides of the two channel members. Suitable screw down projections 29, 29 are provided at the corners of the stud or tenon for connection of the corrugated shell 5 thereto. The tenon member may be made of rectangular section by welding four plates together at their corners, or the tenon may be made up in any preferred manner to serve its functions in accordance with the foregoing teachings.

The manner of fastening the shell E down to the plate 2 may b-e varied, as I contemplate the use'of spring ngers fastened to the lower end of the shell, and bearing diagonally upwardly upon the sides of the stud or tenon, and acting like spring pawls to hold the shell down against the plate 2 by the gripping .action of the said spring ngers upo\ the side 'walls of the stud or tenon.

Where such spring iingers are used, the driving hammer and also the mandrel may t over the outside of the tenon or stud instead of inside of, the same. The reenforcing cage may, in such case,lbe disposed in the annular space between the shell and the stud or tenon.

In thepile of the present invention, the H- beam section I is driven ahead of the driving sleeve Il. The plate 2 serves as a connection b;tween the lower beam section and the upper concrete section vfor which it serves as a closure. During driving, it serves to close off the lower end of the driving sleeve from the outside. Thus the plate 2 serves to connect the upper and lower sections mechanically, but it also serves to segregate them.

Since the beam section is driven ahead of the driving sleeve and does not require to be passed through the driving sleeve, as in the case of the projectile pile, its cross sectional dimensions do not depend upon the cross section of the bore of the driving sleeve. This allows of variation in design of the shape, cross section and dimensions of the beam section quite independently of the concrete section.

The load carrying abilit of the concrete section may be brought up to that of thebeam section by suitable rod and cage or other metallic reenforcement, so that substantially maximum emciency of utilization of materials in both sections may beeifected. The load bearing ability of the beam section may, in some installations, be substantially higher than that of the concrete section, without introducing undue increase in l' cost, because the beam section may be relatively short. Thus, forexample, if it is desired to provide a larger beam section cross sectional area for bearing upon bedrock or other stratum, the short beam section may be selected accordingly at no great additional expense,

I do not intend to be limited to the precise details shown or described, nor to the dimensions stated, since these have been given by way of illustration and not of limitation.

The simple and rugged construction herein disclosed provides a highly satisfactory means for guiding and driving the \lower section, and for anchoring the two sections rmly together for all necessary purposes.

I claim:

In combination, a lower pile section comprising a metal beam having a transverse plate on the upper end of the same, a socket member on top of said plate said member having screw down lugs, a mandrel having a lower end fitting the socket for guiding the lower pile section and driving the same into the ground, said mandrel having a shoulder spaced longitudinally from said plate for engaging the upper end of a sleeve, and a sleeve of fixed length between said shoulder and the plate said plate closing off the lower end of the sleeve, said mandrel having centering vmeans for centering the sleeve relative to the socket to permit a shell to be lowered in the sleeve .and threaded onto said lugs.

JOSEPH I-I. THORNLEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record 'in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,954,188 Thornley Apr. 10, 1934 2,099,664 Watt Nov. 16, 1937 2,168,459 Upson Aug. 8, 1939 2,200,524 Watt May 14, 1940 2,326,155 McCook Aug. 10, 1943 2,450,879 Kohn NOV. 18, 1947

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