NUMERICAL STUDY ON RESPONSE OF LATERALLY LOADED PILES IN SOILS

Abstract

The parametric studies are carried out to examine the influence of anisotropy of the soil, slenderness ratio and cross-sectional shape of the pile on the response of laterally loaded piles. Due to anisotropic behaviour, the shear modulus of the soil varies discretely with respect to depth. In order to analyze the laterally loaded piles with different cross-section, finite element is used. In the present study, the Abaqus software is used for the determination of pile-head deflection and development of stresses under the different conditions, which are the important parameters for the design purpose. The result shows that the soil layering with different soil shear modulus influences the lateral response of pile. The lateral response in the isotropic soil system is affected by the cross-sectional shape of the pile. The lateral responses of piles in soil layered systems were mostly affected by the stiffness and thickness of the top soil layer. The pile head deflection varies in the cases in which the pile slenderness ratio was less than twentyfive in different layered soil system. Using this analysis, deflection in pile, stress profiles and curves of the lateral displacement and the stress variation in the pile can be obtained quickly along the entire pile length. Also, the stresses developed in the surrounding soil of the pile were analyzed. Various numerical examples based on this analysis are provided.