Analysis of soil resistance on laterally loaded piles based on 3D soil-pile interaction

The load distribution and deflection of large diameter piles are investigated by lateral load transfer method (p-y curve). Special attention is given to the soil continuity and soil resistance using three-dimensional finite element analysis. A framework for determining a p-y curve is calculated based on the surrounding soil stress. The appropriate parametric studies needed for verifying the p-y characteristic are presented in this paper. Through comparisons with results of field load tests, the three-dimensional numerical methodology in the present study is in good agreement with the general trend observed by in situ measurements and thus, represents a realistic soil-pile interaction for laterally loaded piles in clay than that of existing p-y method. It can be said that a rigorous numerical analysis can overcome the limitations of existing p-y methods to some extent by considering the effect of realistic three-dimensional combination of pile-soil forces. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.