Lateral Resistance of Piles in Cohesionless Soils

TLDR

The study presents methods to calculate deflections, ultimate resistance, and moment distribution for laterally loaded piles in cohesionless soils. The methods assume a linearly increasing subgrade reaction coefficient with depth, dependent on soil relative density, and that ultimate lateral resistance equals three times the passive Rankine earth pressure, governed by pile section yield or soil resistance. Comparison with test data shows satisfactory agreement between calculated and observed deflections and lateral resistance.

Abstract

Methods are presented for the calculation of deflections, ultimate resistance, and moment distribution for laterally loaded single piles and pile groups driven into cohesionless soils. The lateral deflections have been calculated assuming that the coefficient of subgrade reaction increases linearly with depth and that the value of this coefficient depends primarily on the relative density of the supporting soil. The ultimate lateral resistance has been assumed to be governed by the yield or ultimate moment resistance of the pile section or by the ultimate lateral resistance of the supporting soil. The ultimate lateral resistance is assumed to be equal to three times the passive Rankine earth pressure. The deflections and lateral resistance, as calculated by the proposed methods, have been compared with available test data. Satisfactory agreement was found.