3-D Elasto-Plastic Finite Element Analyses of Pile Foundations Subjected to Lateral Loading

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper is a study based on a number of model tests of free- or fixed-headed pile groups, each composed of nine piles, subjected to lateral loading. The model piles made of aluminum were set in dry sand and laterally loaded. The behaviors of the pile groups were then analyzed by the 3-D elasto-plastic finite element method (FEM), which represents a realistic model to simulate the problem. This model includes elasto-plastic soil behavior with no-tension characteristics, as well as thin frictional elements for slippage on the pile-soil interface. Parameter values for the sand used in the analyses were determined from conventional triaxial compression tests. It is shown that the experimental results can be precisely simulated by the analysis. Furthermore, field tests of a prototype foundation of steel pile group (3 × 3 piles) subjected to lateral loading at its footing were performed. The 3-D FE analyses were conducted to simulate the results. Parameter values for FEM have been adjusted, using the back analysis technique, so as to simulate a load-displacement curve obtained from the single pile loading test. As for the lateral load-displacement relationship and the bending strain distributions along each pile, a good correlation between the experiments and the analyses can be seen in the case of the pile group.