A simplified approach for settlement analysis of single pile considering pile end settlement induced by skin friction in multilayered soils

Abstract

A simplified approach for the nonlinear analysis of the load–displacement response of a single pile is presented using the load-transfer approach. In the present method, a hyperbolic model is adopted to simulate the load–displacement response of both the pile base and the shaft. Using the Mindlin displacement solution of the elastic half-space, the pile end settlement induced by the skin friction of pile is calculated. Based on the present analytical method, a highly effective iterative computer program is developed for the analysis of the response of a single pile. The validity of the present method is then demonstrated with the results of the load tests carried on instrumented piles. The calculated results indicate that at all loading levels, the proposed method is generally in good agreement with the well-documented field test results and the calculated results derived from other approaches. It is noted the pile head displacement obtained from the present approach increases with increasing failure ratio of skin friction and end resistance at the same loading level. It is also observed that the influence of the failure ratio of skin friction to the pile head displacement is slightly larger than the influence of the pile end resistance.