Abstract
A simplified nonlinear method was proposed to evaluate lateral behavior of a pile located in or nearby a slope, based on the traditionalp-ymethod. This method was validated with field test results of a steel pipe pile in clay and model tests of piles in sand slopes. The comparison indicated that the calculated horizontal displacement and bending moment of piles agree well with experimental results. Then, parametric studies were performed, and it shows that horizontal displacement, rotation, bending moment, and shear force increase along with increasing slope angles; the depth of maximum moment locates at about 1.6 Dbelow ground surface for horizontal ground, while this value turns to be about 3.6 Dand 5.6 Dfor sloping ground of 30° and 60°, respectively. The study clearly shows that slope angle has a significant effect on the deflection and lateral capacity of piles.
Highlights
Introduction e urban infrastructure development inChina increases the possibility to construct piles in or nearby slopes, to support bridges, high-rise buildings, transmission towers, off-shore structures, retaining walls, etc. [1,2,3,4,5]. e lateral bearing behavior of these piles is extremely complicated due to sloping ground [6,7,8]
According to field test results, a p-y curve of Houston soft clay was proposed by Matlock, as shown in Figure 1, and has been adopted by the American Petroleum Institute (API)
The rainfall method. e physical and mechanical properties of the sand were tested in laboratory, including the moisture content, w 2.43%; the internal friction angle, φ 39°; the unit weight of sand, c 15.65 kN/m3; the relative density, Dr 0.81; and the coe cient of horizontal subgrade reaction, nh 70 MN/m3. e laboratory test carried out and the details of the model test preparation have been presented in the reference [37]. e predicted horizontal displacement and bending moment of piles are compared to the measured in Figure 8 and Table 1
Summary
For a laterally loaded pile, the p-y method is a simple and practical way to account for the relationship between soil reaction p and pile deflection y along pile shaft. e p-y curve can be measured in field, by loading cells installed on pilesoil interface, or stress meters installed on steel cages as proposed by McClelland and Focht [24]. According to field test results, a p-y curve of Houston soft clay was proposed by Matlock, as shown, and has been adopted by the American Petroleum Institute (API). It can be expressed as follows [9, 10, 25]: p. When a laterally loaded pile locates in a clay slope of a slope angle θ, the ultimate soil resistance in front of a pile can be computed by the following equation [24, 26]: pult. Bowman [36] suggested that α φ/3 ∼ φ/2 for loose sand and φ/2 ∼ φ for dense sand; Ka is the coe cient of active earth pressure
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