Calculating the Vertical Bearing Capacity of Piles with Nonlinear Load Transfer Model

Abstract

AbstractBased on existing methods used in evaluating the vertical bearing capacity of piles, hyperbola model was adopted to describe pile shaft resistance in consideration of the nonlinear behavior of load transfer along pile length. Broken-line model was utilized to determine resistance and observe the effect of toe debris at pile tip during pile construction. The differential equation for the pile was established with the nonlinear characteristics of load transfer, characteristics of the layered stratum, and pile-soil interaction considered. The differential equation was calculated with power series method, and pile test data were analyzed with differential equation solution. Results indicated that the calculated P−s curve agrees with the measured P−s curve when hyperbola model was used to measure the relative displacement and the test data of shaft resistance.