Earth Pressures on Piles in a Row Due to Lateral Soil Movements

Abstract

ABSTRACT One of the most important points to be solved on passive piles may be to accurately estimate the lateral pressure acting on piles due to soil movements. The authors have already presented a theoretical equation to estimate the lateral pressure on piles in the previous paper, considering the pile interval as accurately as possible. In this paper, to check the validity of the theoretical equation presented, a series of model tests are carried out for various conditions of the pile and the soil. First, based on the experimental results, the validity of an assumption on the plastic state of soil made in the theoretical derivation and the significance of the presented theoretical equation are clarified. Then, both the experimental and theoretical values of the lateral pressure on piles are compared for both clay and sand specimens, followed by their very good agreements for various kinds of soil strength, pile diameters and intervals between piles. Consequently, it is concluded that the theoretical equation due to the authors’ theory can estimate the lateral pressure on passive piles in a row when the soil just around piles becomes a plastic state, with a sufficient reliability over a wide range of the interval between piles. Finally, a method to approximately estimate the ultimate lateral pressure is also shown.