Effect of loading sequence on lateral soil-pile interaction due to excavation

Abstract

P-y curve representing lateral soil-pile interaction mechanism is a well-adopted approach to analyze laterally loaded piles. To date, there is still a lack of clear understanding of the lateral pile performance under active and passive composite loadings based on the p-y method. This paper presents a series of p-y oriented modellings on the effect of loading sequences on soil-pile interactions due to a nearby excavation. The loading sequences were divided into firstly applying active loading on pile head and then passive loading caused by adjacent excavation (i.e. active–passive loading sequence) and firstly excavation-induced passive loading and then applying active loading on pile head (i.e. passive-active loading sequence). In this study, the rules of the p-y curve evolution due to different loading sequences were obtained, and the effect of loading sequences on the lateral soil-pile interaction due to excavations was analyzed. Finally, enlightenment based on the mechanism of soil-pile interaction was discussed to guide the design of pile foundations subjected to excavations.