Effects of Slope and Sleeving on the Behavior of Laterally Loaded Piles

Abstract

ABSTRACT Pile sleeving is an annulus of compressible material between a laterally loaded pile and the adjacent ground and is a method adopted in Hong Kong for protecting the stability of sloping grounds and retaining walls. In practice, sloping grounds of various inclinations can be encountered and an appropriate sleeving thickness has to be selected for particular sites considering site-specific factors. To evaluate the effects of slope inclination and sleeving thickness on behavior of piles, a series of 3D analyses of the behavior of laterally loaded piles was conducted considering several sleeving thicknesses (0, 100, and 250 mm) and slope inclinations [level, l(vertical):2(horizontal), and 3:4]. At a typical design lateral load, the effects of slope inclination on the pile response are found to be minor but the effects of sleeving thickness are significant. At large lateral loads, however, the horizontal displacements and bending moments of the pile will increase as the ground becomes steeper, especially when the ground is steeper than 1:2. Empirical relations between the displacements and bending moments of the pile in a sloping ground and those in the level ground are proposed. A criterion for selecting suitable sleeving thickness is also proposed considering both pile response and compressibility of the sleeving material.