Two-dimensional modelling evaluation of laterally loaded piles based on three-dimensional analyses

Abstract

ABSTRACT The soil in front of a laterally loaded pile moves around it in a three-dimensional (3D) manner, a type of soil-pile interaction that cannot be accounted for in general by two-dimensional (2D) plane-strain analyses. In an attempt to closely evaluate the 2D modelling of laterally loaded short pile in cohesive soil, this paper compares the data from a full-scale pile loading test with the corresponding 2D and 3D simulation results obtained through the finite differences computer codes FLAC and FLAC3D , respectively. The numerical results showed that the pile lateral deflection profile computed by FLAC (2D analysis) is inconsistent with its lateral soil reaction counterpart. A correction procedure of the 2D lateral pile deflection profile has then been suggested. Moreover, correlations between 2D and 3D results are developed in terms of pile lateral deflections and bending moments. These correlations are generalised for short piles in cohesive soils with different soil-pile relative stiffness and presented in dimensionless graphs to be used for preliminary design estimates.