Derivation of Step 3

Pzi ( Pz Ai ) / Ai ( M x y i Ai ) / ( I xx ) ( M y xi Ai ) / ( I yy )

Pzi

is the axial load coming on i th pile

n is number of piles
Pz is the resultant of all vertical loads
Mx is the resultant moment about x axis
My is the resultant moment about y axis
Ai is area of each pile
xi ,yi are the x and y coordinates of the ith pile with respect to the C.G. of the pile
group

I xx

I yy

And
are obtained as given below (using parallel axes theorem and neglecting
the moments of inertia of the pile cross sections about their own axes)
The lateral loads coming on any pile along x and y direction (horizontal axes) can be
expressed as

Phxi
Phyi

( Px Ai ) ( M z yi Ai )

( Ai )
( I zz )
( Py Ai )
( Ai )

( M z xi Ai )
( I zz )

The resultant horizontal load on the ith pile is given by,

Phi Phxi 2 Phyi 2

Phxi

is the lateral load coming on ith pile in x direction

Phyi

is the lateral load coming on ith pile in y direction

Mz
I zz

is the torsional moment about z axis

is the torsional moment of inertia of the pile group

The safety against combined axial and lateral load can be checked by treating the
pile as a column under combined axial and lateral load.

A general method for determining moments and displacements of a vertical pile

embedded in a granular soil and subjected to lateral load and moment at the
ground surface was given by Matlock. Consider a pile of length L subjected to a
lateral force Q and a moment M at the ground surface (z=0).
M
Q

Pile subjected to B.M. and Lateral Load

According to simpler Winkler model, an elastic medium (soil) can be replaced by a
series of infinitely close elastic springs. Based on this assumption,

k
Where p is pressure on soil

p
x

X is deflection
The subgrade modulus for granular soils at a depth z is defined as

Using theory of beams on elastic foundation we can write

k z nh z

d 4x
E p I p dz 4 k x 0

The solution of this differential equation gives the following the results:

xz ( z ) Ax
Pile deflection at any depth

(M g T 2 )
(P T 3 )
Bx
(Ep I p )
(E p I p )

Ep I p
nh

Where Ax, Bx are constants which depend upon (z/T)

Since depth of fixity is defined as the point at which deflection is zero,

P
e

Pe=M
P

Mg Pe
So putting

and letting deflection equal to zero, we get

Ax T Bx e 0
A
e
x
T
Bx
Which results in plot of (e/T) for various values of (z/T)
For short piles Brinch Hansen (Brinch Hansen and Christensen (1961)) suggested a simple
method for calculating the lateral load capacity as shown in Figure 10.7. The resistance of
the pile to rotation about the point x in Figure 10.7 is given by the sum of the moments of
the soil resistance above and below this point. The passive resistance diagram is divided into
a convenient number of n horizontal elements of depth L/n. The unit passive resistance of an
element at depth z below the ground surface is then given by

Assumptions
There wont be any transfer of bending moments because pinned connection is assumed between the top
of pile and pile cap.