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A semi-analytical solution for laterally loaded pile groups in multilayered

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Conference Paper · September 2015

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 Proceedings of the XVI ECSMGE
Geotechnical Engineering for Infrastructure and Development
ISBN 978-0-7277-6067-8

© The authors and ICE Publishing: All rights reserved, 2015

doi:10.1680/ecsmge.60678

A semi-analytical solution for laterally loaded pile

groups in multilayered soils
Une solution semi-analytique pour les groupes de pieux chargés
latéralement dans multicouches sols
F.S. Tehrani*1, R. Salgado2 , M. Prezzi3
1
Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands, formerly Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA
2
Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA
3
Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA
*
Corresponding Author

ABSTRACT This paper presents a semi-analytical method developed to calculate the response of laterally loaded pile groups embedded in
multilayered elastic soil. The displacement field of the pile-soil system is taken as the product of independent functions that vary in the ver-
tical and horizontal directions. The differential equations governing the displacements of the pile-soil system are obtained using variational
principles and the principle of minimum total potential energy. The solutions for pile deflection are obtained analytically using the eigenva-
lue method to solve a coupled system of ordinary differential equations. The solution for soil displacements is obtained using a finite diffe-
rence scheme to solve a system of partial differential equations. The input parameters needed for the analysis are the pile geometry, the soil
profile, and the elastic constants of the soil and pile. The method produces displacement fields that are very close to those produced by the
finite element method.

RÉSUMÉ Cet article présente une méthode semi- analytique développé pour calculer la réponse de groupes de pieux chargés latéralement
incorporés dans le sol élastique multicouche . Le domaine de la pile du système sol - déplacement est considéré comme étant le produit de
fonctions indépendantes qui varient dans les directions verticale et horizontale . Les équations différentielles régissant les déplacements du
système pile - sol sont obtenus en utilisant des principes variationnels et le principe de l'énergie potentielle totale minimale . Les solutions
pour pile déviation sont obtenues analytiquement en utilisant la méthode des valeurs propres à résoudre un système couplé d'équations dif-
férentielles ordinaires . La solution pour les déplacements du sol est obtenue en utilisant un schéma aux différences finies pour résoudre un
système d'équations aux dérivées partielles . Les paramètres d'entrée nécessaires à l'analyse sont la géométrie de la pile , le profil du sol , et
les constantes élastiques du sol et pile . Le procédé produit des champs de déplacement qui sont très proches de ceux obtenus par la mé-
thode des éléments finis.

1 INTRODUCTION problem and the lack of a satisfactory solution to the

Single piles normally do not have enough capacity to
carry structural loads from the superstructure, there-
fore, in practice, capped pile groups are, in general,
used as foundation systems. Horizontal forces, typi-
cally, due to wind, waves, traffic or seismic loads, are
transferred to the pile cap and to each individual pile
in the pile group in the form of shear forces and/or
bending moments. Considerable research has been
done in the past on the analysis and the design of lat-
erally loaded piles, indicating the importance of the
problem (e.g. Poulos 1971; Randolph 1981;Shen &
Teh, 2002; Salgado et al. 2014; Tehrani 2014). This
paper presents a semi-analytical method (SAM) for
analysis of laterally loaded pile groups, constrained
against rotation at the pile head by a rigid cap, em-
bedded in a multilayered elastic soil profile (Figure
1). SAM links the displacement applied on the pile
cap to the internal forces developed along each pile
in the group and also predicts the soil displacement
around the pile group.

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Geotechnical Engineering for Infrastructure and Development

The elastic stress-strain relations follow:

 kl 2  kl   mm kl
 (3)

The total potential energy of the soil-pile system,

including both internal and external potential ener-
gies, is given as:
 d 2 wi  z  
z  Lp 2
np
1 1
  Ei I i  
dz
2  dz    kl  kl d  soil
z 0  

2 i 1 2 soil

dwi ( z )
np np

Figure 1. A laterally loaded pile group in a multi- 

 Fi wi ( z ) z  0  Mi  dz
layered soil profile. i 1 i 1 z 0

2 THEORY
2.1 Displacement field
The displacement vector {ux, uy, uz} at any point in
the soil mass around a pile group is linked to the dis-
placement of the piles in the group (Tehrani 2014).
(4)
where EiIi is the flexural rigidity of pile i, and Fi and
Mi are the external lateral load and bending moment
acting at the head of pile i.
Application of the principle of minimum potential
energy to the pile-soil system requires taking the first
variation of the potential energy and setting it to zero
(δП = 0). It follows:
zL
n p
 d 2 wi ( z )  d 2 wi ( z ) 
p

The lateral component of the displacement vector

{ux, uy, uz} in the soil can then be expressed as the
  Ei I i     2  2  dz
i 1 z 0  dz  dz 
summation, for all np piles in the group, of the prod-
1
uct of the lateral displacement wi(z) of pile i by a de-    xx xx  2 xy  xy  2 xz  xz  d  soil
 (5)
cay function fi(x,y) associated with pile i. Each of 2
these np decay functions varies between 1 at the loca- soil

tion of the specific pile and zero both at the bounda- n p

n
 dw ( z )  
p

ries of all the other piles and at the boundaries of the 

 Fi wi ( z ) z  0  M i  i 
 dz  z  0
 0
soil domain. i 1 i 1

A simple displacement function around a pile

group, which neglects the components of the dis- Substituting stress and strain relationships into (5)
placement vector perpendicular to the loading direc- follows:
tion, is given by: n zL
p
 d w  d w 
2 p 2

n  
  Ei I i   2 i   2 i  dz
 dz   dz 
p

u
x  wi ( z ) fi ( x, y ), u
y
u
z
0 (1) i 1 z 0

  fi f j 
i 1 np np

    2Gs  s   wi w j
x x 
2.2 Principle of minimum potential energy i 1 j 1   soil

Equation (1) applies regardless of the cross-sectional   fi  f j 
shape of the piles. Differentiation of (1) leads to the   2Gs  s  wi w j  
  x  x 
infinitesimal strain field (positive if contractive):
1  f i f j    fi  f j 
 kl  (uk ,l  ul , k ) (2) Gs  wi w j  Gs wi w j  
2  y y    y  y 

4050
 Tehrani, Salgado and Prezzi

  dwi  dw j  dwi ,1 ( z ) d wi ,1 ( z )
2

 Gs  
  dz  dz fi f j ( x, y )    i0
or Ei I i 2
Mi (10)
dz z  0 dz
 dwi ( z ) dw j ( z ) 
 Gs ( z )  fi f j  dxdydz (6) At z = Hk < Lp:
 dz dz  
wi , k  wi , k 1
np np
dwi
  F w 
   M  
0
 3
d wi , k n
dw j , k d wi , k 1 n z , k 1 dw j , k 1
3
p p

dz  z  0  dz  t
i z 0 i i z ,k
i 1 i 1 Ei I i 3
 t  E I
i i 3
Each of the terms in (6) has a first variation of
 dz j 1  dz j 1
ij
dz ij

some variables that needs to be collected and orga- dwi , k dwi , k 1

nized into terms either associated with the piles or 
with the soil domain. dz dz
2 2
d wi , k d wi , k 1
2.3 Governing equations Ei I i 2
 Ei I i 2
dz dz
Collection of the terms containing δwi(z) in (6), inte- (11)
gration by parts and further simplification for a lay- At z = Hk = Lp:
ered soil profile lead to the following governing dif-
wi , k  wi , k 1
ferential equations:
dw j , k 1 ( z ) dw j , k ( z )
3
4
d wi , k ( z ) d wi , k ( z )
n np p

Ei I i 4
dz
Ei I i
3
dz

 t
z , k 1
 t
dz
z ,k

dz
ij ij
 j 1 j 1
(7)
 z ,k d 2 w j ,k ( z ) z ,k
np
 2
d wi , k ( z )
  tij 2
 kij w j , k ( z )  
0 Ei I i 0
j 1  dz  dz
2

for z  Lp, and (12)

for a free pile base, and
n p
 z ,k d 2 w j ,k ( z ) z ,k 
  tij
dz
2
 kij w j , k ( z )   0 (8)
wi , k 0, wi , k 1 0 &  0
dwi , k ( z )
(13)
j 1   dz
for z > Lp, which are ordinary differential equations for a fixed pile base.
with constant coefficients where: At z = Hk > Lp and k < ntotal:
  f  f  f  f  n
dw j , k ( z ) n
dw j , k 1 ( z )
kij   2Gs , k  s , k  i

p p

 
z ,k j j
 Gs , k ( z ) i  dxdy wi , k w & t
z ,k
t
z , k 1

xy 
x x y y  j 1 
i , k 1 ij
dz j 1
ij
dz
tij   Gs , k fi f j dxdy
z ,k
(14)
xy Finally, at infinite depth,  z H n   and total

are double integrals evaluated over the soil domain

wi , k  0 .
for each layer k.
The boundary conditions for the ith pile also follow Collecting the terms containing δfi(x,y) in (6) leads
from equation (6). At z = 0: to the following differential equation associated with
pile i:
dw j ,1 ( z )
3
d wi ,1 ( z ) n p

wi ,1  ( z ) wi 0 or Ei I i  tz ,1
 Fi p
n
 1 xy  2 f j ( x, y ) 2 xy  2 f j ( x, y ) xy 
dz
3
j 1
ij
dz  tij
x
2
 tij
y
2
 kij f j ( x, y )   0
j 1  
(9)
and (15)
with boundary conditions:

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 Geotechnical Engineering for Infrastructure and Development

1 at pile i 3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

fi ( x, y )   (16)
0 at other piles The performance of the proposed method is validated
where: by Finite Element Method (FEM) for a 1×3 pile
 group consisting circular piles with diameter Bp = 0.5
  2G  s  wi w j dz
1 xy
tij s m and length Lp = 20 m embedded in a multilayered
z 0 soil profile and subjected to a 10-mm lateral dis-
ntotal placement (see Figure 3).
   2G  s , k  wi , k w j , k dz
Hk
 s ,k
H k 1
k 1

 ntotal

G w w dz  
Hk


2 xy
tij s i j
Gs , k wi , k w j , k dz
H k 1
z 0 k 1

dwi dw j dwi , k dw j , k
 n


total
H


xy
kij  Gs dz Gs , k dz
k

z 0
dz dz k 1
H
dz dz k 1

Equations (7) and (8) are solved analytically using

the method of eigenvalues/eigenvectors, whereas
(15) is solved numerically using the Finite Difference
Method (FDM).
The solution algorithm for the analysis of laterally Figure 3. Soil profile for analysis of laterally loaded
loaded pile groups is presented in Figure 2. piles

Figure 4 through Figure 6 show the results of

analysis of the 1×3 pile group. The figures show the
soil displacement at the ground surface level along
the loading direction on the symmetry axes of the soil
domain, and the displacement and bending moment
along the axis of each pile obtained from the SAM
analyses and from the FEM.

Figure 2. Algorithm for solving the problem of later- Figure 4. Lateral displacement of the ground surface
ally loaded pile groups due to 10 mm deflection of the 1×3 pile group.

4052

(a)
(b)
Figure 5. Deflection of the (a) corner pile and (b)
center pile in the 1×3 pile group.
As shown in Figure 4 through Figure 6, there is a
satisfactory agreement between results obtained from
the SAM and those of the FEM.
Next, we explore the use of the proposed method
in producing group efficiency charts that can be used
in practice for design of pile groups. A 3×3 pile
group embedded in soil profiles one with linearly in-
creasing stiffness and the other with constant stiff-
ness is considered, as shown in Figure 7.
Tehrani, Salgado and Prezzi
(a)
(b)
Figure 6. Bending moment along the (a) corner pile
and (b) center pile in the long 1×3 pile group.
The pile group efficiency factor η here is defined
as the ratio of the average lateral load capacity of a
pile in the group to the lateral load capacity of a sin-
gle pile under the same conditions. The group effi-
ciency can be written as:
H total / np
 (17)
H single
where Htotal is the lateral capacity of the pile group,
and Hsingle is the lateral capacity of a single pile at the
same displacement level and identical conditions.
4053
 Geotechnical Engineering for Infrastructure and Development
Figure 7. Soil profiles for the 3×3 pile group.
Figure 8. Effect of pile-to-pile spacing on group effi-
ciency of the 3×3 pile group.
As expected, Figure 8 shows that group efficiency
increases with increasing the spacing between the
piles. Figure 8 also shows that for the soil profile
with increasing stiffness the efficiency of the pile
group consisting long piles is slightly more than the
one with the short piles at a close spacing (s = 2Bp),
whereas at greater spacings there is no substantial
difference between the efficiency of the two pile
groups. Additionally, as shown Figure 8, for the soil
profile with constant stiffness, the efficiency of the
pile group with long piles is lower than the pile group
with short piles, indicating more interaction between
the long piles than the short piles in this soil profile.
4054
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4 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
This paper presented a semi-analytical method for the
analysis of pile groups under lateral loading. The
method uses energy principles and calculous of varia-
tions to calculate the profile of deflection, bending
moment and shear force along every pile in the
group, as well as the soil displacement. The method
produces results that are in a good agreement with fi-
nite element predictions, but at a lower computation-
al effort. It was shown that the proposed method can
be used to produce efficiency charts for pile groups
embedded in soil profiles of typical stiffnesses,
which can be useful in design of pile groups.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This material is based upon work supported by the
National Science Foundation (USA) under Grant No.
0969949. The authors are very grateful for this sup-
port.
REFERENCES
Poulos, H. G. 1971. Behavior of laterally loaded
piles: ii - pile groups. Journal of the Soil Mechanics
and Foundations Division 97(5), 733–757.
Randolph, M. F. 1981. The response of flexible piles
to lateral loading. Géotechnique 31(2), 247–259.
doi:10.1680/geot.1981.31.2.247
Salgado, R., Tehrani, F. S. & Prezzi, M. 2014. Anal-
ysis of laterally loaded pile groups in multilayered
elastic soil. Computers and Geotechnics 62, 136–
153.
Shen, W. Y. & Teh, C. I. 2002. Analysis of laterally
loaded pile groups using a variational approach. Ge-
otechnique 52(3), 201–208.
Tehrani, F. S. 2014. Study of the loading of piles us-
ing a semi-analytical method and the digital image
correlation technique. Ph.D. Dissertation. Purdue
University.