SOILS AND FOUNDATIONS Vol. 38, No.

2, 17-26, June 1998

Japanese Geotechnical Society

DESIGN OF LATERALLY LOADED PILES IN COHESIVE SOILS

USING p-y CURVES

DoNGQING Wui), BENGT B. BRoMsii) and VICTOR CHoAiii)

ABSTRACT
The paper presents the results from a series of tests in Shanghai, PRC on laterally loaded single piles in a medium
stiff clay. The diameter of the piles varied from 0.09 m to 0.60 m. The piles were instrumented with strain gauges to de-
termine the moment distribution along the piles and the lateral deflections.
The test results from the static load tests have been analyzed assuming that the load-displacement relationship of
the soil is hyperbolic. The assumed p-y curves could be related to the stress-strain curves as determined by triaxial
tests. Numerical values on the coefficients, Rr, A, k and e50 used in the analysis of the test results are discussed in the
paper. However, a reduced shear strength had to be used when the clay is overconsolidated.

Key words: clays, cohesive soil, lateral resistance, load tests, offshore structures, piles, p-y curves, static loading
(IGC: E4)

bank of the Huangpu River, consists of yellow to grey

INTRODUCTION stiff fissured overconsolidated clay down to about 4 m
Offshore structures, such as drilling and production depth and of stratified stiff silty clay as shown in Fig. 3.
platforms, are subjected to high horizontal loads caused The ground water level was located above the bottom of
by wave and wind forces. Large-diameter steel pipe piles the 2.0 m deep trenches where the tests were carried out.
are normally utilized to resist the resulting high lateral The shear strength of the clay was determined in the
loads. laboratory by anisotropically consolidated undrained
A large number of lateral load tests on single in-
strumented steel pipe piles have been carried out in both
cohesive and cohesionless soils (Reese et al., 1974, 1975a,
1975b, 1986) and methods have been developed to
predict the lateral deflection and ultimate lateral
resistance of both single piles and pile groups using p-y
curves.
The main purpose of this investigation was to improve
presently used design methods usingp-y curves for lateral-
ly loaded piles.
The lateral resistance of single steel pipe piles with
0.09 m to 0.6 m diameter driven into a medium stiff clay
with an average undrained shear strength of 40 kPa has
been investigated at a site located 40 km southwest of
Shanghai, PRC as shown in Fig. 1. The location of the in-
vestigated 3.0 to 14.0 m long test piles which were in-
stalled in October, 1984 is shown in Fig. 2. Table 1 shows
a list of test piles.

SOIL CONDITIONS
The soil at the test site, which is located on the left Fig. 1. Location of test site

i) Former Research Scholar, School of Civil and Structural Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798.
ii) Professor, ditto.
iii) Professor, ditto.
Manuscript was received for review on September 5, 1994.
Written discussions on this paper should be submitted before January 1, 1999 to the Japanese Geotechnical Society, Sugayama Bldg., 4F,
Kanda Awaji-cho, 2-23, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0063, Japan. Upon request the closing date may be extended one month.

17

This is an Open Access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license.

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18 WU ET AL.

0 Pile test Table 1. Lateral load tests with single piles

Field vane test
~ Borehole Distance from
N
Pile Pile Pile the loading Type of
Test diameter length stiffness point to the
(m) (m) (MNm2 ) loading
ground surface
(m)

1 0.16 4.6 1.830 1.17 static

2 0.09 3.0 0.187 0.30 cyclic

II 0
6 5 4 3 2
0 0 0 0 3 0.09 3.0 0.195 0.28 static
10
0 0
I ooo
II .;:~0 ·o:·.a:·o o ·o
4 0.09 3.0 0.182 0.28 static
g7 ~8 :9 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
(19) (20) (21)

5 0.09 3.0 0.196 0.28 static

-$-BHl -$-sH2
6 0.09 3.0 0.216 0.29 cyclic
Road 204 To city
10 0.16 4.4 1.860 0.53 cyclic

Fig. 2. Location of test piles, borings and field vane tests 12 0.16 4.2 1.860 0.53 static

13 0.20 6.0 5.62 0.29 static

14 0.30 12.5 27.9 0.37 cyclic

triaxial tests, ACU-tests and by undrained triaxial tests
(UU-tests) as shown in Fig. 3. The strength and deforma- 15 0.60 14.0 153.3 0.37 static
tion properties have also been evaluated in the field by 16 0.60 14.0 153.3 0.40 static
vane, pressuremeter, and cone penetration tests (CPT).
17 0.50 14.0 97.9 0.72 static
The field vane tests were carried out after the completion
of the pile load tests. The shear strength, when the soil is 18 0.20 12.0 5.61 0.38 static
normally consolidated corresponds to a cui P~o-ratio of 19 0.60 14.0 153.3 1.88 cyclic
0.25, as shown in Fig. 3.
20 0.60 14.0 153.3 1.93 cyclic
It can be seen from Fig. 3 that the shear strength of the
clay varied between the boreholes and that the measured 21 0.50 14.0 97.9 1.82 cyclic
shear strengths had a tendency to decrease with increas- It should be noted that the piles were sufficiently long to behave as
ing depth. It should be noted that the clay is normally infinitely long piles. The bottom of the test piles was protected by a steel
consolidated or slightly overconsolidated 5 m below the plate to prevent soil and water from entering the pile during the driving.
bottom of the test trenches and that the shear strength as The piles were tested about two months after the installation and thus
determined by the triaxial ACU -tests was slightly higher after the reconsolidation of the disturbed soft clay around the piles.

Depth,m Soil Description, Water content. %,

2 Yellow-grey clay
J ob+- +-
• +- +- I +
4--------- • +- + o
_+_ _j+
I+: + +-
+ + \
+1 +o \
a + ++ 0 "
+ * I+ + Assumed shear strength
0 0
Clayey silt with
some fine sand
CD

11 + + ++

12--------- ++ +
+
13 a • g + +
+-
14
Clayey silt + 0

15 -----

16 c 0 ,= 0.25 0 0
Silty clay vO
~

I 11 liquid liai t
Water content
+
0
Vane tests
Triaxial tests (ACU-tests)
Plastic li1it Triaxial tests (UU-tests)

Fig. 3. Composite soil profile

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 LATERALLY LOADED PILES 19

than that determined by the field vane tests as could be ex-
pected. It has therefore been assumed in the following
analysis that the average undrained shear strength of the
clay is 40 kPa down to 5 m depth and 25 kPa between 5
and 10m as shown in Fig. 3. The clay is assumed to be
normally consolidated or slightly overconsolidated below
a depth of 10m.
The water content, the liquid and the plastic limits of
the stiff clay are also shown in Fig. 3. It can be seen that
the water content near the bottom of the trenches is close
to the plastic limit which suggests that the soil is overcon-
solidated due to desiccation. The average unit weight of
the stiff clay was determined to 17 kN I m 3.
The samples at the triaxial tests (ACU-tests) were
reconsolidated anisotropically to simulate the in-situ
stress conditions. The lateral confining pressure cor-
responded to the estimated in-situ lateral effective stress
(K0 a~) 55% to 60% of the estimated vertical effective
stress (Ko=0.55 to 0.60).
STRESS-STRAIN RELATIONSHIP OF TRIAXIAL
TESTS
It was observed in the triaxial tests (ACU- and UU-
tests) that the shape of the stress-strain relationship could
be approximated by a hyperbola as proposed by Duncan
and Chang (1970)
e The lateral deflections of the loaded piles were meas-
(ai-a3)=--b- (1)
a+ e
where (a1- a3) is the deviator stress, a and b are con-
stants and e is the axial strain. In this equation the initial
modulus of elasticity of the soil (Ei) corresponds to 1I a
and the ultimate strength (a I - a3)11R1 to 1 I b where
R1= (a I - a3)JI (a1- a3)utt· At half the failure strength,
0.5(ai- a3)J
0.5(ai- a3)J 1
eso (2)
Ei 1-0.5Rf
The strain eso at half the failure strength of the investi-
gated soil samples varied between relatively narrow
limits, 0.0143 and 0.0170 (1.4% to 1. 7%). It should be
noted that eso=0.015 corresponds to Ei= 59(a I - a 3 )1 as-
suming that R1 =0.875. Equation (2) can be rewritten as
(a I - a3) el eso
(3)
(ai-a3)J P P-2 e
--+--x-
P-1 P-1 eso
and that
P-2
P-1 =RJ. (6)
The coefficient R1 is a constant for most soils. However,
the coefficient P (8 to 12) is a function of the shear
strength.
PILE LOAD TESTS
The diameter of the investigated steel pipe piles ranged
from 0.09 m to 0.60 m as mentioned above. The wall
thickness was 4 mm to 10 mm depending on the pile di-
ameter.
The moment distribution in the piles was measured
with strain gauges attached to the inside surface of the
piles. Four gauges were attached to the piles at each level.
The spacing of the strain gauges was varied depending on
the diameter of the piles and the distance to the ground
surface. The spacing of the strain gauges was reduced in
the part of the piles close to the ground surface.
The strain gauges of each pile were carefully calibrated
using weights which were attached to the piles. The stiff-
ness of each pile as determined from the deflections of
the loaded piles is shown in Table 1. The pile stiffness
(Eplp) varied from 0.182 MNm2 to 153.3 MNm2 • The vari-
ation was thus large.
ured at the bottom of the test trench, at the level of the ap-
plied load and about 1.0 m above the load level. The cor-
responding angular rotation ((}) was determined from the
measured lateral deflections of the pile.
The lateral load was applied by a hydraulic jack in ten
increments. The distance of the applied load (e0 ) above
the bottom of the trench was 0.28 m to 1.93 m depending
on the pile diameter. The load was kept constant for 10
to 60 minutes at each load increment depending on the
load level (Table 2) as recommended by ASTM (D3966-
81).
The moment distributions in Piles 1, 3 and 17 with
Table 2. Loading conditions
Applied Time at each
Load lateral load load increment
increment (minutes)
H/Hu
1 0.2 10min
2 0.4 10min

where 3 0.5 15 min

4 0.6 15 min
P=ewol eso (4) 5 0.7 20min
esoEi
(a1- a3)J 6 0.8 20min

and ewo is the strain at the deviator stress (a1- a 3 )1 at 7 0.85 20min
failure. 8 0.90 25min
It should be noted that
9 0.95 25 min
P (a1- a3)J 10 1.00 60min
(5)
P-1 Eieso

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20 WU ET AL.

Moment, kNm Moment, kNm Moment, kNm

10 20 30 40 0
0.0

1
0.5 3

1.0 6
3

1.5 9
4

2.0 5 12

Depth, m Depth , m Depth, m

a • D=O. 09 m (Test 3) b. D=O.l6 m (Test 1) c. D=O. 50 m (Test 17)

Fig. 4. Measured moment distribution

y/yso P/Pu y/yso

P7Pu P/Pu
P/Pu
2.0 40
15

12 1.5 32

9
24

16

0 j2· 4 6 8 10 12 14 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 0 10 20 30 40 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
y/yso y/yso y/yso
1.0 y/yso

a. 0=0.16 m (Testl,l0and12) c. D=0.20 m (Test 13 and 18)

y/yso
y/yso
P/Pu P/Pu
P/Pu P/Pu

16.0
20
1.6
16
12.8
1.2
12
9.6
8
6.4

3.2
4
0.2

0 10.0 20.0 6 2 4 6 810121416 0 4 8 12 16 A>

0 5.0 10.0
y/yso y/yso
y/y so

b . D =0 . 0 9 rn (Test 3, 4 and 5) d. D=O.SO m (Test 17)

Fig. 5. Experimental p-y curves

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 LATERALLY LOADED PILES 21

0.16 m, 0.09 m and 0.50 m diameter respectively are

shown in Fig. 4. It can be seen from this figure that the
maximum bending moment increased with increasing ap- 1400
E
......_
plied load and that the location of the maximum bending z 1200
moment moved downward when the lateral load was in-
'
creased. 0.
Q) 1000
The shape of the p-y curves as determined by the pile u
load tests was hyperbolic. The following equation was c::
Ill
.w 800
found to fit the test results Cl)
·rl
Cl)
P YIYso Q) 600
(7) 0::
PI pl-2
Pu f3 1 _
1
+ f3 Y / Yso
1 _
1
r-i
·rl 400
0
C/}

where /3 is equal to Ywo! Yso= (2- Rr)/ (1- Rr) and Yso
1
200
and y 100 are the lateral displacements of the pile at 0.5Pu
and P u, respectively. P u is the ultimate lateral resistance
of the soil. 0 5 10 15 4)
The results from the tests with the 0.09 m, 0.16 m,
0.20 m and 0.50 m diameter piles are shown in Fig. 5 (Wu Deflection y, mm
et al., 1991). a. 0=0.61 m

COEFFICIENT R1
The average values for f3 and /3 have been evaluated
1

E
300
......_
from triaxial and pile load tests, respectively. It was z
found that /3=/3 =9 for the tests carried out in
1
'
0.
Shanghai, China in a medium stiff clay. A value of
200
/3 = 11 was obtained by Reese et al. (1975a) from lateral
1 Q)
u
load tests with piles in stiff clay (Fig. 6). It can be seen c::
Ill
.w
from this figure that the shape of the p-y curves is approx- Cl)
·rl
imately hyperbolic. It should be noted, however, that an Cl) 100
Q)
1
average value of /3=/3 =9 corresponds to R 1 =0.875. At 0::
f3 = 11 the coefficient R1=0.90.
1
r-i
·rl
Lateral load tests in soft clay by Matlock (1970) which 0
C/}
were carried out in a soft normally consolidated clay with 0 5 10 15 20
an average undrained shear strength (cu) of 14.2 kPa indi-
1
cated a value for /3 of 8. Deflection y, mm
The coefficients f3 and f3 have thus a tendency to in-
1
b. 0=0.15 m
crease with increasing shear strength from 8 for soft
clays, 9 for medium stiff clays and to 11 to 12 for stiff Fig. 6. Experimental p-y cnrves in two piles tested by Reese et al.
(1975b)
clays. The shape of the stress-strain relationship in triaxi-
al tests (UU- and ACU-test) with clay as well as the p-y
curves from lateral load tests in soft to stiff clays have
also a tendency to be hyperbolic. tic range. McClelland and Focht (1956) indicate that the
The present investigation indicates that the lateral stress-strain relationship as determined by triaxial tests
resistance of the piles does not decrease when the deflec- (UU- or ACU-tests) and the p-y curves from the pile load
tion is large (y > Ywo) and that in stiff to hard clay when tests are related through the coefficient A.
the clay is highly overconsolidated the lateral resistance
Yso=AesoD (8)
might decrease when deflection exceeds Ywo as pointed
out by Reese et al. (1975b). However, the reduction of where D is the diameter of the pile and A is a coefficient
the lateral resistance is usually not large and can general- equal to 2.5 for soft clay (Matlock, 1970) and 1.0 for stiff
ly be neglected. clay (Reese et al., 1975a, 1975b).
The relationship between the p-y curves from pile load
tests and the stress-strain curves from triaxial tests can be
COEFFICIENTS A AND k derived as follows.
The triaxial tests (ACU-tests) and the lateral load tests Vesic (1961) has found that the coefficient of subgrade
indicate that the shape of the stress-strain relationships reaction k is related to the equivalent modulus of elastici-
from the triaxial tests and the p-y curves from the lateral ty (Es) and Poisson's ratio (vs) of the soil and the stiffness
load tests are similar within both the elastic and the plas- of the pile (Eplp)

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22 WUETAL.

Coefficient, A
(9)
2.

where Dis the pile diameter. Since lp=D 4 / 12 for a pile Normally consolidated
with a square cross-section, EP is about 30,000 MPa for clays (OCR= 1.0)
precast concrete piles and Es is approximately equal to 4 )
about 1OOOcu when the clay is overconsolidated. Then
12
0.34 -/C: Es 6 Over consolidated
clays (OCR> 5.0)
k D · (1- v;) . (10)

For a heavily overconsolidated clay with cu= 100 kPa

10
Es
k=0.49 D(1- v;) . (11) 12

Depth/Diameter, x/D
For a normally consolidated clay with cu= 10 kPa and
Es=250cu then k=0.37Es/ D(1-v;). Fig. 7. The variation of the coefficient A with the depth
This equation is simplified to k=0.49Es/ D at v=0.5.
Since k=P/ (yD) and Es=(ai- a3)/ e then for a normal-
ly consolidated clay
to an average value on A for the full depth.
P (a1- a3) Stevens and Audibert (1980) have found that A =8.9/
-=0.49 D . (12)
yD e /D where Dis the diameter in inches. At D=20 in (0.5
m) the coefficient A= 1.99 which compares well with the
At P=0.5Pu and (ai-a3)=0.5(ai-a3)J then
value that has been estimated at the ground surface piles
0.5Pu 0.5(ai -a3)J when the clay is overconsolidated.
--=0.49 . (13) The initial slope of the p-y curve (ki) can then be eval-
YsoD esoD
uated since the shape of the two curves is similar.
Since Pu=NpcuD and (ai-a3)t=2cu
Np
0.5Npcu 0.4 ~ kiD= A Ei.
2
(17)
9 (14)
Yso esoD
Since the coefficient A= Np for a normally consolidated
and clay and A =0.77 Np for an overconsolidated clay then
0.5Np ki=0.5Ed D and 0.65Ed D respectively.
Yso=-- esoD~NpesoD. (15)
0.49
For a normally consolidated clay A is thus approximately DEFORMATION tso
equal to NP. The axial deformation eso of a clay sample at half the
For an heavily overconsolidated clay failure strength 0.5(ai- a3)1 depends mainly on the over-
0.5Np consolidation ratio. It is suggested that eso= 1.0% to 2%,
Yso=-- esoD=0.77NpesoD. (16) 0.5% and 0.25% when the clay is normally consolidated
0.65
(OCR= 1.0), slightly overconsolidated (OCR= 2 to 5),
A is thus equal to 0. 77 Np when the clay is heavily over- and heavily overconsolidated (OCR> 5) respectively.
consolidated. These values correspond to an Es/ Cu-ratio of 50 to 400.
It is expected that the bearing capacity factor (Np) will Reese et al. (1975b) have proposed that eso=0.7%, 0.5%
vary with depth. At the ground surface Np is 2 to 3 while and 0.4% for a heavily overconsolidated clay when the
at a depth of 4D to 5D the bearing capacity factor Np is 9 shear strength is 50 to 100 kPa, 100 to 200 kPa, and 200
to 11 (Matlock, 1970; Reese et al., 1975b). The corre- to 400 kPa respectively. These values agree closely with
sponding variation of the coefficient A with depth is those proposed above.
shown in Fig. 7 since A =Np for a normally consolidated The deformation properties of stiff to hard clays
clay and A =0.77 Np for a heavily overconsolidated clay. should preferably be investigated in the field by pres-
It can be seen from Fig. 7 that A =2.5 at the ground suremeter tests. It should be noted that the pressuremeter
surface for a normally consolidated clay. This coefficient modulus as determined at reloading of the clay should be
is expected to increase .linearly with increasing depth used in the analysis due to the disturbance of the soil dur-
from 2.5 to 10 when the depth increases from 0 to 5D ing the drilling of the boreholes.
where D is the pile diameter. For an overconsolidated
clay the coefficient A is expected to increase from 1. 9 at
the ground surface to 7.7 at a depth of 5D. It is interest- UNDRAINED SHEAR STRENGTH cu
ing to note that A =2.5 has been recommended by the The most difficult part in the analysis of laterally
American Petroleum Institute (1989) which corresponds loaded piles is the evaluation of the average undrained

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 LATERALLY LOADED PILES
shear strength of medium to stiff clays since it is affected
by cracks and fissures in the clay and thus by the size of
the investigated samples. Therefore the shear strength of
a clay at a given test site should preferably be determined
by several different test methods.
Penetration and, pressuremeter tests (Baguelin et al.,
1978; Briaud et al., 1982) have been used to evaluate the
shear strength and the deformation properties of both co-
hesive and cohesionless soils. However, the disturbance
caused by the drilling of the boreholes for the pres-
suremeter tests can significantly affect the results. This dis-
turbance is reduced if a selfboring pressuremeter is used.
It should be noted that the lateral resistance of both sin-
gle piles and of pile groups is mainly affected by the
strength and deformation properties of the soil close to
the ground surface down to a depth that corresponds to
about five to ten pile diameters depending on the shear
strength of the soil (Matlock, 1970; Reese et al., 1975b).
The lateral resistance of laterally loaded piles is also
affected by the pile type (displacement, small displace-
ment or non-displacement piles) and by the change of the
deformation properties of the soil that takes place during
and after the installation of the piles due to reconsolida-
tion of the soil.
The ultimate resistance of a laterally loaded pile is
generally calculated from the equation
(18)
where Np is a bearing capacity factor and Cu is the un-
drained shear strength as evaluated by undrained triaxial
or direct shear tests, unconfined compression or by field
vane tests. The estimated lateral resistance will be too
high in stiff fissured clays when the shear strength is eval-
uated by field vane tests or by cone penetration tests due
to cracks and fissures in the soil.
Marsland (1971) found from in-situ plate load tests car-
ried out at the bottom of boreholes using a 0.865 m di-
ameter plate that the back-calculated undrained shear
strength is about 25% of that determined by field vane
tests. The average shear strength as determined by triaxi-
al tests (UU-tests) had to be reduced by about 30% to cor-
respond to the measured bearing capacity of the soil.
Marsland (1974) also found that the shear strength as
determined by cone penetration tests had to be reduced
by about 50% to correspond to the bearing capacity of
large diameter plate load tests while the shear strength
from pressuremeter tests had to be reduced by about
Table 3. Proposed reduction of the undrained shear strength
Triaxial Cone
Overconsolidation tests Field vane penetration
ratio, OCR UU-tests tests tests
1-2 o. 0 0
2-8 15% 50% 25%
>8 30% 75% 50%
The proposed reduction is large for field vane and cone penetration
tests when the clay is overconsolidated.
23
30%. Test results thus indicate that the undrained shear
strength had to be reduced when the clay is overconsoli-
dated. The following reductions are proposed in Table 3.
ULTIMATE LATERAL RESISTANCE
Since the shape of the stress-strain curves from the
triaxial tests (UU-, CU- and ACU-tests) is similar to the
p-y curves at pile load tests then
PIPu ((JI-a3)1(at-a3)J
(19)
Y I Yso el eso
However, the ultimate lateral resistance of a cohesive soil
is related to the shear strength of the clay Cu = 1I
2[a 1 - a 3]1 through the bearing capacity factor Np
Np(at- a3)JD
Pu • (20)
2
It should be noted that the bearing capacity factor Np will
increase with increasing depth. A wedge analysis has
been used e.g. by Reese (1975b) to evaluate Np taking
into account the shear resistance of the soil along the
sides of the wedge. The coefficient Np is estimated to be 2
to 3 at the ground surface and 9 to 11 at a depth of 4D to
5D.
CONSTRUCTION OF p-y CURVES
The following procedure is proposed to obtain p-y
curves:
• Determine the coefficient P from triaxial tests (UU-,
CU- or ACU-test). If results from triaxial tests are not
available use P=8 for soft clay, {J=9 for medium stiff
clay and {J= 11 to 12 for stiff clay.
• Calculate Yso=AesoD, where A =Np for normally con-
solidated clays and A= 0. 77 Np for heavily overconsoli-
dated clays (Fig. 7). The coefficient Np is assumed to in-
crease linearly with depth from 2 to 3 at the ground
surface to 9 to 11 at a depth of 4D to 5D.
• Evaluate Pu=0.5NpD(at-a3)J where (at-a3)J=2cu.
The undrained shear strength is affected by the testing
method and the overconsolidation ratio as indicated in
Table 3.
• Determine the p-y relationship assuming that {J' ={J
P YIYso
(7)
Pu fJ' fJ' -2 •
fJ, _ 1 + fJ, _ 1 Y I Yso
Cu
COMPARISON WITH TEST RESULTS
The calculated moment distribution and the deflection
at the ground surface for the laterally loaded piles in the
present investigation (Shanghai, PRC) have been com-
pared with the observed moment distribution and the ob-
served deflection. The moment distribution and deflec-
tion at the ground surface have also been investigated for
the piles tested at Austin, Sabine Pass and at Manor in
USA.
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24 WU ET AL.

Shanghai, PRC analysis. The coefficient A has been assumed to increase

The shear strength of the stiff clay as determined by the
field vane tests varied within the site as can be seen in Fig.
3. The clay is overconsolidated at the surface down to
about 8 m depth. An average undrained shear strength
(cu) of 40 kPa has therefore been used in the following
Moment, kNm
c 1easured
co~puted
linearly with depth from 2.2 at the ground surface to 8.8
at 5D. The strain at half the ultimate strength (e 50 ) has
been assumed to be 0.25% which corresponds to that of a
heavily overconsolidated clay.
It can be seen from Fig. 8 that the agreement between
the measured and the calcula~ed moment distributions
for the pile with 0.16 m diameter is very satisfactory. In
general the predicted bending moment in the lower part
of the pile is somewhat too high. The maximum bending
moment and the lateral deflection for the piles with 0.09
m, 0.16 m, 0.20 m and 0.50 m diameter {Tests 3, 1, 13
and 17 respectively) are shown in Figs. 9(a) to 9(d). The
agreement between calculated and measured values is
very satisfactory.
It should be noted that eso is affected by the disturbance
caused by the sampling. A relatively low value on eso
(0.25%) has therefore been assumed since the clay is over-
consolidated at the ground surface due to desiccation. If
a value on eso= 1.5% is chosen instead of e50 =0.25%
then the difference between the computed and measured
deflections at the ground surface is about 60%. The corre-
sponding difference between computed and measured
maximum bending moments is much smaller (Wang et
al., 1991).

Depth, m Austin and Sabine Pass, USA

Matlock (1970) has investigated the lateral resistance
Fig. 8. Comparison between measured and computed moment curves of a 0.324 m diameter steel pipe pile with a length of 12.8
on 0.16-m diameter pile (Test 1) mat Austin and at Sabine Pass in Texas, USA. The in-

Load, kN Load, kN
60 Load, kN Load, kN
25 25
601

/~ /
20 20
40
w /"
15

20/
15

10 10 20

o 1easured o 1easured
5 / ....,H 5 - coaputed - cotputed
- coaputed - co~puted
0+---~20----~40----~60 0+-~10--~20---3~0.~0
0 "io ~0
Maximum moment, kNm Deflection, mm
Maximum moment, kNm Deflection, mm

a. 0=0.16 m (Test 1) c. D=O. 20 m (Test 13)

Load, kN Load, kN Load, kN Load, kN

8 8 200
2001

6 150 150

4 4 100 100

2 o ~easured
50 50
c 1easured c 1easured
- coaputed - COipUted - cotputed

0
0
0
0
20 40------w
Maximum moment, kNm Deflection, mm Maximum moment, kNm Deflection, mm

b. D=O. 09 m (Test 3) d. 0=0.50 m (Test 17)

Fig. 9. Comparisons between measured and computed maximum moments and deflections for the Shanghai tests

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 LATERALLY LOADED PILES 25

strumented pile was driven into a medium stiff or a soft

clay with an average undrained shear strength obtained
from UU- and ACU-tests of about 40 kPa and 15 kPa, re-
spectively close to the ground surface.
A comparison between measured and calculated distri-
bution of the maximum bending moments is shown in
Figs. 10(a) and 10(b). It has been assumed in the calcula-
tions that e50 is 1.0% and 2.0% for the medium stiff clay
and for the soft clay, respectively. The shear strength at
the Austin site has been reduced by 25% from 40 kPa to
30 kPa since the clay is overconsolidated at the ground
surface. Also for these tests the agreement between meas-
ured and calculated bending moments is satisfactory.
Manor, USA
The lateral resistance of a 15.3 m long steel pipe with
0.61 m diameter has been investigated by Reese et al.
(1975a; 1975b). The measured undrained shear strength
of the clay (UU-tests) increased with increasing depth
from about 100 kPa at the ground surface to about 300
kPa at 3.7 m depth.
The measured and the calculated maximum moments
and deflections are shown in Fig. 11. It has been assumed
in the calculations that e50 =0.5% and that the shear
strength is 50 kPa at the ground surface and 100 kPa at
3.0 m depth (5D). The difference between measured and
calculated bending moments and deflections is small.
CONCLUSIONS
1. A series of lateral load tests with instrumented single
piles have been carried out in Shanghai, PRC. The di-
ameter of the piles varied from 0.09 m to 0.60 m.
2. The hyberbolic shape of the stress-strain curves from
the triaxial tests (UU-, ACU-tests) and of the p-y
curves from the lateral load tests has been used to es-
timate the lateral deflections and the moment distri-
bution in the laterally loaded piles.
3. The results from the laboratory triaxial tests and the
field load tests could be related through a coefficient
A, which was found to be independent of the pile di-
ameter. This coefficient increased linearly from the
ground surface down to a depth of 4D to 5D. Below
this critical depth A was constant. The value on the
coefficient A was reduced approximately by 20% to
25% when the clay was overconsolidated.
4. It should be noted that the hyperbolic stress-strain
relationship of the soil could be characterized by the
strain eso at half the failure load and by the failure
strength of the soil (at- 0'3)1 as determined by triaxi-
al tests (UU- and ACU-tests).
5. A reduced shear strength had to be used in the calcu-
lations when the clay is overconsolidated. The reduc-
tion increased with increasing overconsolidation ra-
tio of the soil.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Load, kN Load, kN
The Authors are grateful to Assoc. Prof. Wong
1001
'"r Huichu of Hohai University, Nanjing, PRC who was the

sol/ project manager and to State Institute of Seaship Stan-

/m,~
80r

4l
60
dards in Shanghai, PRC for releasing the data.

40
REFERENCES
20 c 1easured
- coaputed - co1puted
1) API (1989): "Recommended practice for planning, designing and
o 16o 1so z6o constructing fixed offshore platforms,'' American Petroleum In-
Maximum moment, kNm Maximum moment, kNm stitute, RP 2A, 18th Edition Washington D.C., USA, p. 153.
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000/ 5) Marsland, A. (1974): "Comparison of the results of static penetra-

/ ~ ~ ;~..,
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:1,L-"
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