Variational Method For Analysis of Laterally Loaded Piles in A Two-Layered Soil Medium

Variational method for analysis of laterally loaded piles in a
two-layered soil medium

SAN-SHYAN LIN
1
AND ABDULLATEEF M. AL-KHALEEFI
*2
1
Department of Harbor & River Engineering, National Taiwan Ocean University
Keelung, Taiwan 20224
2
Department of Civil Engineering, Kuwait University, P.O.Box 5969, 13060 Safat,
Kuwait
ABSTRACT
An analytical procedure for analysis of laterally loaded piles in a two-layered elastic soil
system is proposed, which uses the variational method to obtain the governing
dierential equation of the pile and soil system. The important foundation properties are
quantied through one interaction parameter for the soil layers. The -parameter
controls the stress decay in the soil away from the pile. Either free or xed pile head
conditions may be considered. The results obtained using the proposed method are
compared with experimental and theoretical results obtained by other investigators. The
theoretical studies include parameter studies on the eect of the elastic properties of the
soil and pile material, the thickness of the surface layer, the geometric pile parameters on
the pile head displacement, the maximum bending moment, the location of the
maximum moment, and the parameter .
INTRODUCTION
It is usually time consuming to use the nite element method for analysis of
laterally loaded piles, which are three-dimensional in nature. Hence, two main
approaches, the subgrade reaction method (Lin 1997; Reese 1982) and the
elastic solution (Poulos & Davis 1980; Poulos 1971) are often used for analysis
of piles subjected to lateral loads. Both linear and non-linear springs can be
utilized with the subgrade reaction approach. However, the elastic approach
considers the soil as a continuous media rather than unconnected springs as in
the subgrade reaction method. In addition, the input variables can be directly
related to measured soil properties, such as its stiness and its strength, in the
elastic continuum model.
Most of the available elastic solutions (Poulos & Davis 1980; Scott 1981)
consider a pile embedded in a single layer homogeneous soil system. Since piles
* Corresponding author.
Kuwait J. Sci. Eng. 30(1) 2003
are often socketed into rock or embedded in a rm bearing material, a method
which considers the piles in a layered soil media is an important part of the
analysis of pile foundations. The analysis of Davisson and Gill (1963) was based
on a subgrade reaction model and was not completely satisfactory. Pise (1982)
employed Mindlin's equation to study the eect of soil layering on the behavior
of laterally loaded piles. The location of the maximum bending moment was not
evaluated. Verruijt and Kooijman (1989) used a nite element method for
analysis of laterally loaded piles in a layered elastic medium. Lee et al. (1987)
extended Chan et al.s' (1974) theory, which is a closed-form solution for force at
a point in the interior of a layered elastic half space, to study the problem on
laterally loaded piles in the layered soil.
The purpose of this paper is to present a new semi-analytical model for
laterally loaded piles in two-layered elastic soil. The basic idea of the Vlasov
method, used in static analysis of a beam on elastic foundations (Scott 1981;
Jones & Xenophontos 1989; and Vallabhan & Das 1991) or piles in elastic half
space (Sun 1994; Sun 1993), is also adopted in this study. However, this basic
idea is extended to consider piles in two-layer soil conditions. The governing
dierential equations are obtained via the variational method. The important
interaction parameter is used to represent the soil foundations. The -
parameter controls the stress decay in the soil away from the pile. Various pile
head boundary conditions are considered in the analysis. Some examples are
presented to study the validity and applicability of the present method. The
results obtained are compared with experimental, analytical and numerical
results obtained by other investigators.
DESCRIPTION OF THE MODEL
A circular pile embedded in layered soil is shown in Fig. 1(a). The soil column is
the ``soil prole'' below the shaft of the pile. The length, the radius, the Young's
modulus, and the moment of inertia of the pile are L, R, E
p
and I
p
, respectively.
The soil surrounding the pile is idealized as two homogeneous, isotropic elastic
soil layers. The Young's modulus and the Poisson's ratio of the upper and the
lower soil layers are E
1
, v
1
, and E
2
, v
2
, respectively. In addition, H and H
s
are
the thickness of the upper soil layer and the embedded depth of the pile in the
lower soil layer, which is assumed to extend to innity. The soil is assumed to be
unaected by the presence of the pile and there is no slippage or separation at
the interface of the pile and the surrounding soil. The model pile head may be
under either free of xed head conditions. Three dierent boundary conditions,
free, pinned, and xed, are considered at the pile tip.
The cylindrical coordinates (Fig. 1(b)), r, 0, and z, and the corresponding
displacements, u, v, and w, are considered. For the soil domain, the vertical
272 San-Shyan Lin and Abdullateef M. Al-Khalee
displacement associated with a laterally loaded pile is assumed to be negligible.
Hence, the soil displacements may be approximated as (Sun 1994; Sun 1993):
u = F(z)c(r) cos(0) (1a)
v = F(z)c(r) sin(0) (1b)
and
w = 0 (1c)
Fig.1 Pile and cylindrical coordinate system
273 Variational method for analysis of laterally loaded piles in a two-layered soil medium
in which F(z) is a function representing the displacement along the pile axis; c(r)
is a function representing the variation of soil displacement in the r direction,
and 0 = 0 degree represents the direction of the lateral load applied at the pile
head. The Z axis is directed vertically downward as shown in Figure 1(b).
Dividing the soil domain into three dierent layers, as shown in Fig. 1(a), we
can dene the following:
1 - The top soil layer (0 < z < H):
u
1
= F
1
(z)c(r) cos(0) (2a)
v
1
= F
1
(z)c(r) sin(0) (2b)
and
w
1
= 0. (2c)
2 - The pile embedded depth of the lower soil layer (H < z < L):
u
2
= F
2
(z)c(r) cos(0) (3a)
v
2
= F
2
(z)c(r) sin(0) (3b)
and
w
2
= 0. (3c)
3 - The soil layer below the pile tip (L < z < ):
u
3
= F
3
(z)c(r) cos(0) (4a)
v
3
= F
3
(z)c(r) sin(0) (4b)
and
w
3
= 0. (4c)
Based on the minimum potential energy theorem (Scott 1981), the increment
of the strain energy of the pile due to bending can be expressed as:
cU
p
= E
p
I
p
_
L
0
d
2
F
dz
2
c
d
2
F
dz
2
dz
= E
p
I
p
_
H
0
d
2
F
1
dz
2
c
d
2
F
1
dz
2
dz E
p
I
p
_
L
H
d
2
F
2
dz
2
c
d
2
F
2
dz
2
dz. (5)
Similarly, the increment of the strain energy of the soil, excluding the
contribution of the soil column below the pile tip, can be expressed as:
cU
s
=
dU
s
d
ij
c
ij
=
_

0
_

R
_
2:
0
o
ij
c
ij
rd0drdz (6)
where o
ij
and
ij
are the stresses and the strains in the soil, respectively. The
elastic constitutive law of the soil in cylindrical coordinates is:
o
r
o
0
o
z
t
r0
t
0z
t
zr
_
_
_
_
=
`
s
2G
s
`
s
`
s
0 0 0
`
s
`
s
2G
s
`
s
0 0 0
`
s
`
s
`
s
2G
s
0 0 0
0 0 0 G
s
0 0
0 0 0 0 G
s
0
0 0 0 0 0 G
s
_
_
_
r0
0z
zr
_
_
_
_
(7)
in which G
s
=
E
s
2(1 v
s
)
and `
s
=
v
s
E
s
(1 v
s
)(1 2v
s
)
, where E
s
and v
s
are the
Young's modulus and the Poisson's ratio of the soil, respectively. In addition,
the strain-displacement relationship of an elastic body can be expressed as:
r0
0z
zr
_
_
_
_
=
0u
0r
0v
r00
u
r
0w
0z
0u
r00
0v
0r
v
r
0v
0z
0w
r00
0w
0r
0u
0z
_
_
_
_
=
0u
0r
0v
r00
u
r
0
0u
r00
0v
0r
v
r
0v
0z
0u
0z
_
_
_
_
=
F(z)
dc(r)
dr
cos(0)
0
0
F(z)
d(r)
dr
sin(0)
dF(z)
dz
c(r) sin(0)
dF(z)
dz
c(r) cos(0)
_
_
_
_
(8)
in which the zero circumferential strain is due to the assumed formulation of Eq. (1c).
Applying Eqs. 7 and 8, Eq. 6 can be rewritten as:
cU
s
= :
_

0
_

R
(`
s
3G
s
)F
dc
dr
c F
dc
dr
_ _
2G
s
c
dF
dz
c c
dF
dz
_ _ _ _
rdrdz. (9)
The increment of the shear strain energy of the soil column is assumed to be
very small and is neglected in the following derivation.
P and M are the concentrated lateral load and the moment applied at the
head of the pile, as shown in Fig. 1a. The potential energy due to the external
loads, V
F
, is:
V
F
= U
F
= P.F(z)
z=0
M
dF(z)
dz
z=0
. (10)
The increment in the potential energy of the external force system can be
expressed as:
cV
F
= P.cF(z)
z=0
M.c
dF(z)
dz
z=0
. (11)
Using the minimum potential energy theorem, the basic equilibrium
equations can be derived as:
c = c U
P
c U
S
cV
F
= 0 . (12)
Taking a variation of Eq. (12) in c F
1
and collecting the coecients of c F
1
for
0 _ z _ H, and also by assuming z = zL and F =

FL, we have:
_
H
L
0
E
p
I
p
d
4

F
1
d z
4
2:G
1
R
2
1
d
2

F
1
d z
2
:(`
1
3G
1
)j
1

F
1
_ _
c

F
1
d z = 0 . (13)
Since c
F
1
is arbitrary, hence
E
p
I
p
d
4

F
1
d z
4
2:G
1
R
2
1
d
2

F
1
d z
2
:(`
1
3G
1
)j
1

F
1
= 0 (14)
in which and j are the parameters describing the behavior of the elastic media
and will be discussed in detail in the following section. After re-arrangement, we
have:
d
4

F
1
d z
4
2t
1
d
2

F
1
d z
2
k
1

F
1
= 0 0 _ z _
H
L
_ _
. (15a)
Similarly, taking variation of Eq. (12) in c
F
2
for H _ z _ L, and in c
F
3
for
L _ z _ , we have:
d
4

F
2
d z
4
2t
2
d
2

F
2
d z
2
k
2

F
2
= 0
H
L
_ z _ 1
_ _
(15b)
and:
F
3
=

F
3
(1) exp
c
R
( z 1)
_ _
(1 _ z _ ) (15c)
where t
1
, k
1
, t
2
, k
2
and c are non-dimensional parameters, which will be derived
in detail in the following section. The subscripts 1 and 2 of t and k refer to top
and underlying soil, respectively. Eqs. (15a) to (15c) are the dimensionless
governing equations of the considered pile system.
Considering the boundary conditions at the pile head, we have:
d
3

F
1
d z
3
2t
1
d

F
1
d z

P = 0 ( z = 0) (16a)
d
2

F
1
d z
2

M= 0 ( z = 0) (freehead pile). (16b)
and
d

F
1
d z
= 0 ( z = 0) (fixedhead pile). (16c)
The boundary conditions at the interface between the soil layers are:
F
1
=

F
2
z =
H
L
_ _
(17a)
d

F
1
d z
=
d

F
2
d z
z =
H
L
_ _
(17b)
d
2

F
1
d z
2
=
d
2

F
2
d z
2
z =
H
L
_ _
(17c)
and:
d
3

F
1
d z
3
=
d
3

F
2
d z
3
z =
H
L
_ _
. (17d)
In addition, the boundary conditions at the pile tip are:
d

F
2
d z
= 0 ( z = 1) (fixed pile tip). (18a)
d
2

F
2
d z
2
= 0 ( z = 1) (free or pinned pile tip). (18b)
F
2
= 0 ( z = 1) (fixed or pinned pile tip). (18c)
and
d
3

F
2
d z
3
2t
2
d

F
d z
2t
2
k
2
_

F
2
= 0 ( z = 1) (free pile tip). (18d)
The non-dimensional parameters, in Eqs. (15), (16) and (18d), can be expressed as:
t
1
=
:G
1
R
2
L
2
E
p
I
p
(19a)
k
1
=
:(`
1
3G
1
)jL
4
E
p
I
p
(19b)
t
2
=
:G
2
R
2
L
2
E
p
I
p
(19c)
k
2
=
:(`
2
3G
2
)jL
4
E
p
I
p
(19d)
P =
L
2
E
p
I
p
P (19e)
M=
L
E
p
I
p
M (19f )
and
c =
(3 4
2
)j
2
2(1 2
2
)
2
. (19g)
As shown in Eqs. (15), (16), (17) and (18), the soil resistance on the pile can be
represented by two dierent parameters, t and k, dened in Eqs. (19a) to (19d).
Parameters k
1
and k
2
characterize the compressive strain in the foundation.
Parameters t
1
and t
2
characterize the shearing strain in the foundation. Both
parameters k and t are uniquely calculated using the modulus of elasticity, E
1
and E
2
; the Poisson's ratio, v
1
and v
2
; and the deformation of the soil medium,
c
1
(r) and c
2
(r). Thus, the parameters t and k are constants under the
homogeneous material assumption of each soil layer.
Again, applying the principle of variational calculus to Eq. (12) and collecting
the coecients of cc for R _ r < , we have:
r
2
d
2
c
d r
2
r
d c
d r

R
_ _
2
r
2
c = 0 (R _ r < ) (20)
where is a non-dimensional parameter that can be expressed by the non-
dimensional displacement

F
1
and

F
2
as:
=
2G
2
(`
2
3G
2
)
2
8t
2
k
2
_
G
1
G
2
_ __
H
L
0
d

F
1
d z
_ _
2
d z
8t
2
k
2
_
_
1
H
L
d

F
2
d z
_ _
2
d z k
2

F
2
2
(1)
8t
2
k
2
_
`
1
3G
1
`
2
3G
2
_ __
H
L
0
F
1
2
d z
8t
2
k
2
_
_
1
H
L
F
2
2
d z 2t
2

F
2
2
(1)
(21)
in which is dened as slenderness ratio = L,R.
The solution of Eq. (20) is:
c(r) =
k
0

r
R
_ _
K
0
()
(22)
which satises the nite condition at r , c() = 0, and the unit condition
at r = R, c(R) = 1. In Eq. (22), K
0
denotes the modied Bessel function of the
second kind, of zero order. After obtaining the function of c(r), the
dimensionless parameters and j can be expressed as (Sun 1994):
j =
1
2[K
0
()[
2
[K
1
()[
2
[K
0
()[
2
_ _
(23a)
=
1
2[K
0
()[
2
[K
1
()
1
K
0
()[
2
(
2
1)[K
1
()[
2
_ _
(23b)
where K
1
denotes the rst-order modied Bessel function of the second kind.
COMPUTING PROCEDURES
is a function of F(z) and its derivative is dF,dz, as shown in Eq. (21).
However, Eq. (23) shows that both and j are also functions of , which has to
be known before the function F(z) can be solved. In addition, c(r) solved using
Eq. (22) is also a function of . Hence, we need an iteration technique to obtain
the parameter since appears on both sides of the equality.
Vallabhan and Das (1991) proposed an iteration technique for analysis of a
beam resting on an elastic foundation. One initial value of is assumed rst to
solve and j from Eq. (23). = 0.5 is usually a good initial guess based on
experience. Subsequently, t
1
, k
1
and t
2
, k
2
can be calculated from Eq. (19).
Hence, the function F(z) is obtained via Eqs. (15a) and (15b). Finally, the
parameter is recalculated from Eq. (21). and j may be updated based on the
re-calculated after each iteration. In addition, the pile displacement functions
F
1
(z) and F
2
(z) and their derivatives dF
1
,dz and dF
2
,dz can also be updated.
The iteration is stopped once the change in between iterations is less than
0.0001. In general, it takes about 6 to 9 iterations for convergence, even in the
case of a poor initial guess.
The step-by-step computation procedure is summarized as follows:
1 - Compute the principal parameters, , j and from Eqs. (21) - (23).
2 - Compute the parameters t
1
, t
2
and k
1
, k
2
, using Eqs. (19a) - (19d).
3 - Compute the non-dimenstional loading

P and

M, using Eqs. (19e) and (19f).
4 - The closed-form solution of the dimensionless displacement of vertical
piles in two-layered soil media,

F( z), can be obtained by solving Eq. (15)
with the boundary conditions given by Eqs. (16) - (18). The solution can be
expressed as:
F
j
( z) =
4
i=1
c
i
g
i
( z) (j = 1. 2) (24)
where g
i
( z)(i = 1 to 4) are the solution functions of the dierential equation
in Eq. (15); and c
i
(i = 1 to 4) are the integration constants, which can be
obtained based on the boundary conditions in Eqs. (16) - (18). Dierent sets
of solution functions, g
i
( z)(i = 1 to 4), are derived and given in Chou (1998).
5 - After obtaining the displacement from Eq. (24), the rotation, bending
moment and shear force of the pile can be obtained by derivation of the
function

F( z) in terms of the derivatives of the solution functions g
i
( z).
6 - Compute the soil displacement in r-direction, c(r) using Eq. (22), if
necessary. Following the above procedures, the design engineer can easily
calculate the response of a pile in a two-layered soil system.
COMPARISON OF PREDICTED AND MEASURED PILE BEHAVIOR
Test conducted by Ismael and Klym (1978)
A drilled shaft was installed in a layered silty clay soil system as shown in Fig.
2(a). The diameter and the length of the shaft were 1.5 m and 11.6 m,
respectively. Based on the recommendation made by Lee et al. (1987), secant E
1
was used to take into account the eects of local yielding, pile-soil separation at
the top of the pile and the ssured clay condition. The Young's moduli and
Poisson's ratios of the top and lower soil layers are also given in Fig. 2(a). In
addition, E
p
and v
p
were assumed to be 28 10
3
MN/m
2
and 0.2, respectively. A
comparison of the predicted results with the eld measurements and the
theoretical solution obtained by Lee et al. (1987) is shown in Fig. 2(b).
Fig. 2. Comparison of the proposed solution with eld measurement results
for a laterally loaded drilled pile given by Ismael & Klym (1978).
The results obtained using the present method and the eld measurements are
in reasonably good agreement with the theoretical solutions and the measured
results. The approach by Lee et al (1987) is rather complicated. An analytical
solution for the two-layer system displacement needs to be obtained rst and
then applied to the case with the pile in it. This is not an easy approach.
Therefore, we believe that the comparison in the study is adequate.
Test conducted by Alizadeh and Davisson (1970)
A steel pipe pile, 16.1 m long, was jetted initially for 11.6 m and then driven
through a layered soil as shown in Fig. 3(a). The outside diameter and the wall
thickness of the pile were 0.4 m and 7.9 mm, respectively. Based on the
recommendation made by Lee et al. (1987), the actual soil system can be
represented by an upper soil layer 11.6 m in thickness and a bearing layer with
innite depth. The material properties of the soil and the pile are also shown in
Fig. 3(a). A comparison of the predicted results with the eld measurements and
the theoretical solution obtained by Lee et al. (1987) is shown in Fig. 3(b).
COMPARISON WITH OTHER THEORETICAL RESULTS
AND PARAMETRIC STUDIES
The parameters investigated in the following analysis are E
1
,E
2
, H,L, and the
exibility factor, which will be dened later. The behavior of the pile is
investigated in terms of pile head deection, the maximum bending moment,
and the location of the maximum bending moment below the ground surface.
Typical values for parameters used in the following analysis are:
E
1
,E
2
= 0.1 10, H,L = 0.1 0.5, v
1
= 0.35, and v
2
= 035 unless otherwise
specied. Due to space limitations, only a few results for L,D = 25 are
presented and analyzed here. For other results with L,D ratios other than 25,
readers can refer to Chou (1998).
Theoretical studies by Poulos (1971) and by Verruijt and Kooijman (1989)
When E
1
= E
2
and v
1
= v
2
for the case of piles in the elastic half-space problem,
then the problem becomes a special case of the proposed method. To validate
the performance of the proposed method, the solutions obtained from Poulos
(1971) and by Verruijt and Kooijman (1989) for piles in linear elastic half-space
problems are used for the purpose of comparison. The solutions obtained by
Poulos (1971) and Verruijt and Kooijman (1989) are given in terms of the
dimensionless exibility factor K
r
, dened as:
K
r
=
E
P
I
P
E
S
L
4
(25)
Fig. 3. Comparison of the proposed solution with eld measurement results
for a laterally loaded pipe pile given by Alizadeh & Davisson (1970)
which caracterizes the stiness ratio of the pile and the soil. In addition, the pile
displacement, y, and rotation, 0, at the ground surface for a free-head pile may
be expressed as follows (Poulos and Davis 1980):
y = I
yP
K
r

PL I
yM
K
r

ML (freehead pile) (26a)
0 = I
0P
K
r

P I
0M
K
r

M (freehead pile) (26b)
and:
y = I
yPF
K
r

P (fixedhead pile) (26c)
where I
yP
and I
0P
= displacement and rotation inuence factors for horizontal
load, respectively; I
yM
and I
0M
= displacement and rotation inuence factors for
moment, respectively; and I
yPF
= displacement inuence factor for xed-head
conditions.
For the case of a pile with a slenderness ratio L,D = 25, the results of the
displacement and rotation factors, I
yP
, I
yPF
, I
0P
, and I
0M
and the bending
moment are shown in Fig. 4 as a function of the exibility factor K
r
. The results
obtained using the present method, those obtained by Poulos (1971) and those
obtained by Verruijt and Kooijman (1989) are in good agreement.
Theoretical studies by Pise (1982)
For the case of laterally loaded piles in a two-layer soil media, Pise (1982) has
given the solution in terms of the dimensionless exibility factor K
R
, dened as:
K
R
=
E
P
I
P
E
2
L
4
(27)
which characterizes the stiness ratio of the pile and the bearing soil. In
addition, for free-head piles, the horizontal displacement and rotation at the
head of the pile can be given by:
F(0) = I
y
P
K
R

P I
yM
K
R

M (28a)
0(0) = I
0P
K
R

P I
0M
K
R

M. (28b)
Fig. 4. Displacement and rotation inuence factor
and maximum bending moment versus K
r
The results for the displacement inuence factor I
yP
, computed under various
exibility factor K
R
conditions, are shown in Fig. 5. The curves for cases with
H,L = 0 and E
1
,E
2
= 1, which becomes a single soil layer, are horizontal lines.
At any H,L ratio, I
yP
shows magnication or damping when E
1
,E
2
is greater or
less than unity, respectively. For a softer surface layer, I
yP
increases with an
increasing H,L ratio. For a stier surface soil layer, with respect to I
yP
, the
point of diminishing return is reached in each case at a very small H,L ratio.
Fig. 5. I
yp
versus E
1
,E
2
and H,L (L,D = 25).
Comparison between the corresponding solutions for the bending moment is
given in Fig. 6, in which M
m
is the maximum moment coecient and is dened
as:
M
m
=
M
max
PL
(29)
Fig. 6. M
m
versus E
1
,E
2
and H,L (L,D = 25).
in which M
max
= the maximum moment. At any K
B
, the trends of the curves for
M
m
and I
yP
versus E
1
,E
2
are very similar. At any K
R
, M
m
increases or decreases
to a maximum or minimum point with increasing H,L when E
1
,E
2
1 or < 1,
respectively. After passing the maximum or minimum point, the M
m
decreases
or increases with the increase of H,L as E
1
,E
2
1 or < 1, respectively.
Figure 7 shows the eects of K
R
, I
yP
, E
1
,E
2
, and H,L on `, which is the
depth to the location of the maximum bending moment of the pile measured
from the ground surface as a ratio of L. For the gures on the left-hand side, at
any K
R
, the curves intersect at E
1
,E
2
= 1, and the curve for H,L = 0 is a
horizontal line through the point of intersection. For the gures on the right
hand side, it is observed that the curves pass through points of optimum
magnication or optimum reduction in ` when E
1
,E
2
< 1 or 1, respectively.
Fig. 7. ` versus E
1
,E
2
and H,L (L,D = 25).
Eects of the loading type and the pile head
boundary conditions on the parameter
Figure 8 shows the eects of K
R
, E
1
,E
2
, H,L, the pile head boundary condition,
and the type of imposed loading on the parameter . In general, a smaller K
R
appears to have a higher value. At any K
R
and H,L, the curves intersect at
E
1
= E
2
. In addition, it is observed that the curves show signicant variation at
higher and lower E
1
,E
2
ratios, except in the case of K
R
= 10
5
and E
1
,E
2
1.0.
Given the material properties for both the pile and the soil, the exibility
factor, and the type of imposed loading, the parameter may be obtained
directly from Fig. 8.
Fig. 8. versus E
1
,E
2
(L,D = 25).
Relationship between the soil displacement function c(r) and the parameter
The variation of the parameter with the decay of function c(r), as shown in
Fig. 9, reveals that the higher the value of the faster the decay of c(r).
Fig. 9. Change of c(r) away from the pile surface.
Illustrative example
A hypothetical example used by Pise (1982) to compute the maximum moments
and ground deections for a free-head steel pipe pile is also used here with
further calculation for the location of the maximum moments by using the
proposed method. The pile is a 0.305 m steel pipe pile and is embedded 7.625 m
in a two-layered soil. The elastic modulus of the under-layer soil is 5.86 MPa.
The properties of the pile are I
p
= 11. 500 cm
4
and E
P
= 208 GPa. A lateral load
of 66.75 kN is applied at the ground surface. The maximum moments, ground
deections and the locations of the maximum moment are computed for
E
1
,E
2
= 0.5, 1, 2, and 10 with a surface layer thickness of 0.915 m.
Based on the assumed pile and soil data, we have:
H,L = 0.915,7.625 = 0.12. and K
R
=
(208GPa)(11. 500cm
4
)
(5.85MPa)(25 12)
4
= 1.21 10
3
10
3
.
Interpolation from Fig.6 for H,L = 0.12, K
R
10
3
at E
1
,E
2
= 0.5, 1, 2 and
10, give M
m
= 0.092, 0.067, 0.047, and 0.028, respectively. Fig. 5 gives
I
yP
= 11.25, 6.95, 4.52, and 1.35 for the respective E
1
,E
2
values. In addition,
depths below ground surface to the location of maximum moment can be
obtained from Fig. 7. From Eqs. (28) and (29), maximum bending moments,
their locations, and ground displacements are calculated and recorded in Table
1, which showed that the results from the proposed method are closer to the
results of Poulos (1971) than those obtained by Pise (1982), for the E
1
,E
2
= 1
case. Therefore, the proposed method results are better than those of Pise.
Table 1. Numerical results for free-head steel pipe pile
E
1
,E
2
Max Bending Moment
(kN 6m)
Ground Displacements
(mm)
Depth of Max.
Moment from
Ground Surface (m)
Present
Method
Pise
(1982)
Poulos
(1980)
Present
Method
Pise
(1982)
Poulos
(1980)
0.5 46.83 48.86 - 17.0 17.0 - 1.68
1.0 33.85 36.65 32.58 10.5 12.0 10.43 1.56
2.0 23.92 27.49 - 6.80 7.20 - 1.21
10.0 14.25 17.82 - 2.02 2.03 - 0.76
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
An approach using a variational method has been employed to analyze the
behavior of a pile in a two-layered soil when the pile is subjected to prescribed
lateral forces and moments acting on the pile head. The application of the
Vlasov model for piles in a two-layer soil system has been enhanced by
evaluating the parameter, which controls the decay in the soil away from the
pile. In addition, a computing procedure has been presented. Application of the
proposed method to the interpretation of two eld load tests reported in the
literature has also been performed. Furthermore, the eects of various
parameters on the pile head displacement, the maximum bending moment and
the location of the maximum moment have been compared to available
solutions and investigated, respectively, for a pile with L,D = 25. In addition,
the eects of the soil and pile geometrical and material properties, and the pile
head boundary conditions on the parameter have been evaluated. Finally, an
example has also been illustrated. Using the procedures described in this paper,
the static response of a pile in a two-layer soil system, including the
displacement, rotation, bending moment, and shear force, can be calculated
easily. The advantage of the proposed model can be summarized by the fact that
the approach by Lee et al (1987) requires tedious mathematical derivation and is
quite complicated compared to the proposed method. In addition, the proposed
method has been shown to be better than the approach by Pise (1982).
Nomenclature
C Layer coecient = E
1
,E
2
D Diameter of the pile = 2R
E
1
. E
2
Young's modulus of the upper soil layer and bearing layer,
respectively.
E
P
Young's modulus of the pile.
E
S
Young's modulus of the soil.
F Displacement of the soil medium along the z-direction.
F Non-dimensional displacement of the soil medium along the

z-direction.
G
1
. G
2
Lame's constants for the top and bearing layer, respectively.
H Thickness of the top soil layer.
I
P
Moment of inertia of the pile section.
I
yP
. I
yM
. I
yPF
Inuence factors of displacement.
I
0p
. I
0M
Inuence factors of rotation.
K Socketing length factor =(L H),D.
K
0
(). K
1
() Modied Bessel functions of the second kind, of orders zero
and one, respectively.
K
R
Dimensionless exibility factor [see Eq. (27)].
K
r
Dimensionless exibility factor [see Eq. (25)].
L Length of the pile.
M Imposed moment at the pile head.
M
m
Maximum bending moment on the pile.
M Dimensionless imposed moment at the pile head.

P Imposed horizontal load at the pile head.
P Dimensionless imposed horizontal load at the pile head.

R Radius of the pile.
r. 0. z Cylindrical coordinates (see Fig. 1).
T Layer thickness ratio = H,L.
t. k The shear parameter for the soil and the modulus of the
subgrade reaction [see Eqs. (19a to 19d)].
U Elastic strain energy.
u. v. w Displacement of the soil medium (see Fig. 1).
V
F
External potential energy.
z Dimensionless coordinate.
Slenderness ratio dened by L,R.
c Parameter of the bearing soil layer dened by Eq. (19g).
cU Increment in the elastic strain energy.
i
.
ij
Normal strains and shear strains.
c(r) Displacement function of the soil medium in the r-direction.
Dimensionless parameter of the soil layer [see Eq. (21)].
j. Dimensionless parameters describing the behavior of the
foundation soil [see Eq. (23)].
` Depth to the location of the maximum bending moment on
the pile measured from the ground surface as a ratio of L.
`
1
. `
2
Lame's constants for the top and bearing layer, respectively.
v
1
. v
2
Poisson's ratios of the top and bearing, layer, respectively.
v
P
Poisson's ratios of the pile.
o
i
. t
ij
Normal stresses and shear stresses.
REFERENCES
Alizadeh, M. & Davisson, M. T. 1970. Lateral load tests on piles-Arkansas River project. Journal of
the Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, ASCE, 96(5): 1583-1604.
Chan, K. S., Karasudhi, P. & Lee, S. L. 1974. Force at a point in the interior of a layered elastic
half space. International Journal of Solids and Structure. 10: 1179-1199.
Chou, C. C. 1998. Analysis for laterally loaded piles in layered soil media. Masters Thesis, Dept. of
Harbor and River Engineering, Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung, Taiwan, (in Chinese).
Davisson, M. T. & Gill. H. L. 1963. Laterally loaded piles in a layered soil system. Journal of Soil
Mechanics & Foundation Engineering, ASCE 89(3): 63-94.
Ismael, N. F. & Klym, T.W. 1978. Behavior of rigid piers in layered cohesive soils. Journal of
Geotechnical Engineering, ASCE 104(8): 1061-1074.
Jones, R. & Xenophontos, J. 1989. The Vlasov foundation model. International Journal of
Mechanical Science 19:317-323.
Lee, S. L., Kog, Y. C. & Karunaratne, G. P. 1987. Laterally loaded piles in layered soil. Soils and
Foundations, JSCE 27(4): 1-10.
Lin, S. S. 1997. Use of lamented beam elements for bored pile analysis. Journal of Structural
Engineering, ASCE 123(9): 1236-1244.
McLachlan, N. W. 1961. Bessel Functions for Engineers, 2
nd
Ed. Oxford University Press, London,
U.K.
Pise, P. J. 1982. Laterally loaded piles in a two-layer soil system. Journal of Geotechnical
Engineering, ASCE 108(9): 1177-1181.
Poulos, H. G. & Davis, E. H. 1980. Pile Foundation Analysis and Design. John Wiley and Sons,
Inc., NY.
Poulos, H. G. 1971. Behavior of laterally loaded piles, I: Single piles. Journal of Soil Mechanics and
Foundation Division, ASCE 97(5): 711-731.
Reese, L. C. 1982. Behavior of piles and pile groups under lateral load. Report Number FHWA/
RD-85/106, Federal Highway Administration, Washington D.C., USA.
Scott, R. F. 1981. Foundation Analysis. Prentice-Hall, NJ, USA.
Sun, K. M. 1994. Laterally loaded piles in elastic media. Journal of Geotechnical Engineering,
ASCE 120(8): 1324-1344.
Sun, K. M. 1993. Static analysis of laterally loaded piles. Proceedings of the Eleventh Southeast
Asia Geotechnical Conference, Singapore, 589-594.
Vallabhan, C.V.G. & Das, Y. C. 1991. Modied Vlasov model for beams on elastic foundations.
Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, ASCE 117(6): 956-966.
Verruijt, A. & Kooijman, A. P. 1989. Laterally loaded piles in a layered elastic medium.
Geotechnique 39(1): 39-46.
Submitted : 16/2/2002
Revised : 2/12/2002
Accepted : 22/12/2002
_ Q * t ? @ j + + Q * ? y A J z + { G y Q v + R I G y } J } z ? F 9 ! = + 9
k
p , h S b P h _ = t A + # | # G y A Q < ?
S 9 f V + 9 f y + #
*
h f = O G y z a + r | J } O G y M z + q ,
* *
*
s T ~ $ " O S ? G y } ( G ! r h G } ! % 9 Q - F 9 | g ? | J + b @ 9 * ( G f G y ( _ " + ?
v + z ( ! k - @ 9 * ( G f 20224
* *
s T ~ G y % " O S ? G y } O ! + ? - F 9 | g ? G y w ( * B
U . H 5969 G y Z q 9 I - G y w ( * B 13060
L ; Y ?
* t O e p , $ P G G y = J E _ Q * t ? @ J z + z + ? y A J z + { G y Q v 9 F R G y } J } z ? F 9 ! = + 9
k
p , ! d 9 e @ Q < ? | Q ! ? P h
_ = t A + # h * T A M O e p , $ P G G y A J z + { _ Q * t ? @ j + + Q * ? y z J Z ( d f z ) G y } g 9 O : J G y A q 9 \ + z + ?
G y J 9 v } ? y w { | # G y Q v + R I h ! d 9 e G y A Q < ? h * A ~ @ J O * O | t O G Q G y M ( G U G y % 9 | ? y z t ( G f O f # _ Q * u
| g 9 | { @ q 9 f { , y a = t 9 J G y A Q < ? h * A J w ~ $ P G G y } g 9 | { < A ] 9 F { G F % 9 O p , G y A Q < ? G y = g + O I f #
G y Q v + R I h * } w # G f A = 9 Q Q C S G y Q v + R I G y J Q C h G y } D = B p , $ P G G y A J z + { h @ A ~ | t 9 Q ! ? G y " A 9 F H | #
$ P G G y A J z + { < " A 9 F H G y A G 9 Q H h G y " A 9 F H G y " d Q * ? y = 9 I D + # B L Q * # h @ W } { G y O Q G S 9 J G y " d Q * ?
f ( G | { P G J Y z ? < 9 y A z C + Q f z ) G y M ( G U G y } Q ! ? y } ( G O v ; | # G y A Q < ? h G y Q v + R I h v P y x S } 9 v ?
G y a = t ? G y T a J + ? h G y g ( G | { G y % " O S + ? y z Q v + R I h f ; s A % 9 < 9 R G I ? G y " 9 @ G ? f # Q C S G y Q v + R I
h f R e G : ! J " 9 A G } s Z ) h | ( s h f R e G : ! J " 9 A G } s Z ) h G y } g 9 | { .

Variational Method For Analysis of Laterally Loaded Piles in A Two-Layered Soil Medium

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Variational Method For Analysis of Laterally Loaded Piles in A Two-Layered Soil Medium

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Variational method for analysis of laterally loaded piles in a

two-layered soil medium

F Non-dimensional displacement of the soil medium along the

M Dimensionless imposed moment at the pile head.

P Dimensionless imposed horizontal load at the pile head.

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