INTRODUCTION Currently in practice, the most usually used method for analyzing piles subjected to lateral forces and moments at the head is the p-y method, wherein a series of non-linear springs represent the soil behavior against the loaded pile, However, this method does not accurately depict the three-dimensional interaction between the pile and soil. On the other hand, a continuum-based analysis is more appealing, yet it requires the use of numerical techniques such as three-dimensional (3D) Finite Element method that would lead to cumbersome integral equations not ideal for routine practice. The journal paper aims to develop a semi-analytical method in determining the elastic response of laterally loaded pile in multi-layered soil in order to save computational time, (Salgado, Basu, Prezzi, & Tehran, 2013) PROBLEM FORMULATION In order to develop the method, a practical situation wherein a circular cross-section pile with radius rp and length /,p embedded in a multilayered soil profile is considered. Each soil layer extends to infinity in all radial directions, and the bottom layer extends to infinity in the downward direction. The pile is subjected to a concentrated lateral load Fa and a moment Ma at the pile head. The goal of the analysis is to obtain pile deflection as a function of depth caused by the action of Fs and/or Me at the pile head. The soil medium is assumed to be an elastic, isotropic continuum, homogeneous within each layer, with Lame's constants Gsi and asi. There is no slippage or separation between the pile and the surrounding soil or between the soil layers. The pile behaves as an Euler-Bernoulli beam with a constant flexural rigidity Eplp. (Basu & Salgado, 2007) ANALYSIS As noticed in the article, product of three variable separable functions is used to define the displacement at any point in the soil. The soil displacement uz in the vertical direction is assumed to be negligible. The horizontal displacements for rectangular and circular piles are given by w(z)O(r)cosé (1a) =w@)0@)sind (1b) 0 (1c) Using the principle of minimum potential energy, the equilibrium condition of pile and soil is formulated. The corresponding strain-displacement relationship, considering the above equations result to:we) cosé x» 0 0 0 % 0 0 0 | ea om as A AEG 0 0 Ol Jen cal>| 0 ° 0 G0 Ol /ay oe 9 0 0 6 G& O])>, ve a 0 0 0 0 G&S hye @) Using equations (2) and (3), stresses and strains in the soil expresses in terms of the displacement functions of equation (1). To obtain the equilibrium equations for the pile and soil, it could be separately considered by collecting all the terms with 4, and 6, and separately equate them to zero, (Basu & Salgado, 2007). One of the resulting equations, after dividing by the pile length, denotes the depth and the deflection for any layer ( as expressed by the differential equation, @) The equation (4) is a fourth-order linear differential equation, with the general solution (2) = C/O, + CY, + CO; + Cf dy (5) Where c, c®, c®, and c are integration constants for the ith layer and ©, ,, 9, and ®, are standard trigonometric functions of z that arise in the solution of linear differential equation. ‘The solutions produce the pile deflection, slope of the deflected curve, bending moment and shear force as functions of depth if the following are known: the pile cross-sectional dimensions and length, thicknesses of the soil layers, Young's modulus of the pile 3material, the Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio of the soils in the various layers, and the magnitudes of the applied force and moment. (Salgado, Basu, Prezzi, & Tehran, 2013) DISCUSSION It is important to note that the journal article developed a problem that leads to linear differential equation. Solving such differential equations involved some of the methods discussed in the course, which enabled us to understand better the principles and concepts used by the article in achieving its objectives. Identifying a differential equation, first and foremost, then, its order, degree, and classifying it whether linear or non-linear, homogeneous or non-homogeneousis the most fundamental topic that is imparted to us through this course that enabled us in understanding this article. Variable separable equations can be determined, proved, and solved with the knowledge in this course, as well. Aside from several other topics concerning calculus, relating to the use of Matrices and its operations in considering, expressing, and solving systems of differential equations as used in this article is not difficult. Although some solutions to the governing differential equations are instead obtained iteratively due to its complexities, it is worth to learn the topics in the course since it greatly aided us to relate to the authors’ objectives, the procedures undertaken, as well as their options in the approach of solving those differential equations. Afterall, those differential equations regardless of the method used, ultimately should have boundary conditions to practical enough and applicable to actual situations, as for this article, to obtain the response of piles. CONCLUSION The presented analytical solution for a single pile embedded in a multi-layered elastic medium and subjected to a horizontal force and a moment at the pile head that allows the calculation of pile deffection, slope of the deflected curve, bending momentand shear force for the entire length of the pile if the following are known: the pile radius and length, thickness of the soil layers, Young’s modulus of the pile material, the Young's moduli and Poisson's ratios of the soils in the various layers, and the magnitudes of the applied force and moment. Differential equations and matrices have proven to be useful in various fields of science and engineering. For this article, mathematical modelling of variations in stress and strain would require differential equations. The methods for understanding and analyzing such equations are very important for engineers to be able to come up to the formulate problems and eventually to solve it.REFERENCES Basu, D., & Salgado, R. (2007, September). Eastic analysis of laterally loaded pie in muti- layered sol. Geomechanics and Geoengheering: An Intemational Journal, 33), 186- 196. Retrieved December 2017, from https://www.researchgate.net, publcation/249028566 Salgado, R., Basu, D., Prezzi, M., & Tehran, F. (2013). SembAnalytical Solutions for Lateraly Loaded Pies in Muyered sois. 18th Intemational Conference on Soi! Mechanics and Geotechnical Engheerhg, (pp. 2855-2858). Parts.