Module: Pile Lateral Loading,

Group Efficiency and

Settlement
Lecture: Lateral Loading of
Piles
CEES 4333 Foundation Engineering
Dr. Gerald A. Miller, P.E.
 Overview
• in some situations, piles must be designed to
resist lateral loads, from wind, earth and water
pressures, etc.-examples: billboards, retaining
walls, bridge abutments, etc.
• lateral load resistance comes from soil reaction Das and Sivakugan 2019
to pile displacement, and bending resistance of
the pile – “soil-structure interaction”
• lateral load resistance depends on: Rigid Pile Flexible Pile
– flexural rigidity of the pile (EpIp)
– pile length
– soil stiffness along the length of the pile
rigid body
• rigid behavior: pile is relatively short and stiff rotation
and the soil is soft point of
fixity
• flexible behavior: pile is relatively long and
flexible compared to the soil stiffness
 Governing Equation
Euler-Bernoulli beam equation modified for
beams on elastic foundations
• governing equation: EpIp(d4x/dz4)=p’
– p’=soil reaction (units of F/L)
– Ep=pile elastic modulus
– Ip=pile section moment of inertia
– x=pile lateral deflection Das and Sivakugan 2019

– z=depth along pile

– p’=kx
– k=modulus of subgrade reaction (units of F/L2)
EpIp(d4x/dz4)+kx=0
 Pile Lateral Loading Analysis Methods
• analytical solutions
– Woodward, Gardner and Greer (1972) for sand
– Matlock and Reese (1960)
– Davisson and Gill (1963)
– Broms (1965) – ultimate load analysis
• numerical solutions
– finite difference (e.g. L-Pile)
– finite element
 Elastic Solution
• Woodward, Gardner and Greer (1972) for Sand
• pile deflection, xz(z)=AxQgT3/(EpIp)+BxMgT2/(EpIp)
• moment, Mz(z)=AmQgT+BmMg
• shear, Vz(z)=AvQg+BvMg/T
• soil reaction, p’(z)=Ap’Qg/T+Bp’Mg/T2
– Ax, Bx, Am, Bm, Av, Bv, Ap’, Bp’ from Table 12.15 for long piles (T≥5) in sand
– for T<5 in sand, use Fig. 12.39 with Zmax=L/T
– for clay use Eqs. 12.107 through 12.111 and Fig. 12.40
– characteristic length, T= (EpIp/nh)1/5 Das and Sivakugan 2019

– subgrade modulus coefficient, nh values from Table 12.16

– subgrade modulus at depth z, kz=nhz
– Ep=pile elastic modulus
– Ip=pile section moment of inertia
The End