A New Model for Analysis of Laterally Loaded Piles

A new analysis is developed to calculate the response of laterally loaded piles in multi-layered elastic media. The governing differential equations for pile deflections in different soil layers are derived using energy principles, and solutions are obtained analytically. The displacement fields in the soil surrounding the pile are taken to be the products of independent functions that vary in the vertical, radial and circumferential directions. The input parameters needed for the analysis are the pile geometry, soil profile and the elastic constants of the soil and pile. The method produces results with accuracy comparable to that of a three-dimensional finite element analysis but requires much less computational time.