Laterally Loaded Pile Behavior

An analysis of laterally loaded piles is presented in which the pile is treated as an elastic beam supported on non-linear, shear coupled, horizontal springs. The edge forces which act along the pile length are also taken into account and prove to be of significant importance to the pile behaviour. The characteristics of the axial springs and the shear coupling are determined from the interpretation of horizontal plate bearing tests carried out, in pairs, at different depths along a 2 in. (50 mm.) diameter pile which is advanced into the soil. The results obtained from laterally loaded pile tests on six piles of three different diameters and stiffnesses are compared to the analytically predicted pile behaviour.