Finite Element Analysis of Laterally Loaded Pile in Homogeneous Soils

Volume 8 Issue 2 June - August 2019

Research Paper

Finite Element Analysis of Laterally Loaded Pile in Homogeneous Soils

S. S. Teke*, D. K. Kulkarni **, K. B. Prakash***

*-** Department of Civil Engineering, S. D. M. College of Engineering, Dharwad, India.

*** Government College of Engineering, Haveri, India.

Teke, S. S., Kulkarni, D. K., & Prakash, K. B. (2019). Finite Element Analysis of Laterally Loaded Pile in Homogeneous Soils, i-manager's Journal on Structural Engineering, 8(2), 19-29. https://doi.org/10.26634/jste.8.2.16230

Abstract

Pile foundations are the most popular form of deep foundations used for onshore and offshore structures. They are often used to transfer large loads from superstructures in to deeper competent soil layers, particularly when the structure is to be located on shallow weak soil layers. The main objective of this investigation is to study the pile model behavior under lateral load in homogeneous soils and investigate the results using Finite Element Analysis (FEA). A Finite Element Analysis based on mathematical code developed in commercial software MATLAB to find out the maximum deflection and bending moment of pile under different operating conditions. The heavy duty PVC pipe material is considered for the model pile while different soils viz. sand and Black Cotton (BC) soil are used with different subgrade modulus present within the range. A single hollow pile of 24 mm outside diameter with thickness of 2.3 mm is considered for the analysis. The length of the pile varies between 720 mm to 912 mm with an eccentricity of 61 mm from the ground level. Afterwards, the study is further extended with the parametric study under different operating conditions. Effect of length of the pile, diameter of the pile, lateral load and the soil subgrade reaction has been analyzed. The results found that, there is the increase in deflection for lower diameter, lower length, and lower subgrade reaction, whereas the increase in bending moment for higher diameter, higher length and lower subgrade reaction of the soil, respectively.