Analysis of laterally loaded pile groups in clay

The problem of pile groups subjected to lateral loads is of interest particularly in offshore and coastal regions. An understanding of pile-soil interaction is essential in designing such pile foundations. In this paper, a simplified finite element analysis in conjunction with Yegian and Wright approach has been presented to study the behaviour of pile groups under lateral loads. The pile is treated as a shear beam and the soil media is assumed to be linear elastic. The results of the analysis are used to estimate: 1) Lateral Group Efficiency and 2) Extent of stress influence around the pile. The results obtained from the theoretical predictions are found to be reasonably in good agreement with the published literature.