Interaction between vertical and lateral loads on the response of piles in soft clays

The paper presents the results of three-dime2nsional finite element analysis of a single pile installed in homogeneous soft clay under individual lateral load and combined vertical and lateral loading. The interaction between vertical and lateral loads on piles has been analyzed using the finite element program GEOFEM-3D. In this analysis, the pile is treated as linear elastic and the behaviour of soil has been idealized using non-associated elastic perfectly plastic based Drucker-Prager constitutive model. The numerical results presented in this paper highlight the effect of vertical load interaction on the lateral load deflection response of pile with reference to some of the important parameters viz. method of loading, pile head fixity conditions and L/B ratio.