Pile in Layered Elastic Material

Abstract

In the models presented in the previous chapters the pile-soil interaction has been represented by a system of linear or non-linear springs. This means that the soil response at a certain depth is assumed to be determined only by the local displacement of the pile. In that case the actual stress transfer in the soil has no influence on the interaction of the soil and the pile. In more refined models the soil is represented by an elastic continuum. Examples of this are the models developed by Poulos (1971), Banerjee & Davis (1978), Randolph (1981) and Verruijt & Kooijman (1989). This latter model, which applies to a laterally loaded pile only, will be presented in this section. Compared to other models it has the advantage that it can be generalized to include plastic deformations of the soil and the interaction of a pile group with the soil (Kooijman, 1989). The model is quasi-three-dimensional, in the sense that the distribution of stresses and strains is represented by a layered system of two dimensional problems. Stress transfer between the layers is taken into account, but in an approximative way only.