Study of Soil Layering Effects on Lateral Loading Behavior of Piles

Abstract

This paper presents results of the finite element study on the behavior of a single pile in elastic-plastic soils. Pile behavior in uniform sand and clay soils as well as cases with a sand layer in a clay deposit and a clay layer in a sand deposit were analyzed using finite element modeling. Finite element results were used to generate $p\text{-}y$ response curves, which were cross compared to investigate the soil layering effects.