Interaction of Axial and Lateral Pile Responses

Abstract

A series of tests were carried out on instrumented model piles to investigate the effect of interaction on the axial and lateral responses of piles in clay. The effect of lateral loading proved to be significant on the axial pile response, while the effects of axial loading on the lateral pile response were rather limited. Lateral loads increased considerably the axial displacement of the pile head. The amount of this increase depended on the value of the applied lateral load and on the level of the axial load. At low load levels where the soil behavior is linearly elastic, the increase in pile settlement due to a lateral load is very small. The explanation of these interaction effects was attempted through a nonlinear finite‐element analysis, in which the yielded zone created, in the soil, by the combined axial and lateral loading is larger than that developed by pure axial loads.