A Simple Approach for Evaluating the Bearing Capacity of Piles Subjected to Inclined Loads

Abstract

This paper deals with the behavior of piles subjected to inclined compressive loads. Some numerical results are first presented to document the influence of the load inclination on the pile response to high loads capable of determining an ultimate condition of the soil–pile system. On the basis of these results, a simple-to-use approach is proposed for a preliminary evaluation of the bearing capacity of piles embedded in cohesionless soils as well as in cohesive soils. Comparisons with numerical results and experimental data from model pile load tests are presented to assess the reliability of the proposed approach. A fairly good agreement is found in all considered case studies. In addition, it is shown that the predictive capability of the present approach is better than that of other simplified methods published in the literature.