Ultimate Lateral resistance of pile group in clayey soils against various directions of ground movement

Abstract

This study estimated the ultimate lateral resistance of pile group against horizontal ground movement by using two-dimensional rigid plastic finite element method (RPFEM). The effect of ground movement direction on the ultimate lateral resistance was investigated through the case studies. According to the results, it can be seen that changes in both the ultimate lateral resistance and the failure mode of ground around piles were observed. The effect of the pile spacing on load apportionment ratios was studiously investigated. Since each pile in the group affects other piles, it leads the load apportionment ratio significantly to depend on pile positions such as the front or back piles. Moreover, the load apportionment ratio of each pile went up with an increase in pile spacing, but it was obtained different remarkably among piles. The load apportionment ratio varied with the direction of the ground movement.