Three‐dimensional finite element analyses of passive pile behaviour

Piles may be subjected to lateral soil pressures as a result of lateral soil movements from nearby construction-related activities such as embankment construction or excavation operations. Three-dimensional finite element analyses have been carried out to investigate the response of a single pile when subjected to lateral soil movements. The pile and the soil were modelled using 20-node quadrilateral brick elements with reduced integration. For compatibility between the soil–pile interface elements, 27-node quadrilateral brick elements with reduced integration were used to model the soil around the pile adjacent to the soil–pile interface. A Mohr–Coulomb elastic–plastic constitutive model with large-strain mode was assumed for the soil. The analyses indicate that the behaviour of the pile was significantly influenced by the pile flexibility, the magnitude of soil movement, the pile head boundary conditions, the shape of the soil movement profile and the thickness of the moving soil mass. Reasonable agreement is found between some existing published solutions and those developed herein. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.