Study of strain wedge parameters for laterally loaded piles

Asetofsmall-scalephysicalmodelingofasinglepileunderlateralloadswasperformedinaloosesandenvironment.Digitalimages were captured during the lateral loading of the pile from the side and from the top of the model simultaneously. The particle image velocimetry (PIV)methodwasapplied,andthedeformationsofthesoilaroundthepileandthesoilstrainswereobtainedfromthesetests.Thesoildisplace- ment patternnearthesurfacearoundthepiles wasstudied,andtheeffectofthepilelengthonthesoildeformation patternwasinvestigated. The effectofpilestiffnessandwidthonsoildeformationpatternswasalsostudied.Forthestudyofsoildeformationpatternsaroundrigidpiles,three tests with rigid piles were undertaken, and strain distribution in the soil was obtained. Based on PIV analysis, a three-dimensional strain wedge with the shape of a circular cone was formulated. The equation of the strain wedge was derived, and with the stress-strain limit equilibrium analysis, the lateral load response of the pile was obtained. Lateral load capacities of several piles from different studies were estimated based on various pile and soil properties, and these results are compared with the measured capacities. Comparisons show good agreement with the load measurements. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)GM.1943-5622.0000186. © 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers. CE Database subject headings: Piles; Lateral loads; Soil deformation; Strain; Parameters. Author keywords: Flexible piles; Lateral loading; Particle image velocimetry (PIV); Soil deformation pattern; Strain wedge.

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