Numerical investigation of the lateral response of battered pile foundations

Three-dimensional finite difference parametric analyses have been carried out to investigate the influence of vertical loads on the lateral performance of battered piles in both sandy and clayey soils. Different batter angles and soil stiffness were considered to examine the salient features of this complex soil–structure interaction problem. Numerical results show that the lateral response of battered piles embedded in sands is influenced by the value and the direction of the pile inclination, the presence of vertical loads as well as the soil state of density. When the lateral load acts in the opposite direction of the pile inclination (negative batter angle), the lateral response of the piles increases substantially with the batter angle as well as the sand packing. The response of piles at positive batter angles, however, does not appear to vary considerably with the batter angle or the sand density. The effect of the vertical loads on lateral response of battered piles in sands is found to be very pronounced. On the other hand, the lateral response of piles embedded in a clayey soil at negative batter angles increases greatly with the inclination angle and does not vary with its undrained shear strength. The lateral response of the piles with positive inclination angles is independent of the batter angle and the soil stiffness. Moreover, the presence of a vertical load prior to the application of a lateral load to a battered pile does not alter its lateral capacity.

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