Jordan Journal of Civil Engineering, Volume 12, No. 4, 2018
- 721 -
© 2018 JUST. All Rights Reserved.
Effect of Sand-Pile Interaction on the Response of Battered Piles Subjected to
Lateral Loads
Mohamed G. Arab
1, a)
, Ahmed AlaaEldin
2)
and Mohamed Ashour
3)
1)
Assistant Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, College of Engineering, University of Sharjah,
Sharjah 27272, UAE. E-Mail: marab@sharjah.ac.ae
a)
Assistant Professor, Structural Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Mansoura University,
Mansoura D3118, Egypt. E-Mail: mg_arab@mans.edu.eg
2)
Teaching Assistant at Mansoura High Institute for Engineering and Technology, Egypt.
E-Mail: ah.a.eldin@gmail.com
3)
Professor of Civil Engineering, Department of Structural Engineering, Mansoura University,
Mansoura D3118, Egypt. E-Mail: mohamed.ashour@aamu.edu
ABSTRACT
This paper presents a parametric study on the effect of pile batter angles and soil/pile properties on the response
of laterally loaded battered piles in sand using the Strain Wedge (SW) formulation. The SW model determines
the lateral behavior of battered piles and the corresponding p-y curves based on soil-pile interaction. The
methodology employed is validated using battered piles in sand by centrifuge model tests. The results showed
that change of soil and pile properties has a significant influence on the response of laterally loaded battered
piles. The lateral capacity of battered piles is highly affected by the batter angle and sand relative density.
Negatively battered piles maintain a significantly higher bearing capacity than vertical piles in the range from
zero to minus seven degrees of pile battering, followed by a less rate of increase in the lateral capacity with
larger angels of battering. However, the bearing capacity of positively battered piles is generally less than that
of vertical piles. In addition, the calculated response of laterally loaded piles was significantly affected by the
pile flexure rigidity and the shape of the pile cross-section.
KEYWORDS: Battered piles, Lateral load, Sand.
INTRODUCTION
Battered piles are considered a substitute to vertical
piles subjected to high lateral loads, especially in
structures like off-shore and retaining structures.
Classification of battered piles depending on the
direction of inclination with lateral loads is either
positively or negatively battered piles (Fig. 1). Several
researchers have experimented to understand the
behavior of battered piles under lateral loads. Kim et al.
(1976) performed full-scale tests on single steel battered
piles and pile groups with battered piles derived in
cohesive soil. The results indicated that the pile group
with battered piles was deflected laterally 50% to 70%
less than the pile group with vertical piles.
Received on 11/4/2018.
Accepted for Publication on 9/8/2018.