Numerical Study on the Bearing Behaviour of Pile Groups Subjected to Lateral Pressure Due to Soil Movements

Abstract

In soft soil layers vertical piles are frequently loaded laterally by horizontal soil movements caused by eccentric loading or unloading of the ground surface around the piles. In the course of the construction process of a steel mill a large scale test was carried out to investigate the influence of a storage for steel slabs on the pile foundation of a neighbouring bridge crane. In the scope of this paper the results of the measurements carried out during the large scale test are compared with three dimensional, coupled pore pressure-displacement finite element analyses investigating the influence of a thin stiff layer within a deposit of soft soil and the roughness of the pile-soil interface on the lateral pressure acting on the piles.