Lateral pressure on piles due to horizontal soil movement

This paper presents the results of 1g model tests on single piles and pile rows loaded laterally by horizontal soil movements in soft kaolin clay. 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 many cases, the lateral pressure acting on piles due to horizontal soil movements is calculated using empirically or analytically based approaches. The model tests investigate the influence of the roughness of the pile–soil interface, the pile size, the pile shape, the displacement rate of the soft soil flowing around the pile and the pile spacing on the lateral pressure acting on the piles. During the model tests, the soil movements were analysed with the particle image velocimetry method. The results of the model tests show possible influences on the resulting pile loads.