Abstract:

A simple and practical analytical solution is presented for the analysis of settlement of the large group piles embedded in layered ground under vertical load. The approach is based on the shear displacement method and ‘restrain action’ among piles in group is considered. On the basis of displacement integral equation of a single pile, the relationship between pile head displacement and the axial force is deduced, and so does the relation of pile tip displacement and the axial force. Then, considering the interaction between piles, a flexibility matrix that can be used to compute the settlement of group piles is obtained. On the process of the deducing, the group piles is arbitrarily divided into n segments; thus the presented method can be used to calculate the settlement of group piles in arbitrary layered ground. A case history indicateds that the settlements of group piles computed by the presented method agree reasonably well with those by the hybrid layer method and boundary element method (BEM).

Key words: layered ground, group pile, settlement, ‘restrain action’, shear displacement method