Response of Laterally Loaded Single Pile in Clayey Slope for Large Displacements

Pile foundations near the crest of a slope are often required to resist lateral loads. In the present study, the effect of slope inclination and edge distance from crest of clayey slope on ultimate lateral pile capacity has been investigated using PLAXIS 3D. From the obtained results, the hyperbolic p - y relationship has been established for different edge distances. For the case of pile located at crest, the increase of slope inclination from 0° to 30°, the ultimate lateral pile capacity decreased by 14.5 and 16.9% for undrained cohesion of 50 and 100 kPa, respectively. For the slope angle 30°, increase in the crest distance from 0 to 7 times pile diameter resulted increment in the ultimate lateral pile capacity by 16.7 and 20.4% for undrained cohesion of 50 and 100 kPa, respectively. The maximum normalized bending moment increased with increase in the ground slope angle. Marginal reduction in the maximum normalized bending moment has been noticed with increase in the edge distance.