Analysis of Laterally Loaded Piles in Soil with Stiffness

Increasing with Depth

W. Y. Shen1 and C. I. Teh2

Abstract: This article reports a variational solution and its spreadsheet calculation procedure for the analysis of laterally loaded piles in
a soil with stiffness increasing with depth. The aim of the paper is to provide solutions that can be used simply with recourse only to
spreadsheet calculation to solve the displacement and bending moment of laterally loaded piles, so that they can be easily applied in
practice as an alternative approach to analyze the response of laterally loaded piles.
DOI: 10.1061/共ASCE兲1090-0241共2004兲130:8共878兲
CE Database subject headings: Piles; Lateral displacement; Lateral loads; Soils; Stiffness; Spreadsheets.

Introduction Method of Analysis

Laterally loaded piles are commonly used in engineering practice, Basic Variational Formulation
and a number of theoretical methods have been available for ana-
lyzing such piles. For example, the subgrade reaction approach by The variational approach for the analysis of laterally loaded pile
Barber 共1953兲 and Matlock and Reese 共1960兲, the p-y curve groups has been described in detail by Shen and Teh 共2002兲. For
method by Reese 共1977兲, and the elastic continuum approach by a single pile in a soil modeled using the subgrade reaction
Poulos and Davis 共1980兲, Zhang and Small 共2000兲, and Shen and method, the potential energy can be written as
Teh 共2002兲. These aforementioned methods, however, need com-
plex computer programs to perform fully numerical analysis, and
this makes them less accessible to practicing engineers in the
␲ p ⫽U p ⫹
1
2 冕l
␳ z k hz ␳ z ddz⫺␳ t H t ⫺
⳵␳ t
⳵z t
M (1)

routine design. In Eq. 共1兲, the first term U p equals elastic strain energy of the pile.
This article reports a variational solution for the analysis of The second term is the work done by the soil reaction pressure,
laterally loaded piles that can be used simply based on a spread- where ␳ z ⫽pile displacement; k hz ⫽soil modulus of subgrade re-
sheet calculation procedure using Microsoft Excel. The purpose of action; l⫽pile length; and d⫽pile diameter. The third and fourth
the paper is to provide solutions that are simple and efficient and terms are, respectively, the work done by the horizontal load H t
can be used as an alternative approach for the analysis of laterally and moment M t acting at the pile head, where ␳ t is the pile head
loaded piles at working load levels. The present solutions are displacement. The pile displacements ␳ z , which can be repre-
developed mainly based on the variational approach by Shen and sented by finite series as given by Shen and Teh 共2002兲, can be
Teh 共2002兲. The soil is modeled using a subgrade reaction method written as
and its stiffness can be increased with depth. It should be noted ␳ z⫽ 兵 Z ␳其 T兵 ␤ 其 (2)
that solutions that are able to consider soil stiffness increasing
with depth are important to laterally loaded piles, since adopting where 兵 Z ␳ 其 ⫽vector related to only the depth coordinate z; and
this soil stiffness variation is an approximate way to take into 兵␤其⫽vector containing undetermined constants. Thus, with the
account the high strain levels in the soil near the ground surface application of the principle of minimum potential energy, Eq. 共1兲
can be reduced as
so that simple elastic analysis can provide at least a first estimate
of pile response at working load levels. ⳵␳ t
冉 冊
冕
⳵
⳵U p ⳵␳ z ⳵␳ t ⳵z
⫹ k hz ␳ z ddz⫽ H t⫹ Mt (3)
1
Research Fellow, NTU-PWD Geotechnical Research Centre, School ⳵␤ i l ⳵␤ i ⳵␤ i ⳵␤ i
of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Nanyang Technological Univ.,
Singapore. where ␤ i ⫽constants in the vector 兵␤其. For the case of a pile
2
Associate Professor, NTU-PWD Geotechnical Research Centre, subjected to a horizontal load, Eq. 共3兲 can be reduced to a matrix
School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Nanyang Technological equation given by
Univ., Singapore.
Note. Discussion open until January 1, 2005. Separate discussions 共 b k pH c ⫹ 关 k sH 兴 兲 兵 ␤ H 其 ⫽ 兵 H 其 (4a)
must be submitted for individual papers. To extend the closing date by For the case of a pile subjected to a moment, Eq. 共3兲 can be
one month, a written request must be filed with the ASCE Managing
reduced to a matrix equation given by
Editor. The manuscript for this technical note was submitted for review
and possible publication on October 15, 2002; approved on December 12, 共 b k pM c ⫹ 关 k sM 兴 兲 兵 ␤ M 其 ⫽ 兵 M 其 (4b)
2003. This technical note is part of the Journal of Geotechnical and
Geoenvironmental Engineering, Vol. 130, No. 8, August 1, 2004. where b k pH c and 关 k sH 兴 are the matrices reflecting the pile and soil
©ASCE, ISSN 1090-0241/2004/8-878 – 882/$18.00. stiffness under a horizontal load loading, respectively. b k pM c and

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关 k sM 兴 are the matrices for a moment loading. 兵H其 and 兵M其 are the where the first term in Eqs. 共6c兲 and 共6d兲 is valid for i⫽ j and the
vectors reflecting the horizontal load and moment acting at the rest of the terms for i⫽ j. The coefficients in the rest of the rows
pile head, respectively. and columns are given by

Solution for Pile Response Estimate

h Hi j ⫽ 冋 K r 共 i⫹ j⫺4 兲 4 ␲ 4 ⫹8 共 ␣⫹1 兲
32 册
After solving the vectors 兵 ␤ H 其 and 兵 ␤ M 其 in Eqs. 共4a兲 and 共4b兲, 2 共 ␣⫺1 兲共 i⫺2 兲共 j⫺2 兲关 1⫺ 共 ⫺1 兲 i⫹ j⫺4 兴
the displacement and bending moment along the pile shaft that ⫹ (6e)
are the key responses of practical interest can eventually be de- 共 i⫹ j⫺4 兲 2 共 i⫺ j 兲 2 ␲ 2
termined. These quantities are described as follows.
The displacement ␳ zH and moment M zH at depth z can be
obtained, respectively, as
h Mi j⫽ 冋 K r 共 i⫹ j⫺5 兲 4 ␲ 4 ⫹8 共 ␣⫹1 兲
32
⫹
␣⫺1
共 i⫹ j⫺5 兲 2 ␲ 2
册
␳ z ⫽ 兵 B ␳H 其 T 关 h H 兴 ⫺1 兵 H 其 ⫹ 兵 B ␳M 其 T 关 h M 兴 ⫺1 兵 M 其 (5a)
⫹
2 冉
␣⫺1 1⫺ 共 ⫺1 兲 i⫹ j⫺5 1⫺ 共 ⫺1 兲 i⫺ j
共 i⫹ j⫺5 兲 2 ␲ 2
⫹
共 i⫺ j 兲 2 ␲ 2
冊 (6f)

M z ⫽ 兵 B mH 其 T 关 h H 兴 ⫺1 兵 H 其 ⫹ 兵 B mM 其 T 关 h M 兴 ⫺1 兵 M 其 (5b)
The first term in Eqs. 共6e兲 and 共6f兲 is valid for i⫽ j and the
In Eqs. 共5a兲 and 共5b兲, 兵 H 其 ⫽ 兵 H t ,0, . . . ,0 其 T and 兵M其 second term for i⫽ j. In the above Eqs. 共6a兲–共6f兲, ␣ is a coeffi-
⫽ 兵 0,M t ,0, . . . ,0 其 T cient defined as the ratio of soil modulus of subgrade reaction at

再 冎
the pile head to that at the pile toe. For the problem of a fixed-
1 z ␲z k␲z head pile under a horizontal load, the moment generated at the
兵 B ␳H 其 T ⫽ 1, ,sin ,...,sin ,
k hl dl l l l pile head can be derived based on the zero-rotation condition,

再 冎
which can be expressed as
1 z ␲z 共 2k⫺1 兲 ␲z
兵 B ␳M 其 T ⫽ ⫺1,⫺ ,⫺cos ,...,⫺cos
k hl dl 2 l 2l 2l M t ⫽␩lH t (7)

再
兵 B mH 其 T ⫽K r l 0,0,⫺␲ 2 sin
␲z
l
,...,⫺k 2 ␲ 2 sin
k␲z
l
, 冎 The coefficient
k⫹2

␲2
4 再
␲z
兵 B mM 其 T ⫽K r 0,0, cos ,...,
2l
共 2k⫺1 兲 2 ␲ 2
4
cos
共 2k⫺1 兲 ␲z
2l 冎 ␩⫽
兺 h ⫺1
j⫽1
M2j

h ⫺1
⫺1
M 22
in which k⫽number of terms used in the trigonometric function;
k hl ⫽soil modulus of subgrade reaction at the pile toe; and K r where h ⫺1 ⫺1
M 2 j and h M 22 are the coefficients in the inverted matrix
⫽E p I p /k hl dl 4 is the pile-soil relative stiffness, where E p ⫽pile 关 h M 兴 ⫺1 .
Young’s modulus and I p ⫽second moment of area of the pile sec-
tion. Both 关 h H 兴 and 关 h M 兴 are dimensionless and symmetrical ma-
trices with their coefficients given as follows. The coefficients in Spreadsheet Calculation Procedure
the first row and first column are given by A spreadsheet calculation procedure using Microsoft Excel is de-

冋 册
veloped to solve the pile displacement and bending moment as
i⫹ j⫺1⫹␣ ␣⫺ 共 ⫺1 兲 i⫹ j⫺3 described above by the present solutions, which is demonstrated
h Hi j ⫽ ⫹ (6a)
共 i⫹ j⫺1 兲共 i⫹ j 兲 共 i⫹ j⫺3 兲 ␲ in the following through an example of a fixed-head pile sub-
jected to a horizontal load. It should be mentioned that the present

h Mi j⫽ 冋 i⫹ j⫺1⫹␣
共 i⫹ j⫺1 兲共 i⫹ j 兲
⫹ 册
2 共 ⫺1 兲 i⫹ j⫺2
⫹
4 共 ␣⫺1 兲
共 2i⫹2 j⫺7 兲 ␲ 共 2i⫹2 j⫺7 兲 2 ␲ 2
method converges quickly and the adoption of a size 10⫻10 for
the matrices 关 h H 兴 and 关 h M 兴 is usually enough to give sufficiently
accurate results. This size is adopted in the spreadsheet calcula-
(6b) tion procedure.
where the first term in Eqs. 共6a兲 and 共6b兲 is valid for i⬍3 or j
⬍3, and the rest of the terms for i⭓3 or j⭓3. The coefficients in
the second row and second column are given by Basic Parameters
The basic parameters for the pile and soil are typed in cells in a

h Hi j ⫽ 冋 i⫹ j⫺1⫹␣
共 i⫹ j⫺1 兲共 i⫹ j 兲
⫹ 册
2 共 ␣⫺1 兲关 1⫺ 共 ⫺1 兲 i⫹ j⫺4 兴
共 i⫹ j⫺4 兲 3 ␲ 3
manner as shown Table 1, i.e., l⫽10 m, d⫽0.5 m, ␣⫽0.5, and
k hl ⫽50 000 kN/m3 . Taking E p ⫽2⫻107 kPa, K r is then calcu-
lated in a cell 共see Table 1兲. For convenience, the value of ␲ is
共 ⫺1 兲 i⫹ j⫺4 also typed in a cell. Using the menu command insert/name/define,
⫺ (6c) the cells with the values of these above stored parameters are
共 i⫹ j⫺4 兲 ␲
selected and named, respectively, as l, d, ␣, k hl , K r , and pi.

h Mi j⫽ 冋 i⫹ j⫺1⫹␣
共 i⫹ j⫺1 兲共 i⫹ j 兲
⫹ 册
2 共 ⫺1 兲 i⫹ j⫺3
⫺
4␣
共 2i⫹2 j⫺9 兲 ␲ 共 2i⫹2 j⫺9 兲 2 ␲ 2
Calculation of †hH‡, †hM‡, ˆH‰, and ˆM‰
The row number i and column number j of the matrix 关 h H 兴 are
typed in cells in a manner as shown in Table 1. The coefficients in
16共 ␣⫺1 兲共 ⫺1 兲 i⫹ j⫺3
⫹ (6d) 关 h H 兴 can then be calculated by making use of these row
共 2i⫹2 j⫺9 兲 3 ␲ 3 and column numbers when typing in cells the relevant

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 Table 1. Spreadsheet Calculation of Pile Displacement and Bending Moment

expressions, i.e., Eqs. 共6a兲, 共6c兲, and 共6e兲. The conditions
involved in these equations with respect to row and column
locations can be represented using the IF statement of Excel. It
should be noted that in this way, each equation only needs to
be typed once to calculate one coefficient. The rest of the
coefficients can be obtained by pressing the right mouse key to
select the cell with the coefficient calculated and then moving the
cursor to the other cells of the matrix 关 h H 兴 where the equation is
applicable. Similarly, the matrix 关 h M 兴 can be calculated in the
same way. The coefficients in the matrices 关 h H 兴 and 关 h M 兴 ob-
tained are shown in cells in Table 1. The vector 兵H其 can be easily
obtained by typing in the horizontal load 共here assumed to be 100
kN兲 in a corresponding cell of the vector 兵H其 as shown in Table 1
and this cell is named H t . The vector 兵M其, based on Eq. 共7兲, can
be calculated by typing in the second row of the vector 兵M其
共see Table 1兲 as

sum(index共 minverse共 h M 兲 ,2,0 兲 )/ 共 index共 minverse共 h M 兲 ,2,2 兲 ⫺1 兲 * l * H t (8)

where ‘‘sum,’’ ‘‘index,’’ and ‘‘minverse’’ are Microsoft Excel’s
built-in spreadsheet functions for matrix operations. Note that for
a free-head pile, the second row of the vector 兵M其 just needs to be
set as M t . The entire matrices 关 h H 兴 , 关 h M 兴 , 兵H其, and 兵M其 are,
respectively, selected and named h H , h M , H, and M.
based on their definition in Eqs. 共5a兲 and 共5b兲 in a way similar to
the coefficient calculation of the matrices 关 h H 兴 and 关 h M 兴 . These
vectors are, respectively, selected and named B ␳H , B mH , B ␳M ,
and B mM .

Calculation of 兵 B␳H其 , 兵 BmH其 , 兵 B␳M其 , and 兵 BmM其 Calculation of Pile Displacement and Bending Moment
Taking a value of z/l, say 0.2 共see Table 1兲, and naming it z/l, the The pile displacement ␳ z , based on Eq. 共5a兲, can be obtained by
vectors 兵 B ␳H 其 , 兵 B mH 其 , 兵 B ␳M 其 , and 兵 B mM 其 can be calculated typing in a cell as

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 mmult共 ␤ ␳H ,mmult共 minverse共 h H 兲 ,H 兲兲
⫹mmult共 ␤ ␳M ,mmult共 minverse共 h M 兲 ,M 兲兲
Similarly, based on Eq. 共5b兲, the bending moment M z can be
obtained as
mmult共 ␤ mH ,mmult共 minverse共 h H 兲 ,H 兲兲
⫹mmult共 ␤ mM ,mmult共 minverse共 h M 兲 ,M 兲兲
The obtained results are shown in Table 1. Displacement and
bending moment at other depths can be easily obtained by just
inputting corresponding values of z/l. The maximum bending
moment can also be easily determined if ‘‘Solver,’’ a built-in op-
timization routine in Microsoft Excel, is invoked 共not described
here兲.
It should be pointed out that once the above spreadsheet cal-
culation procedure is established, it can be easily used later on for
estimating the response of laterally loaded piles merely by input-
ting relevant pile and soil parameters, and this is useful for prac-
tical purpose.
Comparison with Numerical Solutions
Solutions from the present method are compared in Fig. 1 with
the numerical results by Barber 共1953兲 for piles in a soil with
stiffness increasing with depth to validate the performance of the
present method. The results presented by Barber correspond to the
case of ␣⫽0 in the present solutions. The comparison in Fig. 1 is
presented in terms of a set of influence factors I ␳H , I ␳M , I ␪H ,
I ␪M , and I ␳F , where I ␳H and I ␳M are, respectively, the displace-
ment factors due to horizontal load and moment for a free-head
pile, I ␪H and I ␪M are, respectively, the rotation factors due to
horizontal load and moment, and I ␳F is the displacement factor
due to horizontal load for a fixed-head pile. Good agreement can
be observed between the present solutions and those by Barber
共1953兲. The above comparison demonstrates the accuracy of the
present solutions for the analysis of laterally loaded piles in a soil
with stiffness increasing with depth.
pile as reported by Mohan and Shrivastava 共1971兲 out of a series
of field tests on laterally loaded piles subjected to horizontal load-
(9a) ing. The instrumented pile Pile IN1 at a working load level of
4.90 kN is selected for analysis. The pile was embedded into a
layer of silty sand followed by a clay layer and had a pile head
displacement about 8.75 mm at the above-mentioned load level.
In the analysis, the soil modulus of subgrade reaction is assumed
to increase with depth with the coefficient ␣ taken as ␣⫽0, and
(9b) their values at the working load level are determined through
back-analysis from the measured pile head displacement. The pile
displacement and bending moment profiles are then calculated
and compared with the measured results.
The basic parameters for the pile are as follows. The length of
the pile is l⫽5.25 m with a diameter d⫽0.1 m and a bending
rigidity E p I p ⫽320 kN m2 . Using the established spreadsheet cal-
culation procedure in Table 1 and typing in the cells in the rel-
evant parameters, the value k hl can be back-analyzed based on a
match with the measured pile head displacement by trying differ-
ent values of k hl , which is obtained as k hl ⫽187.5 MN/m3 . Thus,
the displacement and bending moment profiles can be calculated
by inputting relevant values of z/l. The computed displacement
and bending moment distributions are plotted and compared with
the measured results in Fig. 2 and agreement is generally good,
especially for the maximum bending moment. Similar agreement

Application to Field Pile Test

The spreadsheet calculation procedure is used to calculate the
displacement and bending moment profiles of one instrumented

Fig. 1. Comparison of displacement and rotations factors Fig. 2. Comparison of displacement and bending moment profiles

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is also observed in the analysis of other laterally loaded piles. It
appears that the displacement and bending moment profiles
of laterally loaded piles at working load levels may be predicted
fairly well provided that the soil modulus of subgrade reaction
is determined properly through back-analysis, which is a
more reliable way compared to using empirical correlations
with other soil properties. The example also shows that with
the use of the established spreadsheet calculation procedure,
the response of laterally loaded piles, especially the bending
moment profile, which is critical in design, can be easily
estimated.
Conclusions
A variational solution and its spreadsheet calculation procedure
for analyzing laterally loaded piles in soils with stiffness increas-
ing with depth have been presented. As the displacement and
bending moment profiles of laterally loaded piles can be evalu-
ated just through spreadsheet calculation using Microsoft Excel, a
widely used spreadsheet software, the present method has the
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potential to be used in engineering practice for the analysis of
laterally loaded piles.
References
Barber, E. S. 共1953兲. ‘‘Discussion to paper by S. M. Gleser.’’ ASTM Spec.
Tech. Publ., 154, 96 –99.
Matlock, H., and Reese, L. C. 共1960兲. ‘‘Generalised solutions for laterally
loaded piles.’’ J. Soil Mech. Found. Div., 86共5兲, 91–97.
Mohan, D., and Shrivastava, S. P. 共1971兲. ‘‘Nonlinear behaviour of single
vertical piles under lateral loads.’’ Proc., 3rd Annual Offshore Techni-
cal Conf., Houston, Vol. 2, 677– 684.
Poulos, H. G., and Davis, E. H. 共1980兲. Pile foundation analysis and
design, Wiley, New York.
Reese, L. C. 共1977兲. ‘‘Laterally loaded piles: Program documentation.’’ J.
Geotech. Eng. Div., Am. Soc. Civ. Eng., 103共4兲, 287–305.
Shen, W. Y., and Teh, C. I. 共2002兲. ‘‘Analysis of laterally loaded pile
groups using a variational approach.’’ Geotechnique, 52共3兲, 201–208.
Zhang, H. H., and Small, J. C. 共2000兲. ‘‘Analysis of capped pile groups
subjected to horizontal and vertical loads.’’ Comput. Geotech., 26,
1–21.