In this project, a completely new method for the analysis and design of laterally-loaded piles will be developed. The new method is now possible because of an analytical breakthrough in the solution of the problem of a pile subjected to lateral load in a layered elastic soil. The solution obtained for a pile loaded at its head by a force and/or a moment is based on the use of the principle of virtual work, the results of the calculus of variations and the method of initial parameters. The method will be applicable to soil deposits with an arbitrary number of soil layers and to single piles or pile groups. Introduction of non-linearity in the stress-strain response of the soil will make the analysis ideal to address realistic engineering problems. This innovative approach to the design of piles supporting structures subjected to wind, seismic, traffic, wave, and earth-pressure loads is based on a closed-form solution for elastic response, and is therefore simpler to use and easier for engineers to relate to (because the soil stress-strain response is introduced at the element level through parameters that are familiar to engineers). It captures aspects of the interaction of the soil and pile that other methods cannot capture, such as the 3D interaction of the pile cross-section with the surrounding soil and the shear stresses that appear in the soil and along the soil-pile interface. The proposed method will also provide the displacement field in the soil around the pile, allowing, by combination with a non-linear stress-strain model, the accounting of soil non-linearity in a rational way. The pile deflection, bending moment and shear force profiles along the pile length (needed for structural design) are directly obtained. Extensive validation is planned by field and laboratory experimental methods (including centrifuge tests and advanced X-Ray Computed Tomography technology) and by numerical methods. To facilitate adoption of this novel method by the industry, a technology transfer program will be developed. An educational program will also be developed, which will include short courses and webinars to be offered to practicing engineers, educators and students (incentives will be available for minority educators and students to attend the short courses). The project will allow establishment of new international collaborative ties with Kumamoto University in Japan and with the Centre for Geomechanics at the University of Nottingham in the U.K.
