Explicit extension of the p–y method to pile groups in cohesive soils

Although simplified numerical methods are reliable for evaluating the response of a single pile under horizontal load, their application is questionable for assessing the response of pile groups. The notion of “p–y” curves has been considered with the aim of establishing a transformation relationship able to provide the “pG–yG” curves of soil resistance around a pile in a group from the well-known curves of soil resistance around the single pile.This transformation extends the applicability of the “p–y” method to pile groups, without the need for time consuming numerical computations, rendering the proposed method efficient and attractive. Comparative examples demonstrated the applicability and the effectiveness of the proposed method. In addition, the method can be straightforwardly extended to account for varying soil resistance, according to the particular location of a pile in a group. It can therefore be used to estimate accurately force and bending moment distributions along the characteristic piles of a group, which are required for the efficient design of foundations.