Analysis of laterally loaded short and long piles in multilayered heterogeneous elastic soil

A continuum-based method is developed for the analysis of laterally loaded piles in multilayered, heterogeneous elastic soil. The analysis considers the soil as a layered elastic continuum in which the modulus varies linearly or non-linearly with depth within each layer. Rational soil displacement fields are assumed and differential equations describing the pile and soil displacements are obtained using the principle of minimum potential energy. The differential equations describing the pile and soil displacements are solved using the Ritz method and the finite difference method, respectively, following an iterative numerical scheme. The analysis is used to study different pile geometries embedded in layered soil deposits with heterogeneity in each layer. The pile displacement, rotation, and maximum bending moment obtained from the analysis were found to be in good agreement with those obtained from an equivalent three-dimensional finite element analysis and from other studies available in the literature. The analysis can be used to obtain the pile head displacement, rotation, and maximum bending moment that can then be used in design.