Analysis of soil resistance on drilled shafts using proposed cyclic p-y curves in weathered soil

A fundamental study of drilled shafts-soil systems subjected to lateral cyclic loading in weathered soil was conducted using numerical analyses. The emphasis was on quantifying the soil resistance of laterally cyclic loaded pile using 3D finite element analysis. The appropriate parametric studies needed for verifying the cyclic p-y characteristic are presented in this paper. A framework for determining the cyclic lateral load transfer curve (p-y curves) on the basis of numerical analyses is proposed. Through comparisons with results of field load tests, the three-dimensional numerical methodology in the present study is in good agreement with the general trend observed by in situ measurements and thus, represents a realistic soil-pile interaction for laterally loaded piles in soil than that of existing p-y method. It can be said that a rigorous present analysis can overcome the limitations of existing cyclic p-y methods to some extent by considering the effect of realistic three-dimensional combination of pile-soil forces. The proposed cyclic p-y curve is shown to be capable of predicting the behavior of the drilled shafts in weathered soil.