Behavior of Vertical Piles in Layered Soils Under the Influence of Vertical and Lateral Loading Conditions

Pile foundations used for structures, such as tall buildings and bridges, especially in coastal and heavily flooded areas, experience uncertain lateral loads. The wave action of water applies a lateral load on the pile, which cannot be predicted accurately. However, the impact of the vertical load significantly increases the pile’s lateral capacity. This suggests more specific research is required into this particular area, especially considering the complex interactions involved. This study focused on the lateral strength of a single pile with a vertical load in layered soils. Using an experimental setup, the horizontal deformation of the pile with an increasing applied compression effect in different soil beds was determined. Analyses were extended using FEM for various combinations of clay and sand layers under varying vertical loads. Initially, the vertical behavior of each pile was determined to varying percentages. The results indicate that the lateral capacity of the pile increases significantly up to 60% of the applied vertical load in both sand and clay. But for clay–sand layer combinations, for an applied vertical load, 100% lateral capacity showed 1.34 times improvement. FEM findings are similar to the experimental results; as the vertical load reaches up to 60% on various soil layers, the lateral capacity improves.