A Framework for Analysis of Piles with Rectangular Cross Section

An analysis framework is presented for piles with rectangular cross section. Existing analysis and design methods are mostly applicable for piles with circular cross section. For piles with cross section other than a circle, an equivalent circle is often assumed and the methods for circular piles are applied. The newly developed framework explicitly takes into account the rectangular cross section and produces the response of piles under axial and lateral loads. A rational soil displacement field surrounding the rectangular cross section of the pile is assumed, and the total potential energy of the loaded pile-soil system is considered. The potential energy is minimized using calculus of variations to obtain the differential equations governing the pile and soil displacements. Closed-form solutions are obtained for pile settlement and axial force in the case of axially loaded piles. For laterally loaded piles, closed-form solutions are obtained for lateral deflection, slope of the deflected curve, pile bending moment, and shear force. The input parameters needed for the analysis are the pile geometry, applied load, and the elastic constants of the soil and pile. The new analysis framework produces results in seconds and has the accuracy of equivalent three-dimensional finite element analysis.