Lateral Capacity of Piles in Clayey Soils with Bilinear Strength Profile

In Panama, the structural design regulations (REP) tends to design the foundations in terms of axial capacity, this in order to bear static loads. However, the piles are exposed to the action of dynamic loads such as wind thrusts and seismic effects; therefore, it is necessary to quantify the effects of lateral loads on the piles. Existing methods that compute the capacity of laterally loaded piles are developed for homogeneous soil profiles. An existing method has been modified to generate an ultimate lateral capacity estimation model for stratified clay soils with bilinear shear strength profiles, based on the upper bound plastic limit analysis methodology. Accordingly, a parametric study has been carried out to establish the prediction sensitivity of the model to the variation of parameters of the soil-pile system. The sensitivity of the model depends on the variation of the depth at which the slope changes in regard to the diameter of pile; It is concluded that, at depths equivalent to twice the diameter, the prediction is entirely correct. A subsequent implementation of the simplified methodology based on the empirical function of [1] is expected, for a comparison between the traditional method and the simplified method.