Hyperbolic P-Y criterion for cohesive soils

Abstract EN

Drilled shafts have been frequently used as a foundation to support lateral loads.

The p-y method of analysis has been widely used for predicting the behavior of laterally loaded drilled shafts.

The existing p-y criteria for cohesive soils are divided into soft or stiff clays, on the basis of a limited number of lateral load test results.

Currently, there is no p-y criterion developed for cohesive intermediate geometrical.

In this paper, a hyperbolic equation for p-y curve is presented for cohesive soils and intermediate geomaterials.

Based on 3-D FEM simulation results, a new empirical equation is presented for calculating the initial tangent to p-y curve.

The proposed hyperbolic p-y criterion is verified by using the results of six full-scale lateral load tests on fully instrumented drilled shafts with diameters ranging from 0.76 m to 1.83 m in the geo-medium ranging from soft clays to intermediate geometrical.

The proposed hyperbolic p-y criterion is shown to be capable of predicting the load deflection and bending moments of the laterally loaded shafts for the six cases studied in this paper.