Three dimensional elasto-plastic interface for embedded beam elements with interaction surface for the analysis of lateral loading of piles

TURELLO, DIEGO F.; PINTO, FEDERICO; SÁNCHEZ, PABLO J.

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL AND ANALYTICAL METHODS IN GEOMECHANICS

JOHN WILEY & SONS LTD

Año: 2017 vol. 41 p. 859 - 879

0363-9061

This paper presents a numerical formulation for a three dimensional elasto-plastic interface, which can becoupled with an embedded beam element in order to model its non-linear interaction with the surroundingsolid medium. The formulation is herein implemented for lateral loading of piles but is able to representsoil-pile interaction phenomena in a general manner for different types of loading conditions or groundmovements. The interface is formulated in order to capture localized material plasticity in the soil surroundingthe pile within the range of small to moderate lateral displacements. The interface is formulatedfollowing two different approaches: (i) in terms of beam degrees of freedoms; and (ii) considering the displacementfield of the solid domain. Each of these alternatives has its own advantages and shortcomings,which are discussed in this paper. The paper presents a comparison of the results obtained by means ofthe present formulation and by other well-established analysis methods and test results published in theliterature. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.