Piles - Group Response

OT5206 Offshore Foundations
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering

National University of Singapore
Piles: Group Response
Y K Chow
1
Example of layout of pile group
Example of layout of pile group
Pile Group Response
The response of pile groups can be studied using:
(a) Interaction factor approach
(b) Numerical models
Interaction Factor Approach

The interaction factor approach is mainly based on the work of Poulos (see
Poulos and Davis, 1980). Take the example of the response of pile group under
vertical load.
P P
The settlement of a pile group can be studied by
considering the interaction between 2 equally
loaded piles. The interaction factor is defined as
α = (induced settlement of pile due to load acting on
an adjacent pile)/(settlement of loaded pile)
The interaction factor is a function of several parameters:
α = f (L/d, Ep/Es, s/d, νs)
where L = pile length
d = pile diameter
s = centre-to-centre pile spacing
Ep= Young’s modulus of pile material
Es = Young’s modulus of soil
The approach involves the application of the principle of superposition applied

to a group of n identical piles. The settlement wk of a pile k in the group is
given by n
w k = w1 ∑
j=1
α kj Pj
where w1 = settlement of single pile under unit load
αkj = interaction factor between piles k and j (note: αkk = 1)
Pj = load in pile j
This equation may be written for all the n piles in the group
Equilibrium of vertical loads
Group load PG = ∑ Pj
For a rigid pile cap, the piles will have equal settlement. In this case, we would
have (n+1) simultaneous equations to solve for the n unknown loads carried by
the piles and 1 unknown for the settlement of the pile group.
Note: The number of equations to be solved may be reduced by considering
symmetry.
Sample of interaction factor chart from Poulos and Davis (1980)
Sample of interaction factor chart from Poulos and Davis (1980)
Numerical Models
In order to analyse the response of a pile group in a consistent and
rational manner, the important parameter affecting the response of the
pile group must be included in the model. The load-deformation
response of the pile group can be written as follows:
w = f (P, L, d, Ep, s, soil parameters)
where w = deformation of pile group
P = applied load on group
L = pile length
d = pile diameter
Ep= Young’s modulus of pile material
s = pile spacing (centre-to-centre)
soil parameters = depend on the soil model used (e.g. elastic soil
model: Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio of soil)
The central idea in pile group analysis is the ability to consider the
response analysis of single piles and the interaction among the piles
making up the group; this effect is often referred to as pile-soil-pile
interaction. Modelling of the piles is relatively straight forward. The
piles are modelled using one-dimensional beam-column elements (as
per structural analysis) as in the single pile analysis. It is how we
model the soil that we should pay attention to. For the single pile
analysis, we have looked at the idealisation of the soil as:
(a) Winkler soil springs (also referrred to as modulus of subgrade reaction

which may be linear or nonlinear (t-z- and p-y curves))
(b) Elastic continuum
(c) Numerical methods such as Finite Element Method
Comments of the suitability or otherwise of these models for the analysis of pile
groups are given below.
Winkler soil model
The Winkler soil model, in which the soil is characterised as a series of
independent springs is, by its definition, unable to deal with pile-soil-pile
interaction since the load/pressure at a particular point in the soil affects only
the deformation at the same point and no where else.
Early attempts to model pile groups treat the individual piles using one-
dimensional beam-column elements and the soil response modelled using
Winkler springs without the consideration of interaction between the piles
(some structural engineers still do this!). If we take the case of a group of piles
subject to vertical loads, then the settlement of the group would be identical to
that of the single pile if the average load per pile is the same as the single pile
load, and the load carried by the group piles would be identical irrespective of
the pile location within the group.
These results are not consistent with field measurements and laboratory tests
that show that the settlement of the group under the same average load per
pile is larger than that of the single pile, and the load carried by the piles are not
the same and depend on their relative positions in the group.
Elastic continuum
The elastic continuum approach based on Mindlin’s solutions for a point force
in an elastic half-space can be easily extended for the single pile analysis to the
analysis of pile groups considering pile-soil-pile interaction. Details of this
method may be seen in Poulos and Davis (1980) who used an integral
equation approach for the solution of this problem.
Numerical Methods – Finite Element Method (FEM)

3-D finite elements may be used to analyse pile groups which by nature are 3-
D. Significant resources are required in terms of pre- and post- processing in
addition to computer resources.
General Comments
In principle, 3-D FEM can be used to analyse pile groups but there are cheaper
alternatives that can give accurate solutions to the pile group analysis. The
elastic continuum approach can give such a solution. A “hybrid” model that
combines the Winkler spring (t-z and p-y curves which is extensively used for
offshore pile analysis can be used) for soil response at individual piles and
elastic continuum solutions (Mindlin’s solution) to cater for pile-soil-pile
interaction will be introduced for the analysis of pile groups.
Pile Group Analysis – Mathematical Formulation
A unified mathematical formulation of the elastic continuum approach using a
simplified boundary element type of analysis (Chow et al., 1987; Chow, et al.
1990) and the hybrid method (Chow, 1986a,b; Leung & Chow, 1987) is now
described. The pile-soil-pile interaction problem is shown schematically in the
Fig. (both axial and lateral response). The problem is decomposed into two
systems, namely:
(a) group piles acted on by external applied loads {Q} and pile-soil interaction
forces acting on the piles {Pp}, and
(b) soil continuum acted on by a system of pile-soil interaction forces acting on
the soil {Ps}, at the boundary of the pile-soil interface.
The load-deformation relationship of the group piles can be written as
[Kp]{wp} = {Q} + {Pp} --- (1)
where [Kp] is the assembled stiffness matrix of all the elements of the group
piles.
The soil deformation at node i due to its own loading as well as loading at other
nodes can be obtained by superposition
Vertical response of pile group
Lateral response of pile group

n
w si = ∑ fij Psj --- (2)
j=1
where fij is the flexibility coefficient denoting the deformation of node i due
to a unit load acting at node j, and Psj are the forces acting at all the nodes
at the group piles.
In the simplified boundary element method, the flexibility coefficients fij are
evaluated by integrating the effects of the stresses acting at the pile shaft
and the base using Mindlin’s solutions.
In the hybrid approach, the use of the soil springs (t-z or p-y curves) to
characterise the soil response of the individual pile implies that
fii = 1/k where k = soil spring stiffness
and fij = 0 for i ≠ j, and i and j are associated with the same pile
The flexibility coefficients fij to take into account interaction between piles
are most conveniently evaluated using point force Mindlin’s solutions in
place of the distributed force solution which requires extensive numerical
integration. For typical pile spacing used in practice, these two solutions
are almost indistinguishable.
Writing Eq (2) for each node leads to the following flexibility relation of the soil
{ws} = [Fs] {Ps} --- (3)
The flexibility matrix in Eq (3) is inverted to give the stiffness relationship of the
soil
{Ps} = [Fs]-1 {ws} = [Ks] {ws} --- (4)
Equilibrium of the interaction forces acting at the pile-soil interface yields
{Ps} = - {Pp} --- (5)
and compatibility of deformations of the soil and pile nodes yield
{ws} = {wp} --- (6)
Using Eqs (1), (4), (5) and (6), the load-deformation relationship of the pile
group system can be expressed as
([Kp] + [Ks]) {wp} = {Q} --- (7)
This matrix system of equation can be solved to give the pile group response.
A computer program for the vertical response of pile group using the hybrid
approach contributed by Chow (1986a) can be seen in the book by Smith and
Griffiths (1982). Details of the approaches used for the analysis of pile groups
can be found in the references.
References
Chow, YK (1986a) “Analysis of vertically loaded pile groups”, International Journal for
Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics, Vol 10, No 1, p 59-72.
Chow, YK (1986b) “Discrete element analysis of settlement of pile groups”, Computers
and Structures, Vol 24, No 1, p 157-166
Chow, YK (1987) “Axial and lateral response of pile groups embedded in
nonhomogeneous soils”, International Journal for Numerical and Analytical Methods
in Geomechanics, Vol 11, No 6, p 621-638
Chow, YK, Chin, JT, Kog, YC and Lee, SL (1990) “Settlement analysis of socketed pile
groups”, Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, ASCE, Vol 116, No 8, p 1171-1184
Leung, CF and Chow, YK (1987) “Response of pile groups subjected to lateral loads”,
International Journal for Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics, Vol 11,
No 3, p 307-314
Mindlin, RD (1936) “Force at a point in the interior of a semi-infinite solid”, Physics, Vol 7,
p 195-202
Poulos, HG and Davis, EH (1980) Pile Foundation Analysis and Design. John Wiley and
Sons, New York
Smith, IM and Griffiths, DV (1982) Programming the Finite Element Method. 2nd Edition,
John Wiley and Sons, New York.

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OT5206 Offshore Foundations

Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering

Piles: Group Response

Interaction Factor Approach

The approach involves the application of the principle of superposition applied

(a) Winkler soil springs (also referrred to as modulus of subgrade reaction

Numerical Methods – Finite Element Method (FEM)

Lateral response of pile group

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