3-D elastic analysis of vertical piles subjected to "passive" loadings

There are many cases where piles are subjected to "passive" loadings by soi l movement past the piles. This paper employs a 3-D coupled boundary elemen t approach to analyze the response of vertical piles subjected to passive l oadings. A number of theoretical expressions for soil movements are develop ed acid presented. These expressions have been incorporated into the pile-s oil governing equation previously developed by the authors. The analysis is employed to examine pile responses when subjected to some typical passive loadings, such as soil shrink/swelling, soil surface surcharge, tunnelling, soil movements arising from driving piles and cavity formation in soil. Re asonable agreement is found between some existing published solutions and t hose developed herein. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. Ail rights reserved.