Microcomputer Analysis of Laterally Loaded Piles

The finite-element formulation is applied to the vertical beam-on-elastic foundation idealization of a laterally loaded pile system. This representation is such that any standard structural analysis program having beam members can be used. An example problem consisting of a laterally loaded pile in a nonhomogeneous soil is analyzed in detail. The simulation is conducted on a CP/M 64K random access memory (RAM) microcomputer. The soil strength properties are defined in terms of a net coefficient of subgrade reaction and represented by bar members. The input data file and the computer output are presented. The numerical analysis clearly demonstrates the influence of soil and structural stiffness on pile behavior and the ease of obtaining a solution, by use of a computer, when nonhomogeneous soil conditions exist.