Analysis of laterally loaded rigid monopiles and poles in multilayered linearly varying soil

A new method for calculation of head displacement and rotation of laterally loaded rigid monopiles and poles in multilayered heterogeneous elastic soil is presented. The analysis considers the soil as a layered elastic continuum in which the modulus vary linearly with depth within each layer. Rational pile and soil displacement fields are assumed, and the interaction between the pile and soil is taken into account by using the principle of virtual work. Two sets of equilibrium equations, one describing the pile displacement and rotation and the other describing the displacements in the soil, are obtained and solved analytically and numerically following an iterative algorithm. The new method produces pile responses as accurate as those obtained from three-dimensional finite element analysis but does not require any elaborate input for geometry and mesh.