A lateral soil resistance model for XCC pile in soft clay considering the effect of the geometry of cross section

In this paper, a series of well-calibrated finite-element analyses are performed to quantify the influence of the geometry of cross section on the load transfer mechanism of X-section Cast-in-place Concrete (XCC) pile under lateral load, aiming to propose a lateral soil resistance model for XCC pile in soft clay. Based on the results of the numerical parametric analysis, the failure mechanism of soil flow and the ultimate lateral soil pressure are investigated to reveal the underlying mechanism that controls the cross-section geometry-dependency response. Finally, a general p-y formula for XCC pile, which can well capture the lateral behavior of XCC pile considering the various cross section geometries, is developed. In addition, compared with the traditional circular cross section pile with the same area, the XCC pile is more effective in terms of resistance to lateral load.