DETERMINATION OF LATERAL LOADS ON SLOPE STABILIZING PILES

Slope reinforcement using piled structures is one of the most appropriate methods for preventing slope movements. The prediction of loads acting on piles is important in order to properly design of slope stabilizing piles. Despite, different uncoupled analysis methods to estimate the loads on piles are available in literature; the loads acting on piles predicted using these methods may differ depending on soil-pile interaction and loading conditions. Comprehensive experimental works are needed in order to ensure the reliability of these analytical methods. In this study, the simulations of designed experiment for determining the load acting on the flexible piles were performed via two dimensional finite element methods. The parametric study was carried out to determine the effects of the center to center pile spacing on the load transfer behavior. Corresponding to the numerical results, the load acting on the flexible piles was investigated.