A Numerical Study on Displacement and Bending Moment Behaviour of Laterally Loaded Single CFG Pile Embedded in Layered Soil

Soil having low bearing capacity is one of the greatest problems for the construction of civil engineering structures. Many techniques have been adopted to get rid of the troubles faced from such soil; among them, Cement-Fly Ash-Gravel (CFG) pile technique is an emerging one. It has been used in highways, railways, bridges, embankments, high-rise buildings, and many other places due to its congruous engineering properties. CFG piles were mainly analyzed for transmitting vertical loads in single-layered soil. But practically, piles are always installed in layered soil and the pile may also experience several lateral loads. This paper aims to address the behaviour of a laterally loaded single CFG pile embedded in layered soil. In order to achieve the objective, a numerical analysis is conducted using finite element method-based software PLAXIS 3D and it is validated with the laboratory experimental results. In this study, the load–displacement behaviour and bending moment characteristics are determined by varying the length-to-diameter (L/D) ratios as 8, 10, and 12 where the length is kept constant. It is noticed that due to an increase in diameter by 1.2 and 1.5 times, the lateral load-carrying capacity is increased by 1.4 and 1.9 times, respectively. In consideration of strength and economy, CFG pile can be a suitable one for carrying vertical as well as lateral load that comes on the foundation.