• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.53-64
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• 2003

Many transmission towers, high-rise buildings and bridges are constructed near steep slopes and are supported by large-diameter piles. These structures may be subjected to large lateral loads, such as violent winds and earthquakes. Widely used types of foundations for these structures are pier foundations, which have large-diameters with high stiffness. The behavior of a pier foundation subjected to lateral loads is similar to that of a short rigid pile because both elements seem to fail by rotation developing passive resistance on opposite faces above and below the rotation point, unlike the behavior of a long flexible pile. This paper describes the results of several numerical studies performed with a three-dimensional finite element method (FEM) of model tests of a laterally loaded short pile located near slopes, respectively. In this paper, the results of model tests of single piles and pile groups subjected to lateral loading, in homogeneous sand with 30$^{\circ}$ slopes and horizontal ground were analyzed by the 3-D FE analyses. The pile was assumed to be linearly elastic. The sand was assumed to have non-associative characteristics, following the MC-DP model. The failure criterion is governed by the Mohr-Coulomb equation and the plastic potential is given by the Drucker-Prager equation. The main purpose of this paper is the validation of the 3-D elasto-plastic FEM by comparisons with the experimental data.