Statical Analysis of Pile Groups Containing Batter Piles

The traditional statical method uses two approaches for the analysis of a loaded pile group containing batter piles. The first approach uses batter piles to resist a partial lateral load; the residual lateral load is then equally distributed between each pile in the pile group; the distributed residual lateral load in each pile then results in the shear force in that pile. The second approach adjusts the slopes of the batter piles in order to resist the complete lateral load and as a result, there are no shear forces in the piles. Three examples are presented in this paper to demonstrate the use of the two approaches. The results of these three examples are then compared to the “exact” results obtained by using either computer software or a hand calculation. The study presented in this paper has concluded the following: (1) The first approach may result in significant errors; therefore, its accuracy is questionable. (2) The results obtained from the second approach are quite close to the “exact” results; therefore, the second approach is quite an accurate approximate approach for the analyses of pile groups containing batter piles.