Numerical Simulation Analysis on Effect of Pile Cap to Lateral Capacity of Single Pile

In the research of pile´s lateral capacity, the effects of pile cap are usually neglected to make the problem simplified. Site tests demand a lot of time and money, a few data published can be obtained, even few the test of pile with cap, so it´s hard to figure out the effect of cap on the lateral capacity of single pile. By using ABAQUS finite element software, three dimensional numerical simulation to long single pile with or without cap in clayey soil subject to lateral load is conducted to investigate the influence of cap area, embedded depth and vertical load. It is found that the lateral bearing capacity is very sensitive to the area of cap. Even under the least cap area that the Chinese code requires, the capacity would increase 15.6% more than that without cap. The depth of embedment of cap could influence lateral bearing capacity considerably. The vertical load, to the pile without cap, affects little to the lateral bearing capacity. While with cap, the vertical load could raise the lateral capacity in some degree.