Numerical Analysis of the Lateral Response of Pile Foundations under Overall and Progressive Scour Conditions

Several finite element numerical simulations were conducted in this study to investigate the laterally loaded response of pile foundations under general scour conditions in clay, the finite element model was verified by centrifuge tests, and the “model change” method was used to simulate the formation process of general scour and its impact on the lateral bearing response of pile foundations. The effects of overall scour and progressive scour on the load-displacement relationship, pile-soil deformation and failure mode, bending moment, displacement of circular and square pile foundations with equal cross-sectional areas under the same scour depth were analyzed. The results show that under no scour and two general scour conditions, the lateral bearing capacity of square-section pile foundations is higher than that of circular pile foundations with equal cross-sections; the general scour changes the pile-soil deformation and failure mode of laterally loaded pile foundations and reduces the wedge-shaped failure zone of soil around the pile; the wedge-shaped failure area of the soil around laterally loaded square cross-section piles is larger than that of circular cross-section piles of equal cross-sectional area; when the scour depth is the same, one overall scour and progressive scour have less impact on the lateral bearing capacity of the pile foundation; under the same scour depth conditions, one overall scour and distribution scour have less impact on the lateral bearing capacity of the pile foundation.