Directionality of Soil Resistance for Design-Oriented Lateral Load Analysis of Bridge Piers

摘要

Bridge foundation design for lateral loading often requires application of loads at orientations that deviate from transverse and longitudinal directions of piers. These scenarios require care when using analysis techniques, such as the p-y method, to ensure that "directionality" is accounted for in soil-resistance springs. Excluding directionality from analysis is shown to lead to differences in computed response of up 30% in extreme cases. Highlighted in this paper is the directionality concept, the importance of accounting for this concept when analyzing pier foundations under lateral load, and considerations for group effects.