A method for settlement prediction of pile groups based on an incremental procedure has been suggested taking into account the non linearity of the load-settlement behavior. To validate the proposed procedure the numerical results have been compared with experimental measures taken from full scale load tests reported in literature. The analysis shows that the prediction of settlement of a pile group can be satisfactory carried out applying the equivalent pier approach, if appropriate model parameters are utilized. It has been shown that, in the equivalent pier approach, the shear stiffness of the load transfer function should be significantly reduced respect to those utilized for the single pile according to eqs. (14) and (15). Although specific studies for the estimation of the base stiffness in the equivalent pier approach has not been made, it seems that to adopt an initial ratio K_(bi)/K_(si) = 10 is reasonable. This has been confirmed by the numerical results of the case histories analyzed. The method can be easily coded or solved with the aid of a computer spreadsheet.
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