Finite-element analysis of ultimate lateral pressure of snowflake pile in undrained clay

The finite element method is used to investigate the ultimate lateral pressure of a snowflake pile in undrained clay in this paper. The effects of section geometry, lateral loading direction and pile–soil adhesion coefficient on the ultimate lateral pressure of snowflake pile are investigated by parametric analysis. The analysis results show that the normalised ultimate lateral pressure of the snowflake pile gradually decreases as the flange length–thickness ratio λ increases, the normalised ultimate lateral pressure is linearly related to the pile–soil adhesion coefficient α, the normalised ultimate lateral pressure shows the trend of first decreasing and then increases with the increasing of lateral loading angle β. On this basis, the closed-form formula of the ultimate lateral pressure coefficient of a snowflake pile is proposed. The research results can provide the basis for the design of snowflake piles in future.