TORSION OF FLEXIBLE PILES EMBEDDED IN ELASTIC SOIL MEDIA.

This paper presents a novel solution scheme for the transfer of an axially symmetric torque from an elastic pile into a layered elastic half space. The deformation of pile is specified by a function containing a set of unknown constants. By employing the fundamental solution related to torsional ring load acting in the interior of the half space a discretized distribution of tractions induced at pile-elastic soil interface could be computed. Using these techniques a total potential energy functional for the pile-elastic medium is developed. The minimization of potential energy is used to determine the arbitrary constants associated with the assumed displacement function. Numerical results are presented to illustrate the influence of the relative flexibility of the pile-soil system on the torsional response. (Author abstract.