An assessment of non-linear elastic and elasto-plastic analyses with regards to tubular steel piles embedded in sands

This study examines two traditional approaches (non-linear elastic and elasto-plastic) in association with 2D and 3D FEM analyses of a box-section pile embedded in sand. A particular emphasis is placed on stress singularities concerning both re-entrant corners of the pile section and the resulting tension zones. From the experience gained in this study, non-linear elastic soil models are less restrictive when one considers stress singularities and their possible effects on convergence of the solution. At least for monotonic loading, when compared with field tests, non-linear elastic models yield better results than the plasticity ones. On the other hand, although elasto-plastic models are not limited to monotonic loading, they are much more sensitive to stress singularities. For this reason, a spherical elastic region is necessary at the pile tip to ensure convergence. Without this region, one must artificially impose an apparent cohesion to limit the tension stresses within a sand medium.