Initial post-buckling behavior of piles partially embedded in soil

The initial post-buckling equilibrium path of an axially loaded pile partially embedded in a soil after flexural buckling is investigated. A simple one-dimensional idealisation of the pile as a beam resting on the Winkler-type elastic foundation is assumed. The effect of the skin friction is neglected. The considerations are restricted to linear elastic behavior of the pile-soil system. The equilibrium path is determined by. utilizing a perturbation approach. It has been shown that the bifurcation points of axially loaded piles are symmetric and stable or unstable depending on the pile-soil system properties. The stability of bifurcation point means that the buckling load is insensitive to inevitable geometric imperfection of the pile axis. Otherwise, a drastic decrease of the buckling critical load due to the initial imperfections is possible. Some numerical examples of post-buckling behavior of the piles are presented. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.