A simplified analysis approach for the effect of the installation of adjacent XCC pile on the existing single XCC pile in undrained clay

In this paper, a simplified two-stage analysis method is introduced to predict the lateral response of the existing X-section Cast-in-place Concrete (XCC) pile caused by adjacent XCC pile installation. Firstly, the large deformation finite element method, namely the Coupled Eulerian–Lagrangian (CEL) numerical technique, is employed to simulate the installation process of XCC pile, thus accurately capturing the lateral soil movement in free field induced by adjacent XCC pile penetration. Secondly, the free-field lateral soil displacement load is imposed on the existing XCC pile, and then the lateral behavior of the existing XCC pile is solved by employing the theory of nonlinear foundation beam. Then, the validation of the presented simplified analysis method is proved by comparison with the numerical results of the adjacent XCC pile–soil–existing XCC pile CEL model (PSP CEL model), and good consistencies are acquired. Finally, the parametric studies are performed to evaluate the impact of various parameters on the lateral behavior of the existing XCC pile. The proposed analysis method can be applied to the early phase of engineering design to alleviate the hazards related to the adjacent XCC pile–soil–existing XCC pile interaction.