A photoelastic study of a laterally loaded pile

This thesis describes a test conducted to determine the feasibility of using the photoelastic method of analysis to evaluate the bending moments and deflections of a laterally loaded pile embedded in soil. A model pile and model soil were designed and built to simulate a full scale pile and soil for which complete test data was available. The simulation procedures are described and discussed in detail. The model was tested in the polariscope and from photoelastic data the bending moments and deflections were determined. Scaling factors were applied to the full scale data to allow direct comparison with the model test results. It was concluded that the simulation was reasonably accurate and that further photoelastic tests are justified. Also several improvements in the test procedure are suggested and discussed.