Abstract: In order to determine the lateral elastic foundation coefficient of the finite soil mass against the loading pile segment, based on the proportion coefficient of the foundation coefficient of the infinite soil mass, the laterally loaded beam-on-elastic-foundation method for a stabilizing pile is adopted in combination with the upper bound limit analysis method under the consideration of the internal forces and deformation continuity of the whole pile element. Thus, a method to calculate the proportion coefficient of the lateral elastic foundation coefficient of the finite soil mass is provided. The relationship between the proportion coefficient and the slope angle of the finite soil mass is determined. The proposed method is verified by a numerical simulation of a practical example. A series of numerical simulations with various physical and mechanical parameters of soil mass and stabilizing pile have been conducted to study their effect on the proportion coefficient. Analysis results of the example show that the proportion coefficient decreases nonlinearly with the increase in the slope angle of the local soil. In addition, the length of embedded segment (below the slip surface) and the size of cross section of stabilizing piles, cohesion, internal friction angle, and unit weight of the local soil also affect the proportion coefficient. The influence of the unit weight is slight, while other factors have significant positive correlations with the proportion coefficient.

Key words: stabilizing pile, loading segment of a pile, finite soil mass, elastic foundation coefficient, limit analysis