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Pile

Pile​

Use the Pile tool to insert vertical or inclined foundation piles with custom material, section and soil interaction settings.

Pile tool

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Pile objects only work with the analytical soil definitions, not solid 3D finite element soil objects.


When you select Pile, a tool palette opens.

Pile tool palette

Main tools​
  • Define - place a new pile using one of the directional or placement functions
  • Properties - check or edit properties of an existing pile. Opens the Default settings dialogue for the selected piles
  • Default settings - set the default parameters for new piles (read below in more detail)
Directional functions​

Available when using the Define tool.

  • Predefined direction - define the pile along the default vertical or inclined direction
  • Parallel with line - select an existing line and place the pile parallel to it
  • Perpendicular to plane - select a plane to place the pile normal to its surface
  • Direction - Only while Predefined direction tool is selected, use this Direction tool to select one of the 5 possible options - y' axis is parallel to either global XY, YZ or XZ plane and y' axis is parallel to UCS or perpendicular to UCS.
Placement methods​

Choose how to define pile location when using the Define tool.

  • Pile by point - insert a single pile using a click in the model space

  • By point selection - select an existing point object in the model to place the pile

  • Line - draw a new line to define the pile’s reference direction and insertion path

  • Select line - select an existing line in the model as the pile’s reference line

  • Array rectangular - place multiple piles in a rectangular grid using row and column distances; define the corners interactively

  • Array polar - place piles in a circular pattern by defining a center point, radius and angle between piles

    • Rotate copies - rotate each pile to match the arc of the array
    • Don't rotate copies - keep pile directions unchanged when placing in a circular array
Definition settings​

Available depending on the selected definition method.

  • Height - numeric field for pile length
  • Column distance - spacing between columns in a rectangular array
  • Row distance - spacing between rows in a rectangular array
  • Angle of array - angular spacing for piles in a polar array

Default settings dialogue​

When you press the Default settings button, a dialogue window opens.

This dialogue contains five tabs: General, Section, Material, End conditions, and Soil springs.

The Soil springs tab is unique to the Pile tool (read below in more detail). Content of other tabs is the same as in regular bar elements - beam, column and truss.

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To read more about other settings, see the relevant topics below:

  • For General tab see:
    User interface ➔ Tab menus ➔ Structure ➔ Additional dialogues ➔ Bar General
  • For Section tab see:
    User interface ➔ Tab menus ➔ Structure ➔ Additional dialogues ➔ Bar Section
  • For Material tab see:
    User interface ➔ Tab menus ➔ Structure ➔ Additional dialogues ➔ Regular Material
  • For End conditions tab see:
    User interface ➔ Tab menus ➔ Structure ➔ Additional dialogues ➔ Bar End Conditions

Soil springs​

The Soil springs dialogue defines support and frictional interaction between a pile and the surrounding soil.

Overall layout of the dialogue​

Soil springs dialogue

The dialogue contains two tabs:

  • Support springs – assign stiffness values and plastic limits along the pile shaft and at the pile tip
  • Neg. shaft friction – define negative skin friction

At the bottom of the dialogue are additional settings that are the same for both tabs:

  • Options – opens an auxiliary dialogue with further spring parameters (see below in more detail)
  • Auto calculate – tick to let the program calculate soil-spring values automatically from soil parameters

Support springs tab​

Calculations​
  • Same for all calculations – when checked, the same soil-spring settings are applied to all analyses
  • Calculation type – drop-down menu to set parameters for a specific analysis (ULS, SLS, etc.)
  • Copy to – copy the current settings to other calculation types
Line supports​

Table listing spring stiffness values along the pile shaft:

  • Material – soil material used for each segment
  • No. – segment number (top to bottom)
  • Ks,y′ – lateral spring stiffness in local y′ direction
  • Ks,z′ – lateral spring stiffness in local z′ direction
Longitudinal and lateral springs​

Define shaft springs and plastic limits:

  • Kx′, Ky′, Kz′ – stiffness values for axial and lateral springs separately for compression and tension
  • Plastic limit – optional force limit for compression and/or tension. Activate using the checkbox next to the numeric field
Tip spring​

Spring stiffness at the pile toe:

  • Kx′ – axial tip stiffness separately for compression and tension
  • Plastic limit – optional force limit for compression and/or tension. Activate using the checkbox next to the numeric field
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There is an arrow button between the compression and tension values. If the button is active (light background) then writing a value into compression field fills the same value to tension field. If the button is inactive (dark background) then writing the value into compression field will not overwrite the value in the tension field.
The compression value will never be filled backward when writing into the tension field, no matter the state of the button.


Neg. shaft friction tab​

This tab defines negative skin friction along the pile shaft.

Soil springs dialogue

Line supports​

Table listing the negative shaft-friction coefficients along the pile shaft:

  • Material – soil material used for each segment
  • No. – segment number (top to bottom)
  • Alpha neg. – adhesion factor between pile and soil
  • Beta neg. – coefficient of lateral earth pressure affecting shaft friction

Neutral level​
  • Neutral level from the top of the pile – distance from pile head to the depth where upward and downward shaft forces balance

Calculated line load​

Read-only values showing the computed friction loads based on soil and pile parameters:

  • Friction force at the top level – load per unit length at the top of the pile
  • Friction force at the bottom/neutral level – load per unit length at the neutral depth

Options dialogue​

When you press the Options button in the Soil springs dialogue, the following window opens.

Pile options dialogue

This dialogue sets general rules for how soil springs are generated along the pile.

  • Type of pile – drop-down list with options:

    • Driven displacement
    • Driven jetted
    • Bored
      The selection influences how shaft and tip spring stiffness values are calculated.

  • Division length of line supports – numeric field defining the segment length for dividing the pile shaft into line supports

  • Surface surcharge – additional uniform load applied at the ground surface, transferred to shaft springs

  • Section perimeter calculated by – choose how the pile perimeter is derived for spring generation

    • Section shape – uses the actual geometric outline of the pile section
    • Convex contour of section – uses the convex hull of the section profile, simplifying irregular shapes

Last update: 2025-10-07