Discontinued wall pile in PLAXIS 2 - Output forces

Question

Dear Plaxis Support 
 When I model a discontinued pile wall, I enter the stiffness (axial and flexural) as the stiffness of the element divided by the distance, "s", between two of them. After the analysis I got the internal forces (bending moments, normal and shear forces) "per meter width". For pile design, should these forces multiply by the distance between them "s" or by its diameter "d"? or the values from output can be used directly for design. 
 I hope you can help me with this question . 
 Thanks for your support. 
 Ram&oacute;n S.

Dennis Waterman · Answer

Dear Ram&oacute;n, 
 If you determine the stiffness per meter by taking the stiffness of a pile and divide it by the distance "s" in between, then of course in reverse the output forces per meter should be multiplied by that same distance "s" again in order to get forces per pile. With kind regards, Dennis Waterman

Dennis Waterman · Answer

Since you're averaging the stiffness you will also get an average displacement and average forces. If you're interested in the distribution of displacements and/or forces in the out of plane direction you would have to do a 3D analysis. 
 With kind regards, 
 Dennis Waterman