Load distribution in large pile groups under static and dynamic loading

Research on the action of pile groups in resisting lateral loading is usually based on analysis, field and centrifuge tests of small pile groups. The interaction between piles in these groups is modelled by modifying the lateral resistance p–y curves developed for a single pile using row dependent reduction factors or a group factor for the entire group to simulate the effect of soil–pile–soil interaction. The modifying factors for the p–y curves and the appropriate group factors for pile groups are based entirely on static tests and there is no direct verification that these factors are appropriate to handle the dynamic loading of earthquake induced ground motions. In this paper we investigate the interaction effects between piles under static and seismic loading using the computer program VERSAT-P3D, which uses an equivalent linear constitutive model for the soil. The analytical procedure is calibrated using data from a static field load test on a single pile. Several pile groups, 2 × 2, 3 × 3, 4 × 4, 5 × 5, 8 × 8, 10 × 10, 10 × 2 and 15 × 2 were analysed for the study. Each group was subjected to static pushover and earthquake loading and the distribution of static and dynamic shear forces at various lateral displacements were evaluated. The study shows that the distribution of load within a pile group under dynamic loading varies significantly from the distribution under static loading and is strongly load intensity dependent. Current practice assumes that the distributions are similar.     

Dynamic stiffness of deep foundations with inclined piles

The influence of inclined piles on the dynamic response of deep foundations and superstructures is still not well understood and needs further research. For this reason, impedance functions of deep foundations with inclined piles, obtained numerically from a boundary element–finite element coupling model, are provided in this paper. More precisely, vertical, horizontal, rocking and horizontal–rocking crossed dynamic stiffness and damping functions of single inclined piles and 2 × 2 and 3 × 3 pile groups with battered elements are presented in a set of plots. The soil is assumed to be a homogeneous viscoelastic isotropic half‐space and the piles are modeled as elastic compressible Euler–Bernoulli beams. The results for different pile group configurations, pile–soil stiffness ratios and rake angles are presented. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Centrifuge modelling of raked piles

Inclined piles are prohibited by many codes in seismic areas. Nevertheless the battered effect has not yet been clarified because very few data are available. The present work is a comparison, at reduced scale in the centrifuge, of the response of two simplified pile groups: a 1 × 2 vertical piles and 1 × 2 pile group with one inclined pile. Two configurations are considered: end-bearing and floating pile group, both with pile heads rigidly fixed with a massive cap. First, repeatability tests under horizontal cyclic loading were performed on both floating pile groups. Secondly, repeated horizontal impact tests were performed on both end-bearing pile groups. These impact tests, which highlight the influence of inclined piles on the inertial response of a group, are a first step for the more complex analysis of the performance of such groups under seismic loads where inertial and kinematic interactions are combined. The first part of this work revealed the influence of sand structure around the inclined pile tip on the repeatability of the tests performed on floating pile groups. The second part highlighted differences in the dynamic response between the two end-bearing pile groups through measurements of the pile cap acceleration, the bending moment profile and the axial load in the piles.     

Kinematic interaction factors of deep foundations with inclined piles

The beneficial or detrimental role of battered piles on the dynamic response of piled foundations has not been yet fully elucidated. In order to shed more light on this aspect, kinematic interaction factors of deep foundations with inclined piles, are provided for single‐battered piles, as well as for 2 × 2 and 3 × 3 groups of piles subjected to vertically incident plane shear S waves. Piles are modelled as linear‐elastic Bernoulli beams, whereas soil is assumed to be a linear, isotropic, homogeneous viscoelastic half‐space. Different pile group configurations, pile‐soil stiffness ratios, and rake angles are considered. The relevance and main trends observed in the influence of the rake angle on the kinematic interaction factors of the analysed foundations are inferred from the presented results. An important dependence of the kinematic interaction factors on the rake angle is observed together with the existence of an inclination angle at which cap rotation and excitation become out of phase in the low‐to‐mid frequency range. The existence of a small batter angle that provides minimum cap rotation is also shown. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

液化场地桥梁群桩-土耦合体系强震反应分析

针对振动台试验,采用u-p形式控制方程表述饱和砂土的动力属性,选用土的多屈服面塑性本构模型刻画饱和砂土和黏土的力学特性,引入非线性梁-柱单元模拟桩,建立试验受控条件下液化场地群桩-土强震相互作用分析的三维有限元模型,并通过试验结果验证数值建模途径与模拟方法的正确性。以实际工程中常用的2×2群桩为例,建立桩-土-桥梁结构强震反应分析三维有限元模型。基于此,针对不同群桩基础配置对液化场地群桩-土强震相互作用影响展开具体分析。对比发现,桩的数量相同时,桩排列方向与地震波输入方向平行时比垂直时桩基受力减小5%~10%,而对场地液化情况无明显影响;相同排列形式下,三桩模型中土体出现液化的时间约比双桩模型延缓5s,桩上弯矩和剪力减小33%~38%。由此可见,桩基数量增加,桩-土体系整体刚度更大,场地抗液化性能显著,桩基对上部桥梁结构的承载性能明显增强,其安全性与可靠性更高。这对实际桥梁工程抗震设计具有一定的借鉴意义。     

Experimental study of the effect of inclined pile on the seismic behavior of pile group

Seismic behavior of inclined piles has been considered detrimental for years. However, recent researches show that battered piles can have a beneficial effect. In this framework, a series of centrifuge tests on an inclined pile group is performed. The analysis is based on the comparative response of two 2×1 simplified pile groups: one with vertical piles and the other with one vertical and one inclined pile. The response of these pile groups to repeated earthquakes or sinusoidal inputs is analyzed through the response frequencies, the envelop curves of bending moment profiles, the axial loads measured in both piles and the kinematic response of the cap. Results highlight that the effect of inclined pile is highly influenced by the frequency content of the input. In addition, the inclined pile induces non-negligible residual bending moments, higher horizontal stiffness at the pile cap and larger rotation.     

Kinematic internal forces in deep foundations with inclined piles

This paper presents a parametric study that looks into the influence of pile rake angle on the kinematic internal forces of deep foundations with inclined piles. Envelopes of maximum kinematic bending moments, shear forces and axial loads are presented along single inclined piles and 2 × 2 symmetrical square pile groups with inclined elements subjected to an earthquake generated by vertically incident shear waves. Inclination angles from 0° to 30° are considered, and three different pile–soil stiffness ratios are studied. These results are obtained through a frequency–domain analysis using a boundary element–finite element code in which the soil is modelled by the boundary element method as a homogeneous, viscoelastic, unbounded region, and the piles are modelled by finite elements as Euler–Bernoulli beams. The rotational kinematic response of the pile foundations is shown to be a key factor on the evolution of the kinematic internal forces along the foundations. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

多桩型复合地基作用机理与动力特性研究

对由碎石桩和CFG桩构成的多桩型复合地基的作用机理进行分析,通过数值模拟,对多桩型复合地基的动力特性进行研究,探讨桩型配比、桩径、桩长、CFG桩桩体刚度和碎石桩桩体渗透性等设计参数对多桩型复合地基动力特性的影响。研究结果表明:相同条件下地震期多桩型复合地基的动变形小于碎石桩复合地基而大于CFG桩复合地基,震后沉降量相对较小,在工程设计时碎石桩与CFG桩的桩型配比宜为4∶5;随桩体长度、桩体直径和CFG桩刚度的增加,多桩型复合地基地震期的竖向动变形逐渐减小;随碎石桩桩体渗透性的增加,多桩型复合地基中的超动孔隙水压力减小,震后沉降量降低。     

Influences of type of wave and angle of incidence on seismic bending moments in pile foundations

When analysing the seismic response of pile groups, a vertically‐incident wavefield is usually employed even though it does not necessarily correspond to the worst case scenario. This work aims to study the influences of both the type of seismic body wave and its angle of incidence on the dynamic response of pile foundations. To this end, the formulation of SV, SH and P obliquely‐incident waves is presented and implemented in a frequency‐domain boundary element‐finite element code for the dynamic analysis of pile foundations and piled structures. Results are presented in terms of bending moments at cap level of single piles and 3 × 3 pile groups, both in frequency and in time domains. It is found that, in general, the vertical incidence is not the most unfavourable situation. In particular, obliquely‐incident SV waves with angles of incidence smaller than the critical one, a situation in which the mechanism of propagation of the waves in the soil changes and surface waves appear, yield bending moments much larger than those obtained for vertically‐incident wavefields. It is also shown that the influence of pile‐to‐pile interaction on the kinematic bending moments becomes significant for non‐vertical incidence, especially for P and SV waves. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dynamic response of pile groups with different configurations

A general methodology is outlined for a complete seismic soil—pile-foundation—structure interaction analysis. A Beam-on-Dynamic-Winkler-Foundation (BDWF) simplified model and a Green's-function-based rigorous method are utilized in determining the dynamic response of single piles and pile groups. The simplified model is validated through comparisons with the rigorous method. A comprehensive parameter study is then performed on the effect of pile group configuration on the dynamic impedances of pile foundations. Insight is gained into the nature of dynamic pile—soil—pile interaction. The results presented herein may be used in practice as a guide in obtaining the dynamic stiffness and damping of foundations with a large number of piles.     

Dynamic structure–soil–structure interaction between nearby piled buildings under seismic excitation by BEM–FEM model

The dynamic through–soil interaction between nearby pile supported structures in a viscoelastic half-space, under incident S and Rayleigh waves, is numerically studied. To this end, a three-dimensional viscoelastic BEM–FEM formulation for the dynamic analysis of piles and pile groups in the frequency domain is used, where soil is modelled by BEM and piles are simulated by one-dimensional finite elements as Bernoulli beams. This formulation has been enhanced to include the presence of linear superstructures founded on pile groups, so that structure–soil–structure interaction (SSSI) can be investigated making use of a direct methodology with an affordable number of degrees of freedom. The influence of SSSI on lateral spectral deformation, vertical and rotational response, and shear forces at pile heads, for several configurations of shear one-storey buildings, is addressed. Maximum response spectra are also presented. SSSI effects on groups of structures with similar dynamic characteristics have been found to be important. The system response can be either amplified or attenuated according to the distance between adjacent buildings, which has been related to dynamic properties of the overall system.     

A numerical model for the dynamic analysis of inclined pile groups

The paper presents a numerical model for the dynamic analysis of pile groups with inclined piles in horizontally layered soil deposits. Piles are modelled with Euler–Bernoulli beams, while the soil is supposed to be constituted by independent infinite viscoelastic horizontal layers. The pile–soil–pile interaction as well as the hysteretic and geometric damping is taken into account by means of two‐dimensional elastodynamic Green's functions. Piles cap is considered by introducing a rigid constraint; the condensation of the problem permits a consistent derivation of both the dynamic impedance matrix of the soil–foundation system and the foundation input motion. These quantities are those used to perform inertial soil–structure interaction analyses in the framework of the substructure approach. Furthermore, the model allows evaluating the kinematic stress resultants in piles resulting from waves propagating in the soil deposit, taking into account the pile–soil–pile interactions. The model validation is carried out by performing accuracy analyses and comparing results in terms of dynamic impedance functions, kinematic response parameters and pile stress resultants, with those furnished by 3D refined finite element models. To this purpose, classical elastodynamic solutions are adopted to define the soil–pile interaction problem. The model results in low computational demands without significant loss of precision, compared with more rigorous approaches or refined finite element models. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Simple formulas for the dynamic stiffness of pile groups

Simple formulas are derived for the dynamic stiffness of pile group foundations subjected to horizontal and rocking dynamic loads. The formulations are based on the construction of a general model of impedance matrices as the condensation of matrices of mass, damping, and stiffness, and on the identification of the values of these matrices on an extensive database of numerical experiments computed using coupled finite element–boundary element models. The formulations obtained can be readily used for the design of both floating piles on homogeneous half‐space and end‐bearing piles and are applicable for a wide range of mechanical and geometrical parameters of the soil and piles, in particular for large pile groups. For the seismic design of a building, the use of the simple formulas rather than a full computational model is shown to induce little error on the evaluation of the response spectra and time histories. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基于Pasternak地基模型和Adomian分解方法的扩底桩水平动力响应分析

工程上广泛采用基于Winkler模型的层状地基反力系数法对桩土水平动力响应进行分析,该方法忽略了地基土剪切作用的影响,与工程实际有一定偏差。另外,对桩土的非线性相互作用和如扩底桩、楔形桩等变截面桩问题常用的传递矩阵法或中心差分法,计算过程较为繁琐。基于Pasternak地基模型和Adomian分解方法,提出一种考虑地基土剪切作用的桩土水平动力相互作用近似计算方法,该方法计算简便且结果精度较高,对变截面桩问题有很好的适用性;并基于该方法,对扩底桩水平动力响应问题和影响因素进行分析。结果指出,扩底半径和上部桩周土弹性模量对扩底桩水平动力响应影响较大,随着扩底半径的增加和桩周土弹性模量的增大,扩底桩水平振动位移幅值逐渐减小。另外,在较低频率的荷载激励下,应考虑土层对桩的剪切作用。     

Influence of pile spacing on seismic response of piled raft in soft clay: centrifuge modeling

In order to study the influence of pile spacing on the seismic response of piled raft in soft clay, a series of shaking table tests were conducted by using a geotechnical centrifuge. The dynamic behavior of acceleration, displacement and internal forces was examined. The test results indicate that the seismic acceleration responses of models are generally greater than the surrounding soil surface in the period ranges of 2–10 seconds. Foundation instant settlements for 4×4 and 3×3 piled raft (with pile spacing equal to 4 and 6 times pile diameter) are somewhat close to each other at the end of the earthquake, but reconsolidation settlements are greater for 3×3 piled raft. The seismic acceleration of superstructure, the uneven settlement of the foundation and the maximum bending moment of pile are relatively lower for 3×3 piled raft. Successive earthquakes lead to the softening behavior of soft clay, which causes a reduction of the pile bearing capacity and thus loads are transferred from the pile group to the raft. For the case of a 3×3 piled raft, there is relatively smaller change of the load sharing ratio of the pile group and raft after the earthquake and the distribution of maximum bending moments at the pile head is more uniform.

     

Pile–soil–pile interaction in pile groups with batter piles under dynamic loads

A simple analytical solution is developed for computing the dynamic interaction tensor for floating pile groups with batter piles. For this purpose, the governing differential equations are derived for an unloaded batter floating pile closely spaced to another loaded pile with the same properties. The reaction of soil against pile deformation is modeled by the springs and dashpots along the length of the pile. The soil is assumed linear viscous elastic and the pile behavior is linear elastic. The closed form solutions of governing equations are obtained using appropriate boundary conditions. The results are verified and compared with rigorous and approximate analytical solutions for vertical piles. The proposed method can be readily applied by engineers in the design of pile groups with batter piles.     

Dynamic response of pile groups embedded in a poroelastic medium

The dynamic response of pile groups embedded in a homogeneous poroelastic medium and subjected to vertical loading is considered. The piles are represented by compressible beam-column elements and the porous medium uses Biot's three-dimensional elastodynamic theory. The dynamic impedance of pile groups can be computed directly by using pile–soil–pile dynamic interaction factors. The axial forces and pore pressures along the length of pile groups are computed by superposition method, which greatly reduces the computational time for the direct analysis of pile groups. Parametric studies are conducted for various conditions of pile groups. The superposition method is proposed for the dynamic response analysis of pile groups that is computationally feasible for practical applications.     

Nonlinear lateral interaction in pile dynamics

A model for pile lateral response to transient dynamic loading and to harmonic loading is presented allowing for nonlinear soil behaviour, discontinuity conditions at the pile-soil interface and energy dissipation through different types of damping. The approach is used to establish equivalent linear stiffness and damping parameters of single piles as well as dynamic interaction factors for approximate nonlinear analysis of pile groups. The applicability of these parameters to the pile-group analysis was examined, and a reasonable agreement with the direct analysis was found. The superposition technique may be used to analyze the response of small pile groups. Also, the dynamic stiffness of pile groups is greatly affected by both the nonlinear behavior of the soil and the slippage and gapping between the pile and soil. For a basic range of soil and pile parameters, equivalent linear stiffness and damping parameters of single piles and interaction factors for approximate nonlinear analysis are provided.     

Modal analysis of pile‐supported structures during seismic liquefaction

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of liquefaction on modal parameters (frequency and damping) of pile‐supported structures. Four physical models, consisting of two single piles and two 2 × 2 pile groups, were tested in a shaking table where the soil surrounding the pile liquefied because of seismic shaking. The experimental results showed that the natural frequency of pile‐supported structures may decrease considerably owing to the loss of lateral support offered by the soil to the pile. On the other hand, the damping ratio of structure may increase to values in excess of 20%. These findings have important design consequences: (a) for low‐period structures, substantial reduction of spectral acceleration is expected; (b) during and after liquefaction, the response of the system may be dictated by the interactions of multiple loadings, that is, horizontal, axial and overturning moment, which were negligible prior to liquefaction; and (c) with the onset of liquefaction due to increased flexibility of pile‐supported structure, larger spectral displacement may be expected, which in turn may enhance P‐delta effects and consequently amplification of overturning moment. Practical implications for pile design are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.