Seismic Behavior of Batter Piles: Elastic Response
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 136, Issue 9
Abstract
Several aspects of the seismic response of groups containing nonvertical piles are studied, including the lateral pile-head stiffnesses, the “kinematic” pile deformation, and the “inertial” soil-pile-structure response. A key goal is to explore the conditions under which the presence of batter piles is beneficial, indifferent, or detrimental. Parametric analyses are carried out using three-dimensional finite-element modeling, assuming elastic behavior of soil, piles, and superstructure. The model is first used to obtain the lateral stiffnesses of single batter piles and to show that its results converge to the available solutions from the literature. Then, real accelerograms covering a broad range of frequency characteristics are employed as base excitation of simple fixed-head two-pile group configurations, embedded in homogeneous, inhomogeneous, and layered soil profiles, while supporting very tall or very short structures. Five pile inclinations are considered while the corresponding vertical-pile group results serve as reference. It is found that in purely kinematic seismic loading, batter piles tend to confirm their negative reputation, as had also been found recently for a group subjected to static horizontal ground deformation. However, the total (kinematic plus inertial) response of structural systems founded on groups of batter piles offers many reasons for optimism. Batter piles may indeed be beneficial (or detrimental) depending on, among other parameters, the relative size of the overturning moment versus the shear force transmitted onto them from the superstructure.
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Acknowledgments
This work formed part of the EU research project “QUAKER” which is funded through the EU Fifth Framework Program: Environment, Energy, and Sustainable Development, Research and Technological Development Activity of Generic Nature: the Fight against Natural and Technological Hazards, under Contract No. EUEVG1-CT-2002-00064. For the centrifuge testing we acknowledge the contribution of Dr. M. Sato of the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention, Japan. We also thank Evangelia Garini for her kind contribution in the preparation of several figures.
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Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 136 • Issue 9 • September 2010
Pages: 1187 - 1199
Copyright
© 2010 ASCE.
History
Received: Jan 14, 2009
Accepted: Feb 3, 2010
Published online: Feb 8, 2010
Published in print: Sep 2010
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