Estimation of Peak Acceleration and Bending Moment for Pile-Raft Systems Embedded in Soft Clay Subjected to Far-Field Seismic Excitation
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 143, Issue 11
Abstract
An extensive suite of three-dimensional finite-element simulations was carried out to examine the response of pile-raft-soil systems under seismic excitation representative of far-field events. The numerical procedure was first validated by a series of seismic centrifuge tests performed mainly on pile-raft systems embedded in soft clays and was subsequently extended to study the influence of various factors on the computed raft acceleration and maximum bending moment near the pile head. The factors considered were pile length, pile flexural stiffness, peak base acceleration, superstructural mass, soil stiffness, soil frictional angle, pile density, and soil-layer thickness. With the help of dimensional analysis, the results of the parametric studies were processed and interpreted using regression analysis to derive correlations for predicting the maximum pile-group bending moment and peak raft acceleration. Such correlations are highly useful in the practical seismic design of pile-raft systems embedded in soft soils, because they provide quick first-order predictions for making initial engineering judgments prior to performing more-detailed and rigorous numerical simulations.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support and research scholarships provided by the National University of Singapore.
References
ABAQUS 6.11 [Computer software]. Dassault Systèmes, Providence, RI.
Abdoun, T., and Dobry, R. (2002). “Evaluation of pile foundation response to lateral spreading.” Soil Dyn. Earthquake Eng., 22(9–12), 1051–1058.
Abdoun, T., Dobry, R., O’Rourke, T. D., and Goh, S. H. (2003). “Pile response to lateral spreads: Centrifuge modeling.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 869–878.
Balendra, T., Lam, N. T. K., Wilson, J. L., and Kong, K. H. (2002). “Analysis of long-distance earthquake tremors and base shear demand for buildings in Singapore.” Eng. Struct., 24(1), 99–108.
Balendra, T., and Li, Z. (2008). “Seismic hazard of Singapore and Malaysia.” Electron. J. Struct. Eng., 8(1), 57–63.
Banerjee, S. (2009). “Centrifuge and numerical modeling of soft clay-pile-raft foundations subjected to seismic shaking.” Ph.D. thesis, National Univ. of Singapore, Singapore.
Banerjee, S., Goh, S. H., and Lee, F. H. (2014). “Earthquake-induced bending moment in fixed-head piles in soft clay.” Géotechnique, 64(6), 431–446.
Boulanger, R. W., Curras, C. J., Kutter, B. L., Wilson, D. W., and Abghari, A. (1999). “Seismic soil-pile-structure interaction experiments and analyses.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 750–759.
Brandenberg, S. J., Boulanger, R. W., Kutter, B. L., and Chang, D. (2005). “Behavior of pile foundations in laterally spreading ground during centrifuge tests.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 1378–1391.
Cai, Y. X., Gould, P. L., and Desai, C. S. (2000). “Nonlinear analysis of 3D seismic interaction of soil-pile-structure systems and application.” Eng. Struct., 22(2), 191–199.
Curras, C. J., Boulanger, R. W., Kutter, B. L., and Wilson, D. W. (2001). “Dynamic experiments and analyses of a pile-group-supported structure.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 585–596.
de Sanctis, L., Maiorano, R. M. S., and Aversa, S. (2010). “A method for assessing kinematic bending moments at the pile head.” Earthquake Eng. Struct. Dyn., 39(10), 1133–1154.
Dezi, F., Carbonari, S., and Leoni, G. (2010). “Kinematic bending moments in pile foundations.” Soil Dyn. Earthquake Eng., 30(3), 119–132.
Dobry, R., Abdoun, T., O’Rourke, T. D., and Goh, S. H. (2003). “Single piles in lateral spreads: Field bending moment evaluation.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 879–889.
Dobry, R., and O’Rourke, M. (1983). “Discussion of ‘Seismic response of end-bearing piles’ by Raul Flores-Berrones and Robert V. Whitman (1982).” J. Geotech. Eng., 778–781.
Douglas, J. (2003). “Earthquake ground motion estimation using strong-motion records: A review of equations for the estimation of peak ground acceleration and response spectral ordinates.” Earth-Sci. Rev., 61(1–2), 43–104.
Elahi, H., Moradi, M., Poulos, H. G., and Ghalandarzadeh, A. (2010). “Pseudostatic approach for seismic analysis of pile group.” Comput. Geotech., 37(1), 25–39.
Jeremic, B., Jie, G., Preisig, M., and Tafazzoli, N. (2009). “Time domain simulation of soil-foundation-structure interaction in non-uniform soils.” Earthquake Eng. Struct. Dyn., 38(5), 699–718.
Kim, S., and Stewart, J. P. (2003). “Kinematic soil-structure interaction from strong motion recordings.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 323–335.
Kramer, S. L., Valdez, C., Blanchette, B., and Baker, J. W. (2014). “Performance-based design factors for pile foundations.”, Washington State Dept. of Transportation, Olympia, WA.
Lee, F. H., Tan, T. S., Leung, C. F., Yong, K. Y., Karunaratne, G. P., and Lee, S. L. (1991). “Development of geotechnical centrifuge facility at the National University of Singapore.” Proc., Int. Conf. Centrifuge 1991, A.A. Balkema, Boulder, CO, 1–11.
Liyanapathirana, D. S., and Poulos, H. G. (2005). “Pseudostatic approach for seismic analysis of piles in liquefying soil.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 1480–1487.
Ma, K. (2010). “Dynamic pile-raft-soil interaction in soft clay conditions during earthquakes.” Ph.D. thesis, Sichuang Univ., Sichuang, China.
Madabhushi, G., Knappett, J., and Haigh, S. (2010). Design of pile foundations in liquefiable soils, Imperial College Press, London, 217.
Maiorano, R. M. S., de Sanctis, L., Aversa, S., and Mandolini, A. (2009). “Kinematic response analysis of piled foundations under seismic excitation.” Can. Geotech. J., 46(5), 571–584.
Margason, E. (1975). “Pile bending during earthquakes.” ASCE-UC/Berkeley Seminar on Design Construction and Performance of Deep Foundations, Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA.
Margason, E., and Holloway, M. D. (1977). “Pile bending during earthquake.” Proc., 6th World Conf. on the Earthquake Engineering, Sarita Prakashan, Meerut, India, 1690–1696.
Mason, H. B., et al. (2010). “Earthquake input motions and seismic site response in a centrifuge test examining SFSI effects.” Proc., 5th Int. Conf. on Recent Advances in Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics and Symp. in Honor of Professor I. M. Idriss, Missouri Univ. of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO, 1–13.
Meymand, P. J. (1998). “Shaking table scale model test of nonlinear soil-pile-superstructure interaction in soft clay.” Ph.D. thesis, Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA.
Nikolaou, S., Mylonakis, G., Gazetas, G., and Tazoh, T. (2001). “Kinematic pile bending during earthquakes: Analysis and field measurements.” Géotechnique, 51(5), 425–440.
Sarma, S. K., and Srbulov, M. (1996). “A simplified method for prediction of kinematic soil-foundation interaction effects on peak horizontal acceleration of a rigid foundation.” Earthquake Eng. Struct. Dyn., 25(8), 815–836.
Seed, H. B., and Idriss, I. M. (1982). Ground motions and soil liquefaction during earthquakes, Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, Oakland, CA.
Srbulov, M. (2002). “A note on peak foundation acceleration assessment.” Eur. Earthquake Eng., XVI(2), 3–9.
Srbulov, M. (2006). “Simplified analysis of the peak horizontal acceleration of pile caps and caisson tops.” Eur. Earthquake Eng., XX(3), 61–72.
Srbulov, M. (2008). Geotechnical earthquake engineering: Simplified analyses with case studies and examples, Springer, Dordrecht, Netherlands, 244.
Stewart, J. P. (2000). “Variations between foundation-level and free-field earthquake ground motions.” Earthquake Spectra, 16(2), 511–532.
Stewart, J. P., Fenves, G. L., and Seed, R. B. (1999). “Seismic soil-structure interaction in buildings. I: Analytical aspects.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 26–37.
Stewart, J. P., Seed, R. B., and Fenves, G. L. (1998). “Empirical evaluation of inertial soil-structure interaction effects.”, Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center, Berkeley, CA.
Stewart, J. P., and Tileylioglu, S. (2007). “Input ground motions for tall buildings with subterranean levels.” Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build., 16(5), 543–557.
Tabatabaiefar, H. R., Fatahi, B., and Samali, B. (2013). “Seismic behavior of building frames considering dynamic soil-structure interaction.” Int. J. Geomech., 409–420.
Tabesh, A., and Poulos, H. G. (2001). “Pseudostatic approach for seismic analysis of single piles.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 757–765.
Tabesh, A., and Poulos, H. G. (2007). “Design charts for seismic analysis of single piles in clay.” Proc. Inst. Civil Eng. Geotech. Eng., 160(2), 85–96.
Tokimatsu, K., Suzuki, H., and Sato, M. (2005). “Effects of inertial and kinematic interaction on seismic behavior of pile with embedded foundation.” Soil Dyn. Earthquake Eng., 25(7–10), 753–762.
Viggiani, G., and Atkinson, J. H. (1995). “Stiffness of fine-grained soil at very small strains.” Géotechnique, 45(2), 249–265.
Wilson, D. W., Boulanger, R. W., and Kutter, B. L. (2000). “Observed seismic lateral resistance of liquefying sand.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 898–906.
Yao, S., Kobayashi, K., Yoshida, N., and Matsuo, H. (2004). “Interactive behavior of soil-pile-superstructure system in transient state to liquefaction by means of large shake table tests.” Soil Dyn. Earthquake Eng., 24(5), 397–409.
Zhang, L. (2014). “Centrifuge and numerical modeling of the seismic response of pile groups in soft clays.” Ph.D. thesis, National Univ. of Singapore, Singapore.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 143 • Issue 11 • November 2017
Copyright
©2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 5, 2016
Accepted: May 8, 2017
Published online: Aug 16, 2017
Published in print: Nov 1, 2017
Discussion open until: Jan 16, 2018
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.