Pile Responses under Seismic Earth Pressures of Lateral Spread Using Wave Equation Analysis

This study presents a simplified method to conduct the behavior of pile foundations due to lateral spreading. Wave equation analysis applied to model the pile behavior under seismic motions. According to the concept of force-based method, the authors suggest to adopt the dynamic earth pressure in the wave equation analysis. Numerical procedures were validated with the well-documented cases of damaged piles in 1995 Kobe earthquake. In the meantime, comparing the numerical results with the case histories, one can again evaluate the damaged features of piles and distinguish the actual failure pattern of piles. The predictions and the observations were found in good correspondences.