Steel Pipe Pile Strain Limits for Performance-Based Seismic Design of Marine Structures

In current practice for US West Pacific region, the seismic design of wharf structures is often based on the performance-based design requirements prescribed in ASCE/COPRI 61-14. The piles for these structures are designed to develop pile-to-deck and in-ground plastic hinges in an extreme seismic event. In the past decade, steel piles have become a preferred option in the marine industry, specifically for marine oil terminal projects. In the development of the next ASCE/COPRI 61 edition, the steel pipe piles in-ground strain limits prescribed in ASCE/COPRI 61-14 have been questioned by the ASCE/COPRI 61 task working group. Recent research concludes steel pipe piles are susceptible to local buckling and fracture at lower strains than the current limits prescribed in ASCE/COPRI 61-14. This paper describes the ongoing research funded by the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center being performed at the University of California, San Diego, by the authors of this paper.