Liquefaction Effects on Piled Bridge Abutments: Centrifuge Tests and Numerical Analyses
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 139, Issue 3
Abstract
Earthquake-induced deformation of piled bridge abutments in approach embankments underlain by liquefied soils may be reduced by the restraining forces provided by the piles and bridge superstructure. Design methods accounting for these pinning effects have been applied in practice but lack significant comparison with actual physical data. Three dynamic centrifuge model tests were performed to investigate pile-pinning effects, and the results are presented in this paper. Each centrifuge model was composed of two identical embankments underlain by liquefiable soil: one with a pile group and the other without. The tests demonstrated that the embankment with a pile group experienced less lateral movement and settlement than the embankment without a pile group. To better understand and extend the results of these centrifuge tests, nonlinear deformation analyses of the three centrifuge tests were made using a fully coupled effective stress model. The ability of the analyses to model the centrifuge tests is assessed primarily through comparison of dynamic histories of acceleration, pore water pressure, displacement, and pile bending moments. The usefulness of the modeling and dynamic analysis procedures is evaluated, and key lessons are described.
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Acknowledgments
Funding was provided by the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research (PEER) Center; through the Earthquake Engineering Research Centers Program of the National Science Foundation, under Contract No. 2312001, and the PEER Lifelines program under Contract No. 65A0058. Dr. Armstrong acknowledges a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) scholarship from the government of Canada. The authors thank Seiji Kano for providing the results of his laboratory testing of Nevada sand. The contents of this paper do not necessarily represent a policy of either agency or an endorsement by the state or federal government.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 139 • Issue 3 • March 2013
Pages: 433 - 443
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jun 2, 2011
Accepted: May 23, 2012
Published online: Sep 28, 2012
Published in print: Mar 1, 2013
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