Pile foundation in alternate layered liquefiable and non-liquefiable soil deposits subjected to earthquake loading

Pile foundations are still the preferred foundation system for high-rise structures in earthquake-prone regions.Pile foundations have experienced failures in past earthquakes due to liquefaction.Research on pile foundations in liquefiable soils has primarily focused on the pile foundation behavior in two or three-layered soil profiles.However,in natural occurrence,it may occur in alternative layers of liquefiable and non-liquefiable soil.However,the experimental and/or numerical studies on the layered effect on pile foundations have not been widely addressed in the literature.Most of the design codes across the world do not explicitly mention the effect of sandwiched non-liquefiable soil layers on the pile response.In the present study,the behavior of an end-bearing pile in layered liquefiable and non-liquefiable soil deposit is studied numerically.This study found that the kinematic bending moment is higher and governs the design when the effect of the sandwiched non-liquefied layer is considered in the analysis as opposed to when its effect is ignored.Therefore,ignoring the effect of the sandwiched non-liquefied layer in a liquefiable soil deposit might be a nonconservative design approach.

Experimental study on seismic reinforcement of bridge foundation on silty clay landslide with inclined interlayer

A shaking table test for a bridge foundation reinforced by anti-slide piles on a silty clay landslide model with an inclined interlayer was performed.The deformation characteristics of the bridge foundation piles and anti-slide piles were analyzed in different loading conditions.The dynamic response law of a silty clay landslide with an inclined interlayer was summarized.The spacing between the rear anti-slide piles and bridge foundation should be reasonably controlled according to the seismic fortification requirements,to avoid the two peaks in the forced deformation of the bridge foundation piles.The“blocking effect”of the bridge foundation piles reduced the deformation of the forward anti-slide piles.The stress-strain response of silty clay was intensified as the vibration wave field appeared on the slope.Since the vibration intensified,the thrust distribution of the landslide underwent a process of shifting from triangle to inverted trapezoid,the difference in the acceleration response between the bearing platform and silty clay landslide tended to decrease,and the spectrum amplitude near the natural vibration frequency increased.The rear anti-slide piles were able to slow down the shear deformation of the soil in front of the piles and avoid excessive acceleration response of the bridge foundation piles.

Construction Technology of Pile Foundation for Subway Tunnel Crossing Bridge

Urban infrastructure has become more complex with the rapid development of urban transportation networks.In urban environments with limited space,construction of facilities like subways and bridges may mutually influence each other,especially when subway construction requires passing under bridges.In such cases,pile foundation replacement technology is often necessary.However,this technology is highly specialized,with a lengthy and risky construction period,and high costs.Personnel must be proficient in key technical aspects to ensure construction quality.This article discusses the technical principle,construction process,and core technology of pile foundation replacement,along with the application of this technology in subway tunnel crossing bridge projects,supported by engineering examples for reference.

Seismic response comparison and sensitivity analysis of pile foundation in liquefiable and non-liquefiable soils

Case history investigations have shown that pile foundations are more critically damaged in liquefiable soils than non-liquefiable soils.This study examines the differences in seismic response of pile foundations in liquefiable and non-liquefiable soils and their sensitivity to numerical model parameters.A two-dimensional finite element(FE)model is developed to simulate the experiment of a single pile foundation centrifuge in liquefiable soil subjected to earthquake motions and is validated against real-world test results.The differences in soil-pile seismic response of liquefiable and non-liquefiable soils are explored.Specifically,the first-order second-moment method(FOSM)is used for sensitivity analysis of the seismic response.The results show significant differences in seismic response for a soil-pile system between liquefiable and non-liquefiable soil.The seismic responses are found to be significantly larger in liquefiable soil than in non-liquefiable soil.Moreover,the pile bending moment was mainly affected by the kinematic effect in liquefiable soil,while the inertial effect was more significant in non-liquefiable soil.The controlling parameters of seismic response were PGA,soil density,and friction angle in liquefiable soil,while the pile bending moment was mainly controlled by PGA,the friction angle of soil,and shear modulus of loose sand in non-liquefiable soil.

Deep Foundation Pit Excavations Adjacent to Disconnected Piled Rafts: A Review on Risk Control Practice

Foundation pit excavation engineering is an old subject full of decision making. Yet, it still deserves further research due to the associated high failure cost and the complexity of the geological conditions and/or the surrounding existing infrastructure around it. This article overviews the risk control practice of foundation pit excavation projects in close proximity to existing disconnected piled raft. More focus is given to geotechnical aspects. The review begins with achievements to ensure excavation performance requirements, and follows to discuss the complex soil structure interaction involved among the fundamental components: the retaining wall, mat, piles, cushion, and the soil. After bringing consensus points to practicing engineers and decision makers, it then suggests possible future research directions.

Field observation of the thermal disturbance and freezeback processes of cast-in-place pile foundations in warm permafrost regions

The bearing capacity of pile foundations is affected by the temperature of the frozen soil around pile foundations.The construction process and the hydration heat of cast-in-place(CIP)pile foundations affect the thermal stability of permafrost.In this paper,temperature data from inside multiple CIP piles,borehole observations of ground thermal status adjacent to the foundations and local weather stations were monitored in warm permafrost regions to study the thermal influence process of CIP pile foundations.The following conclusions are drawn from the field observation data.(1)The early temperature change process of different CIP piles is different,and the differences gradually diminish over time.(2)The initial concrete temperature is linearly related with the air temperature,net radiation and wind speed within 1 h before the completion of concrete pouring;the contributions of the air temperature,net radiation,and wind speed to the initial concrete temperature are 51.9%,20.3%and 27.9%,respectively.(3)The outer boundary of the thermal disturbance annulus is approximately 2 m away from the pile center.It took more than 224 days for the soil around the CIP piles to return to the natural permafrost temperature at the study site.

Applications of Ultrasonic Detection Technology in Bridge Concrete Pile Foundation Detection

In this paper,the application strategy of ultrasonic detection technology in the detection of concrete foundation piles is analyzed using a construction project as an example.It includes a basic overview of the project,an overview of ultrasonic testing technology in bridge concrete pile foundation testing,and an analysis of its practical application in the concrete pile foundation testing of this project.The objective of this analysis is to provide some reference for the application of ultrasonic testing technology and the improvement of the quality of bridge concrete pile foundation testing.

A computational method for post-construction settlement of high-speed railway bridge pile foundation considering soil creep effect

Based on reasonable assumptions that simplified the calculational model,a simple and practical method was proposed to calculate the post-construction settlement of high-speed railway bridge pile foundation by using the Mesri creep model to describe the soil characteristics and the Mindlin-Geddes method considering pile diameter to calculate the vertical additional stress of pile bottom.A program named CPPS was designed for this method to calculate the post-construction settlement of a high-speed railway bridge pile foundation.The result indicates that the post-construction settlement in 100 years meets the requirements of the engineering specifications,and in the first two decades,the post-construction settlement is about 80% of its total settlement,while the settlement in the rest eighty years tends to be stable.Compared with the measured settlement after laying railway tracks,the calculational result is closed to that of the measured,and the results are conservative with a high computational accuracy.It is noted that the method can be used to calculate the post-construction settlement for the preliminary design of high-speed railway bridge pile foundation.

Influence of vertical loads on lateral response of pile foundations in sands and clays

Although the load applied to pile foundations is usually a combination of vertical and lateral components,there have been few investigations on the behavior of piles subjected to combined loadings.Those few studies led to inconsistent results with regard to the effects of vertical loads on the lateral response of piles.A series of three-dimensional(3D) finite differences analyses is conducted to evaluate the influence of vertical loads on the lateral performance of pile foundations.Three idealized sandy and clayey soil profiles are considered:a homogeneous soil layer,a layer with modulus proportional to depth,and two-layered strata.The pile material is modeled as linearly elastic,while the soil is idealized using the Mohr-Coulomb constitutive model with a non-associated flow rule.In order to confirm the findings of this study,soils in some cases are further modeled using more sophisticated models(i.e.CYsoil model for sandy soils and modified Cam-Clay(MCC) model for clayey soils).Numerical results showed that the lateral resistance of the piles does not appear to vary considerably with the vertical load in sandy soil especially at the loosest state.However,the presence of a vertical load on a pile embedded in homogeneous or inhomogeneous clay is detrimental to its lateral capacity,and it is unconservative to design piles in clays assuming that there is no interaction between vertical and lateral loads.Moreover,the current results indicate that the effect of vertical loads on the lateral response of piles embedded in twolayered strata depends on the characteristics of soil not only surrounding the piles but also located beneath their tips.

Influence of water-rich tunnel by shield tunneling on existing bridge pile foundation in layered soils

At present,shield tunneling often needs to pass through a large number of bridge pile foundations.However,there are few studies on the influence of shield tunneling on adjacent pile foundations by combining with groundwater seepage.Based on Winkler model,the calculation equations of shield tunneling on vertical and horizontal displacement of adjacent bridge pile are derived.Meanwhile,full and part three-dimensional finite element models are established to analyze the trend of bridge pier settlement,ground surface settlement trough,vertical and horizontal displacement of the pile and pile stress under three calculation conditions,i.e.,not considering groundwater effect,considering stable groundwater effect and fluid-soil interaction.The results show that the calculated value is small when the effect of groundwater is not considered;the seepage velocity of the soil above the excavation face is faster than that of the surrounding soil under fluid-soil interaction,and after the shield passing,the groundwater on both sides shows a flow trend of“U”shape on the ground surface supplying to the upper part of the tunnel;the vertical displacement of the pile body is bounded by the horizontal position of the top of the tunnel,the upper pile body settles,and the lower pile body deforms upward.The horizontal displacement of pile body presents a continuous“S”shape distribution,causing stress concentration near the tunnel.The calculated results of fluid-soil interaction are in good agreement with the field measured data and accord with the actual situation.

Force analysis of pile foundation in rock slope based on upper-bound theorem of limit

Based on the characteristic that the potential sliding surfaces of rock slope are commonly in the shape of either line or fold line,analysis thought of conventional pile foundation in the flat ground under complex load condition was applied and the upper-bound theorem of limit analysis was used to compute thrust of rock layers with all possible distribution shapes. The interaction of slope and pile was considered design load in terms of slope thrust,and the finite difference method was derived to calculate inner-force and displacement of bridge pile foundation in rock slope under complex load condition. The result of example shows that the distribution model of slope thrust has certain impact on displacement and inner-force of bridge pile foundation. The maximum displacement growth rate reaches 54% and the maximum moment and shear growth rates reach only 15% and 20%,respectively,but the trends of inner-force and displacement of bridge pile foundation are basically the same as those of the conventional pile foundation in the flat ground. When the piles bear the same level lateral thrust,the distribution shapes of slope thrust have different influence on inner-force of pile foundation,especially the rectangle distribution,and the triangle thrust has the smallest displacement and inner-force of pile foundation.

Three-dimensional finite element analysis on effects of tunnel construction on nearby pile foundation

A three-dimensional finite element simulation was carried out to investigate the effects of tunnel construction on nearby pile foundation.The displacement controlled model (DCM) was used to simulate the tunneling-induced volume loss effects.The numerical model was verified based on the results of a centrifuge test and a set of parametric studies was implemented based on this model.There is good agreement between the trend of the results of the centrifuge test and the present model.The results of parametric studies show that the tunnelling-induced pile internal force and deformation depend mainly on the pile?tunnel distance,the pile length to tunnel depth ratio and the volume loss.Two different zones are separated by a 45° line projected from the tunnel springline.Within the zone of influence,the pile is subjected to tensile force and large settlement;whereas outside the zone of influence,dragload and small settlement are induced.It is also established that the impact of tunnelling on a pile group is substantially smaller as compared with a single pile in the same location with the rear pile in a group,demonstrating a positive pile group effect.

Long-term settlement prediction of high-speed railway bridge pile foundation

The process and characteristics of loading on high-speed railway bridge pile foundation were firstly obtained by means of field research and analysis,and the corresponding loading function was presented.One-dimensional consolidation equation of elastic multilayered soils was then established with single drainage or double drainages under multilevel loading.Moreover,the formulas for calculating effective stress and settlement were derived from the Laplace numerical inversion transform.The three-dimensional composite analysis method of bridge pile group was improved,where the actual load conditions of pile foundation could be simulated,and the consolidation characteristics of soil layers beneath pile were also taken into account.Eventually,a corresponding program named LTPGS was developed to improve the calculation efficiency.The comparison between long-term settlement obtained from the proposed method and the in-situ measurements of pile foundation was illustrated,and a close agreement is obtained.The error between computed and measured results is less than 1 mm,and it gradually reduces with time.It is shown that the proposed method can effectively simulate the long-term settlement of pile foundation and program LTPGS can provide a reliable estimation.

State-of-the-art review of some artificial intelligence applications in pile foundations

Geotechnical engineering deals with materials（e.g. soil and rock） that, by their very nature, exhibit varied and uncertain behavior due to the imprecise physical processes associated with the formation of these materials. Modeling the behavior of such materials in geotechnical engineering applications is complex and sometimes beyond the ability of most traditional forms of physically-based engineering methods. Artificial intelligence（AI） is becoming more popular and particularly amenable to modeling the complex behavior of most geotechnical engineering applications because it has demonstrated superior predictive ability compared to traditional methods. This paper provides state-of-the-art review of some selected AI techniques and their applications in pile foundations, and presents the salient features associated with the modeling development of these AI techniques. The paper also discusses the strength and limitations of the selected AI techniques compared to other available modeling approaches.

Effects of liquefaction-induced large lateral ground deformation on pile foundations

The pile-soil system interaction computational model in liquefaction-induced lateral spreading ground was established by the finite difference numerical method.Considering an elastic-plastic subgrade reaction method,numerical methods involving finite difference approach of pile in liquefaction-induced lateral spreading ground were derived and implemented into a finite difference program.Based on the monotonic loading tests on saturated sand after liquefaction,the liquefaction lateral deformation of the site where group piles are located was predicted.The effects of lateral ground deformation after liquefaction on a group of pile foundations were studied using the fmite difference program mentioned above,and the failure mechanism of group piles in liquefaction-induced lateral spreading ground was obtained.The applicability of the program was preliminarily verified.The results show that the bending moments at the interfaces between liquefied and non-liquefied soil layers are larger than those at the pile＇s top when the pile＇s top is embedded.The value of the additional static bending moment is larger than the peak dynamic bending moment during the earthquake,so in the pile foundation design,more than the superstructure＇s dynamics should be considered and the effect of lateral ground deformation on pile foundations cannot be neglected.

Lateral response of pile foundations in liquefiable soils

Liquefaction has b e e n a m ain cause o f dam ag e to civil en g in eerin g stru ctu res in seism ically active areas.The effects o f dam ag e o f liquefaction o n d eep foundations are v ery d estructive. Seism ic beh av io r o f pilefoundations is w idely discussed by m any researchers for safer an d m ore econom ic design purposes. Thisp a p e r p resen ts a p se u d o -static m eth o d for analysis o f piles in liquefiable soil u n d e r seism ic loads. A freefieldsite resp o n se analysis using th ree-d im en sio n al （3D） num erical m odeling w as p erfo rm ed to d e te rmine kin em atic loads from lateral g ro u n d disp lacem en ts an d inertial loads from vib ratio n o f th e supe rstru ctu re . The effects o f various p aram eters, such as soil layering, k in em atic and inertial forces,b o u n d ary con d itio n o f pile h ead an d gro u n d slope, o n pile resp o n se w e re studied. By com paring th enum erical results w ith th e centrifuge te s t results, it can be concluded th a t th e use o f th e p-y curves w ithvarious d eg rad atio n factors in liquefiable sand gives reasonable results.

Controlled rocking pile foundation system with replaceable bar fuses for seismic resilience

Bridges designed following a conventional approach minimize the risk of collapse,but often require challenging,costly,and time-consuming restoration after an earthquake occurs.The new seismic design philosophy requires bridges to maintain functionality even after severe earthquakes.In this context,this paper proposes a controlled rocking pile foundation(CRPF)system and numerically evaluates bridges′degree of seismic resilience.The CRPF system allows a pile cap to rock on a pile foundation and dissipate seismic energy through inelastic deformations of replaceable bar fuses that connect a pile cap and piles.Following the conceptual design of the CRPF system,two analytical models were developed for a bridge pier utilizing the CRPF system and a pier designed to develop a plastic hinge in its column.The analytical results indicate that,after experiencing a severe earthquake,a conventionally designed bridge pier sustained substantial damage in its column and exhibited significant residual displacement.In contrast,a pier using the CRPF system showed negligible residual displacement and maintained elastic behavior except,as expected,for bar fuses.The damaged fuses can be rapidly replaced to recover bridge seismic resistance following an earthquake.Therefore,the CRPF system helps to achieve the desired postearthquake performance objectives.

Model test on vertical bearing capacity of X-section concrete pile raft foundation in silica sand

To reveal the bearing capacity of the X-section concrete piles pile raft foundation in silica sand,a series of vertical load tests are carried out.The X-section concrete piles are compared with circular section pile with the same section area.The load−settlement curves,axial force and skin friction,strain on concave and convex edge of the pile,pile-sand stress ratio,distributions of side and tip resistance are presented.The results show that bearing capacity of the X section concrete pile raft foundation is much larger than that of the circular pile raft foundation.Besides,compared with the circular pile,the peak axial force of X-section piles under raft is deeper and smaller while the neutral point of X-section concrete pile is deeper.Moreover,the strain on the concave edge is much larger than that on the convex edge of the pile,and the convex edge has more potential in bearing capacity as the vertical load increases.The X-section pile has higher pile-sand stress ratios and load-sharing between side resistance and tip resistance.Above all,the X-section concrete pile can significantly increase the bearing capacity of pile-raft foundations in silica sand.

Loading Sequence Effects on Dragload and Downdrag for Pile Foundation

Negative skin friction (NSF) is one of the important problems when designing a pile foundation. However, the influence of loading sequence on the dragload and downdrag for pile foundation is seldom studied. In this paper, a three-dimensional numerical model was established using FLAC3D. Compared with the results of model test, the established model could be used to study the NSF of pile foundation. The influencing factors were discussed including the length-diameter ratio of pile and the loading sequence of pile head load and surcharge. A case history was analyzed using FLAC3D. The calculated results are in good agreement with the measured results. It is concluded that the dragload and downdrag are remarkably influenced by the loading sequence of pile head load and surcharge. The dragload and downdrag reach the maximum values under the condition of surcharge after pile head load.

Stochastic Response Analysis of Piled Offshore Platforms to Earthquake Load

In this paper, using the theory of stochastic analysis of the response to earthquake load, a stochastic analysis method of the response of piled platforms to earthquake load has been established. In the method, the strong ground motion is considered as three dimensional stationary white noise process and the pile-soil interaction and water-structure interaction are considered. The stochastic response of a typical platform to earthquake load has been computed with this method and the results compared with those obtained with the response spectrum analysis method. The comparison shows that the stochastic analysis method of the response of piled platforms to earthquake load is suitable for this kind of analysis.