A Simplified Method for Estimating the Initial Stiffness of Monopile-Soil Interaction Under Lateral Loads in Offshore Wind Turbine Systems

The interface mechanical behavior of a monopile is an important component of the overall offshore wind turbine structure design.Understanding the soil-structure interaction,particularly the initial soil-structure stiffness,has a significant impact on the study of natural frequency and dynamic response of the monopile.In this paper,a simplified method for estimating the interface mechanical behavior of monopiles under initial lateral loads is proposed.Depending on the principle of minimum potential energy and virtual work theory,the functions of soil reaction components at the interface of monopiles are derived;MATLAB programming has been used to simplify the functions of the initial stiffness by fitting a large number of examples;then the functions are validated against the field test data and FDM results.This method can modify the modulus of the subgrade reaction in the p-y curve method for the monopile-supported offshore wind turbine system.

Shake table test of soil-pile groups-bridge structure interaction in liquefiable ground

This paper describes a shake table test study on the seismic response of low-cap pile groups and a bridge structure in liquefiable ground. The soil profile, contained in a large-scale laminar shear box, consisted of a horizontally saturated sand layer overlaid with a silty clay layer, with the simulated low-cap pile groups embedded. The container was excited in three E1 Centro earthquake events of different levels. Test results indicate that excessive pore pressure （EPP） during slight shaking only slightly accumulated, and the accumulation mainly occurred during strong shaking. The EPP was gradually enhanced as the amplitude and duration of the input acceleration increased. The acceleration response of the sand was remarkably influenced by soil liquefaction. As soil liquefaction occurred, the peak sand displacement gradually lagged behind the input acceleration; meanwhile, the sand displacement exhibited an increasing effect on the bending moment of the pile, and acceleration responses of the pile and the sand layer gradually changed from decreasing to increasing in the vertical direction from the bottom to the top. A jump variation of the bending moment on the pile was observed near the soil interface in all three input earthquake events. It is thought that the shake table tests could provide the groundwork for further seismic performance studies of low-cap pile groups used in bridges located on liquefiable groun.

Influence of dynamic soil-pile raft-structure interaction:an experimental approach

Traditionally seismic design of structures supported on piled raft foundation is performed by considering fixed base conditions, while the pile head is also considered to be fixed for the design of the pile foundation. Major drawback of this assumption is that it cannot capture soil-foundation-structure interaction due to flexibility of soil or the inertial interaction involving heavy foundation masses. Previous studies on this subject addressed mainly the intricacy in modelling of dynamic soil structure interaction (DSSI) but not the implication of such interaction on the distribution of forces at various elements of the pile foundation and supported structure. A recent numerical study by the authors showed significant change in response at different elements of the piled raft supported structure when DSSI effects are considered. The present study is a limited attempt in this direction, and it examines such observations through shake table tests. The effect of DSSI is examined by comparing dynamic responses from fixed base scaled down model structures and the overall systems. This study indicates the possibility of significant underestimation in design forces for both the column and pile if designed under fixed base assumption. Such underestimation in the design forces may have serious implication in the design of a foundation or structural element.

Interaction Between Pile-Supported Pier and Bank Slope

- Generally the toe of the bank slope in front of the pile- supported pier has to be dredged to meet the requirements of water depth for the berth of ships, while the top of the slope in rear of the pier must be backfilled and elevated to make connections with land transportation. Then the natural state of equilibrium of the slope is destroyed, and some deformation and displacement are unavoidably induced in the soil mass which will exert an undesirable influence on the pile foundation of the pier. This is a typical problem of the interaction between the so-called 'passive pile' and surrounding soil, and has been scarcely studied in the literature of geotechnical engineering. In this paper, field observation, model tests and numerical analysis conducted by the authors to study the interaction between pile-supported pier and bank slope are briefly described and some preliminary results are presented.

The Boundary Element Method for Pile-Soil Interaction

In this paper, several mathmatical models for the pile- soil interaction are outlined. The Boundary Element Method is one of the very effective methods for the reasonable models of elasticity and elastoplasticity. The major of this paper is concerned with the Boundary Element Method for the pile-soil interaction, including general methods and calculating formulation of static and dynamic analysis of the pile and pile groups. Some results of analysis are also given.

SOIL PILE INTERACTION UNDER STATIC, DYNAMIC AND CYCLIC LATERAL LOADS AND A PROPOSAL OF p-y CURVE FORMULA

In this paper, the studies on soil-pile interaction behaviors in saturated sands under static, dynamic and cyclic lateral loads by model testing are described. By comparing with the field test results for piles in soft sandy clay, a formula of p-y curves based on constitutive relationship of soils applicable for both sandy and soft clays is proposed. Good agreements are obtained in comparison with the field test results performed by other investigators abroad. A p-y hysteresis curve formula based on the modified Masing's doubling criterion is also proposed, and the results are in satisfactory agreement with field test results.

Estimating the properties of weathered bedrock and pile-rock interaction from the geological strength index

The effect of variable rock mass properties on pile-rock interaction poses a great challenge to the design of stabilizing piles and numerical analysis of pile-rock interaction. The paper presents a novel method to estimate the properties of weathered bedrock, which can be applied to routine design of landslide-stabilizing piles for collivial landslides. The Ercengyan landslide located in the Three Gorges Reservoir, China, is the area of interest for this study. A geological investigation and triaxial tests were conducted to estimate the basic parameters, including Geological Strength Index(GSI), uniaxial compressive strength σ_(ci) and Hoek-Brown constant m_i of intact bedrock in the study area. Hoek-Brown criterion was used to estimate mechanical properties of the weathered rock, including elastic modulus E_m, cohesion c, friction angle Φ, and normal ultimate lateral resistance p_(max). A parametric study was performed to evaluate the effect of parameterizations of GSI, σ_(ci) and m_i on the bedrock properties and p-y curves. The estimated rock mass properties were used with PLAXIS 2D software to simulate pile-rock interaction. Effect of GSI on stress at the pile-rock interface and in the rock, pile bending moment, pile shear force, and p-y curve were analysed.

A simplified approach for settlement calculation of pile groups considering pile-to-pile interaction in layered soils

A simplified approach is presented for the analysis of the settlement of vertically loaded pile groups. In order to simulate the nonlinear pile-to-pile interaction in pile groups, the soils along the piles are assumed to behave as a series of nonlinear springs subjected to the shaft shear stress at the pile/soil interface. Considering the displacement reduction induced by the pile-to-pile interaction, the shear-deformation method is adopted to approximate the displacement field of the layered soils around the piles, and the equivalent stiffness of the springs is obtained. Furthermore, the load-settlement response of pile groups is deduced by modifying the load-transfer functions to account for the pile-to-pile interaction. The settlements of a laboratory pile groups computed by the presented approach are in a good agreement with measured results. The analysis on contrastive parameters shows that the settlements of pile group decrease with the increase of the pile space and pile length, and the part of piles exceeding the critical pile length has little contribution to the bearing capacity of the pile groups.

Simplified analytical solution for stress concentration ratio of piled embankments incorporating pile–soil interaction

Piled embankments have been extensively used for high-speed rail over soft soils because of their effectiveness in minimizing differential settlement and shortening the construction period.Stress concentration ratio,defined as the ratio of vertical stress carried by pile heads(or pile caps if applicable)to that by adjacent soils,is a fundamental parameter in the design of piled embankments.In view of the complicated load transfer mechanism in the framework of embankment system,this paper presents a simplified analytical solution for the stress concentration ratio of rigid pile-supported embankments.In the derivation,the effects of cushion stiffness,pile–soil interaction,and pile penetration behavior are considered and examined.A modified linearly elastic-perfectly plastic model was used to analyze the mechanical response of a rigid pile–soil system.The analytical model was verified against field data and the results of numerical simulations from the literature.According to the proposed method,the skin friction distribution,pile–soil relative displacement,location of neural point,and differential settlement between the pile head(or cap)and adjacent soils can be determined.This work serves as a fast algorithm for initial and reasonable approximation of stress concentration ratio on the design aspects of piled embankments.

Pile-clayey soil interaction analysis by boundary element method

This paper is an attempt to solve the soil-pile interaction problems using the boundary element method（BEM）.A computer package called PGroupN,which deals mainly with the analysis of the pile group problem,is employed in this study.Parametric studies are carried out to assess the impacts of the pile diameter,pile length,ratio of spacing to diameter and the thickness of soil stratum.The external load is applied incrementally and,at each increment,a check is made that the stress state at the pile-soil interfaces does not violate the yield criteria.This is achieved by specifying the limited stresses of the soil for the axial pile shaft capacity and end-bearing resistance.The elements of the pile-soil interface yielded can take no additional load,and any increase in load is therefore redistributed between the remaining elements until all elements have failed.Thus,by successive application of loading increments,the entire load-displacement relationship for the pile group is determined.It is found that as the applied load reaches the ultimate bearing capacity of the pile group,all the piles will share the same amount of load.An exception to this case is for the center pile in a group of 9 piles embedded in clay,which is not consistent with the behaviors of the other piles in the group even if the load reaches the ultimate state.For the 4 piles group embedded in clay,the maximum load carried by the base does not exceed 8% of the load carried by each pile with different diameters.This low percentage ascertains that the piles embedded in cohesive soils carry most of the load throughout their shafts.

Numerical Analysis of Interaction Between Pile-Supported Pier and Bank Slope

Two and three-dimensional finite element analysis programs for pile-soil interaction are compiled. Duncan-Chang's Model is used. The construction sequence of the pier is modeled. The pile-soil interface element is used. The influence of the combination type of piles on the deformation of bank slope and pile behaviour is analyzed. Different designs of a pile-supported pier are compared thoroughly. Calculation results show that the stresses and displacements of the pile are directly related to the distance from the bank slope and the direction of inclination. An inclined prop pile set in the rear platform would remarkably reduce the stresses of piles and the displacement of the pier.

A simplified approach for negative skin friction calculation of special-shaped pile considering pile-soil interaction under surcharge

A simplified approach was proposed to analyze the negative skin friction calculation of special-shaped pile considering pile-soil interaction under surcharge. Based on the concentric cylinder shearing theory, considering the changes of pile shape(such as, taper angle and diameters of pile base, etc.), the load-transfer of special-shaped pile was built. The accuracy of the developed simplified approach was verified by numerical simulation model with the same condition. Then, the influence factors, such as, taper angles, the diameter of pile base, surcharge, and pile-soil interface parameters were analyzed and discussed. The results show that the developed simplified approach can calculate NSF of special-shaped pile under surcharge effectively. A limited parametric study indicates that in many practical situations special-shaped piles(such as belled wedge pile shown in this work) offer a design option that is more economical than traditional uniform cross-section piles.

3D finite element analysis on pile-soil interaction of passive pile group

The interaction between pile and soft soil of the passive pile group subjected to soil movement was analyzed with three-dimensional finite element model by using ANSYS software. The soil was assumed to be elastic-plastic complying with the Drucker-Prager yield criterion in the analysis. The large displacement of soil was considered and contact elements were used to evaluate the interaction between pile and soil. The influences of soil depth of layer and number of piles on the lateral pressure of the pile were investigated, and the lateral pressure distributions on the (2×1) pile group and on the (2×2) pile group were compared. The results show that the adjacent surcharge may result in significant lateral movement of the soft soil and considerable pressure on the pile. The pressure acting on the row near the surcharge is higher than that on the other row, due to the "barrier" and arching effects in pile groups. The passive load and its distribution should be taken into account in the design of the passive piles.

Study of vibrating foundations considering soil-pile-structure interaction for practical applications

An investigation of soil-pile-structure interaction is carried out, based on a large reciprocating compressor installed on an elevated concrete foundation （table top structure）. A practical method is described for the dynamic analysis, and compared with a 3D finite element （FE） model. Two commercial software packages are used for dynamic analysis considering the soilpile-structure interaction （SPSI）. Stiffness and damping of the pile foundation are generated from a computer program, and then input into the FE model. To examine the SPSI thoroughly, three cases for the soil, piles and superstructure are considered and compared. In the first case, the interaction is fully taken into account, that is, both the superstructure and soil-pile system are flexible. In the second case, the superstructure is flexible but fixed to a rigid base, with no deformation in the base （no SSI）. In the third case, the dynamic soil-pile interaction is taken into account, but the table top structure is assumed to be rigid. From the comparison beteen the results of these three cases some conclusions are made, which could be helpful for engineering practice.

Seismic response of tall building considering soil-pile-structure interaction

The seismic behavior of tall buildings can he greatly affected by non-linear soil-pile interaction during strong earthquakes.In this study a 20-storey building is examined as a typical structure supported on a pile foundation for different conditions:(1) rigid base,i.e.no deformation in the foundation:(2) linear soil-pile system;and (3) nonlinear soil-pile system. The effects of pile foundation displacements on the behavior of tall building are investigated,and compared with the behavior of buildings supported on shallow foundation.With a model of non-reflective boundary between the near field and far field, Novak's method of soil-pile interaction is improved.The computation method for vibration of pile foundations and DYNAN computer program are introduced comprehensively.A series of dynamic experiments have been done on full-scale piles, including single pile and group,linear vibration and nonlinear vibration,to verify the validity of boundary zone model.

Study on soil-pile-structure-TMD interaction system by shaking table model test

The success of the tuned mass damper (TMD) in reducing wind-induced structural vibrations has been well established. However, from most of the recent numerical studies, it appears that for a structure situated on very soft soil, soil-structure interaction (SSI) could render a damper on the structure totally ineffective. In order to experimentally verify the SSI effect on the seismic performance of TMD, a series of shaking table model tests have been conducted and the results are presented in this paper. It has been shown that the TMD is not as effective in controlling the seismic responses of structures built on soft soil sites due to the SSI effect. Some test results also show that a TMD device might have a negative impact if the SSI effect is neglected and the structure is built on a soft soil site. For structures constructed on a soil foundation, this research verifies that the SSI effect must be carefully understood before a TMD control system is designed to determine if the control is necessary and if the SSI effect must be considered when choosing the optimal parameters of the TMD device.

Analysis of Interaction Factors Between Two Piles

A rigorous analytical method is presented for calculating the interaction factor between two identi- cal piles subjected to vertical loads.Following the technique proposed by Muki and Sternberg,the problem is decomposed into an extended soil mass and two fictitious piles characterized respectively by Young's modulus of the soil and that of the difference between the pile and soil.The unknown axial forces along fictitious piles are determined by solving a Fredholm integral equation of the second kind,which imposes the compatibility condition that the axial strains of the fictitious piles are equal to those corresponding to the centroidal axes of the extended soil.The real pile forces and displacements can subequally be calculated based on the determined fictitious pile forces,and finally,the desired pile interaction factors may be obtained.Results confirm the validity of the proposed approach and portray the influence of the governing parameters on the pile interaction.

Optimum Design of Jacket Platforms Considering Structure-Pile-Soil Interaction

This paper proposes an optimum design model for the offshore jacket platform considering multidesign criteria, multi-design constraints and the structure-pile-soil interaction, and gives an optimum design procedure in which the proposed optimum design model is used together with structural analysis software SAP91 and optimum algorithm software OPB1. The Chengbei (#)11 offshore platform, which lies in the Shengli oilfield, is designed by use of the above optimum design model. The results show that the optimum design model is stable, and it depends on neither the optimization algorithm nor initial values of design variables. All values of the objective function converge to the same minimum value, and the speed of convergence is high, showing that the proposed optimum design model is reasonable.

Three-dimensional elasto-plastic finite element analysis of a soil-pilebridge interaction

The soil-pile-bridge interaction of super-large pile groups is a very complex issue for the design of deep pile group foundations. In this paper, the load distribution on the pile top of a super large bridge foundation and its influential factors are analyzed comprehensively using a three-dimensional elasto-plastic finite element method. The adopted model and its input parameters are firstly verified by comparing the numerical results with the measured data of static loading tests of a single pile. Numerical analysis is then performed to investigate the load distribution and the load-settlement characteristics of super-large pile groups, and the models are verified using centrifuge laboratory model testing data. The mechanism of the interaction between pile groups and soil under different conditions is explored.

Numerical Study of the Interaction between a Reinforced Concrete Pile and Soil

This paper proposes a numerical simulation of the mechanical behavior of a reinforced concrete pile foundation under an axial load. In fact, the foundation of a structure represents the essential structural part of it, because it ensures its bearing capacity. Among the types of foundation, deep foundation is the one for which from a mechanical point of view, the justification takes into account the isolated or combined effects of base resistance offered by the soil bed and lateral friction at the soil-pile interface;the latter being the consequence of a large contact surface with the surrounding soil;hence the need to study the interaction between the soil and the pile in service, in order to highlight the characteristics of soil which influence the mechanical behavior of pile and therefore the stability of the structure. In this study, the reinforced concrete pile is supposed to be elastic, and characterized by a young’s modulus (E) and a Poisson’s ratio (ν). The soil obeys to a Camclay model characterized by a cohesion (c), an initial voids ratio (e0), shearing resistance angle (φ) and a pre-consolidation pressure (P0). A joint model with a Mohr Coulomb behavior characterizes the soil-pile interface. The loading is carrying out by imposing a vertical monotonic displacement at the head of pile. The results in terms of stress and displacement show that the bearing capacity of the pile is influenced by various soils characteristics, it appears that the vertical stress and the force mobilized at rupture increase when the initial pre_consolidation pressure, the cohesion and the internal friction angle of soil increase;and when the initial soil voids index decreases.