Kinematic bending moment of piles under seismic motions

Abstract

Soil pile structure interaction under seismically loadings is a very complex phenomenon involving of kinematic and inertial interaction among soil, pile and superstructure. Piles experience kinematic bending moments caused by the soil deformations due to the passage of the seismic waves through the surrounding layered soil. These moments are increased at each the levels of the soil deposit with the different modulus. A model of the soil pile interaction 2D is developed in this paper. The main results of parametrical study on single piles obtained by this model are compared with the exiting design methods for evaluating the kinematic interaction between soil-pile subjected to the seismic excitations. The shear strain and the shear stress are evaluated by the linear equivalent method of the free field site response analyses. The results show that the kinematic bending moment at the interface is changed by the soil nonlinearity behavior and the frequency content of the seismic motion even in absence superstructure. © 2014 Academic Journals Inc.