Behaviour of pile supported wharf in liquefied soils

Abstract

A parametric study is carried out to study the performance of pile supported wharf structure under liquefying and lateral spreading soil conditions using nonlinear static pushover analysis. Displacement-based approach is adopted to study the soil pile interaction. Piles are modelled as beam elements and the parts of the piles embedded in soil are modelled as beams on Winkler foundation. The structure is modelled and analyzed using SAP2000. Pile yielding and hinge formation patterns in the piles during soil liquefaction and lateral spreading states are observed and compared with field observations. It is observed that when soil liquefied the base shear resistance dropped drastically and hence effected the performance of structure. Piles yielded at the interface of liquefied and non-liquefied layers when soil liquefied. It is also observed that the structure performed poorly when liquefied depth factor and slenderness ratio are increased. The method of analysis is simple and gives results confirming to the field observations and hence is an easy tool for assessment of existing port structures and preventing future disasters.