Dynamic behavior of pile foundations under vertical and lateral vibrations

Abstract

Pile foundations supporting machines, buildings under seismic effect, and wind turbines are subjected to dynamic loads. Under such conditions, there is a necessity to evaluate the dynamic behavior of piles. Therefore, a 3D numerical modeling technique is needed to consider the complicated dynamic interaction between the piles and soil (pile-soil interaction) and between adjacent piles in the same group (pile-soil-pile interaction). To validate the results of 3D numerical simulation of piles, the results obtained from the numerical model has been compared to the measurements of a selected case study. The 3D finite element model has also been used to evaluate the impedance parameters and induced peak displacements. The study is performed for single piles and pile groups. The different techniques to model the piles are evaluated. In addition, the effect of related parameters, such as excitation force frequency (f), soil modulus of elasticity (Es), pile slenderness Ratio (L/D), dimensionless spacing ratio (S/D) and pile group size (ng) have been studied.