Pile-Soil Kinematic Interaction considering Soil Nonlinearity and Group Effects

Abstract

The results from a thorough finite element analysis with code PLAXIS are presented in which both the piles and the soil are modeled in 3D with volume elements. A suitable plasticity model is employed for treating the nonlinear soil behaviour in cyclic loading after appropriate calibration of its parameters to match published relationships of shear modulus and damping ratio curves. The influence of key-model parameters, such as: (a) strong motion intensity, (b) stiffness contrast ratio between the soil layers and (c) relative pile position (corner or middle pile), on the bending moment distribution along each pile, is investigated and critically discussed. The extraction of closed-form expressions for the kinematic structural forces not only in the vicinity of the interface but at the head of the pile as well, is also attempted.