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Centrifuge modeling of batter pile foundations under sinusoidal dynamic excitation

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Abstract

Batter pile (or inclined pile) foundations are widely used in civil engineering structures. However, their behavior under dynamic loadings is not yet thoroughly understood. This paper presents an experimental work on the behavior of batter and vertical piles considering dynamic soil-pile-superstructure interactions. A series of dynamic centrifuge tests were performed using sinusoidal excitations. The influence of the base shaking (frequency content and amplitude) and of the height of the center of gravity of the superstructure is investigated. Seismic responses are analyzed considering the pile cap displacements and forces (total base shear, overturning and residual moments, axial forces). It is found that in certain cases batter piles play a beneficial role on the dynamic behavior of the pile foundation system. This novel experimental work provides an important database on the behavior of batter pile foundations under dynamic loadings.

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Notes

  1. The thin aluminum plate is used to maintain precisely the inclination angle of 15°.

  2. The steel rods and plastic wire are used to minimize the impact of sand during pluviation. During the pluviation, when the sand surface is about 5 cm higher than the tips of the piles, the wires are cut to free the pile tips. After the sand surface arrives at the prescribed height, the pluviation stops and the steel rods are removed.

  3. Shadowing effect: during sand pluviation the presence of items can influence the falling of sand into the container and thus affect the homogeneity of the sand deposit.

  4. Comparison with the maximum accelerations and displacements measured from free field tests showed that these accelerometers measurements are representative of free field conditions and are not influenced by the pile group.

Abbreviations

DSPSI:

Dynamic soil-pile-superstructure interaction

C.G.:

Center of gravity of the superstructure

IS:

Inclined (batter) pile group with short superstructure

VS:

Vertical pile group with short superstructure

ITT:

Inclined (batter) pile group with tall superstructure

VTT:

Vertical pile group with tall superstructure

P7:

One pile in the 1 × 2 pile group, on the ‘Porte’ side

P8:

One pile in the 1 × 2 pile group, on the ‘Pivot’ side

BS:

Base shear

OM:

Overturning moment acted on the foundation

RBM:

Residual bending moment

RBMmax :

Maximum residual bending moment

RBMP7 :

Residual bending moment of P7

RBMP7max,VS :

Maximum residual bending moment of P7 in vertical pile group with short superstructure

M:

Total bending moment

MP7 :

Total bending moment of P7

MP7max,VS :

Maximum total bending moment of P7 in vertical pile group with short superstructure

N:

Axial force

NP7 :

Axial force in pile P7

NP7max,VS :

Maximum axial force in pile P7 in vertical pile group with short superstructure

z:

Depth of the pile

D:

External diameter of the pile

Dpile :

Center-to-center distance between piles

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Acknowledgments

The financial support of IFSTTAR (Institut français des sciences et technologies des transports, de l’aménagement et des réseaux) and of the Région Pays de la Loire is gratefully acknowledged. The authors would like also to thank the valuable support and help from the technical staff of the IFSTTAR centrifuge team.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. LUNAM Université, Ecole Centrale de Nantes, Université de Nantes, CNRS, Institut de Recherche en Génie Civil et Mécanique (GeM), 1 Rue de la Noë, 44321, Nantes, France

    Zheng Li & Panagiotis Kotronis

  2. LUNAM Université, GERS, SV, IFSTTAR, 44341, Bouguenais, France

    Zheng Li & Sandra Escoffier

Authors
  1. Zheng Li
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  2. Sandra Escoffier
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  3. Panagiotis Kotronis
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Correspondence to Zheng Li.

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Li, Z., Escoffier, S. & Kotronis, P. Centrifuge modeling of batter pile foundations under sinusoidal dynamic excitation. Bull Earthquake Eng 14, 673–697 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10518-015-9859-2

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