Parametric study of kinematic interaction cohesive soil-pile under dynamic loads

Pile foundations are widely used to ensure the stability of structures subjected to seismic excitation. Numerous structures and foundations in soil-pile-structure systems have been destroyed during occurrence of earthquakes. Because of complexities involved in soil-pile interaction problems and the lack of precise methods, it is necessary to use numerical methods for analyzing soil-pile interaction problems. There are several factors affecting the dynamic response of a pile in soil-pile system. These factors can be divided into three main categories: geometrical factors, material properties, and load characteristics. Studying the effects and importance of these factors in the response of the pile will help geotechnical engineers to optimize their design. In this research, three-dimensional modeling has been developed using FLAC3D computer program, and the effects of various soil and pile properties on the dynamic behavior of a single pile in clayey soils are evaluated. One of the most important subjects in the numerical modeling of soil-pile system dynamic response is the constitutive model considered for the soil. This strongly affects the accuracy of results. In this study a softening model has been used for the behavior of the soil under dynamic loads.Sinusoidal harmonic loading has been applied to the model base as the acceleration time history, and the variations of bending moments, shear forces, and displacements along the pile are obtained for all analyses carried out in this study.The results show that kinematic interaction coefficient depends on the loading characteristics and in the high frequencies head pile response is lower than free field.