The behavior of laterally loaded pile groups is usually accessed by beam-on-nonlinear-Winkler-foundation (BNWF) approach employing various forms of empirically derived p-y curves and p-multipliers. Averaged p-multiplier for a particular pile group is termed as the group effect parameter. In practice, the p-y curve presented by the American Petroleum Institute (API) is most often utilized for piles in granular soils, although its shortcomings are recognized. In this study, we performed 3D finite element analysis to develop p-multipliers and group effect parameters for 3 × 3 to 5 × 5 vertically squared pile groups. The effect of the ratio of spacing to pile diameter (S/D), number of group piles, varying friction angle (φ), and pile fixity conditions on p-multipliers and group effect parameters are evaluated and quantified. Based on the simulation outcomes, a new functional form to calculate p-multipliers is proposed for pile groups. Extensive comparisons with the experimental measurements reveal that the calculated p-multipliers and group effect parameters are within the recorded range. Comparisons with two design guidelines which do not account for the pile fixity condition demonstrate that they overestimate the p-multipliers for fixed-head condition.
A new simulation-based site amplification model for shallow sites with thickness less than 30 m in Korea is developed. The site amplification model consists of linear and nonlinear components that are developed from one-dimensional linear and nonlinear site response analyses. A suite of measured shear wave velocity profiles is used to develop corresponding randomized profiles. A VS30 scaled linear amplification model and a model dependent on both VS30 and site period are developed. The proposed linear models compare well with the amplification equations developed for the western United States (WUS) at short periods but show a distinct curved bump between 0.1 and 0.5 s that corresponds to the range of site natural periods of shallow sites. The response at periods longer than 0.5 s is demonstrated to be lower than those of the WUS models. The functional form widely used in both WUS and central and eastern North America (CENA), for the nonlinear component of the site amplification model, is employed in this study. The slope of the proposed nonlinear component with respect to the input motion intensity is demonstrated to be higher than those of both the WUS and CENA models, particularly for soft sites with VS30 < 300 m/s and at periods shorter than 0.2 s. The nonlinear component deviates from the models for generic sites even at low ground motion intensities. The comparisons highlight the uniqueness of the amplification characteristics of shallow sites that a generic site amplification model is unable to capture.
A series of 3D finite element (FE) analyses were performed to estimate the peak penetration resistance of spudcan foundations in sand over clay soil profiles. Elasto-perfectly plastic models following Mohr–Coulomb and Tresca failure criteria were used for sand and clay layers, respectively. The coupled Eulerian–Lagrangian (CEL) approach was used to simulate the large deformation in soil that occurs during the spudcan penetration. The performance of the numerical model was validated against centrifuge test results. A parametric study with a broad range of strength parameters for sand and clay was performed. The numerical results were used to assess the influence of sand thickness (Hs), the diameter of spudcan (D), friction angle of sand, and undrained shear strength of clay (su). A wide range of su was utilized to predict the resistance both of the soft and stiff clays. The calculated peak resistances are compared with a published analytical model. It is demonstrated that the model highly overestimates the peak resistance for stiff clays, most likely because it was developed specifically for soft clays and, therefore, does not account for the influence of su. One of the parameters of the model is revised to account both for su. Comparisons highlight that the modified model is able to capture the simulated peak penetration resistance for both soft and stiff clays.
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