Longitudinal Dynamic Response of a Large-Diameter-Bored Pile Considering the Bottom Sediment and Radial Unloading of the Surrounding Soil

Abstract

The longitudinal dynamic response of a large-diameter-bored pile is investigated considering the bottom sediment and the radial unloading of the surrounding soil. First, the sediment between the pile tip and the bedrock is treated as a fictitious soil pile with a cross-sectional area similarto that of the pile tip. The large-diameter-bored pile (including the fictitious soil pile) is considered as a Rayleigh–Love rod and is divided into finite segments. Under theseconditions, the three-dimensional (3D) effect of the wave propagation along the pile is indirectly simulated by considering the transverse inertia of the pile to avoid complicated calculations. Meanwhile, the surrounding soil is divided into finite annular zones in the radial direction, with the soil properties varying radially as well to simulate the radial unloading of the surrounding soil during construction. The governing equation for each soil zone is built and solved, from zone to zone, to obtain the shear stress acting on the pile. Then, the governing equation for the fictitious soil pile (i.e., the sediment) is solved to derive the dynamic action at the pile tip. In a similar manner to that ofthe fictitious soil pile and together with the recursion method, the governing equation for the pile is solved to obtain the pile’s complex impedance and velocity response. The proposed solution is verified and then introduced to portray the coupling effect of the sediment, pile parameters and radial unloading of the surrounding soil on the longitudinal dynamic response of the large-diameter-bored pile.