Numerical evaluation of group-pile foundation subjected to cyclic horizontal load

Abstract

In this paper, three-dimensional (3D) finite element analyses of a real-scale group-pile foundation subjected to horizontal cyclic loading are conducted using a program named DBLEAVES. In the simulations, nonlinear behaviors of ground and piles are described by subloading t_ij model and the axial-force dependent model (AFD model) which considered the axial-force dependency in the nonlinear moment-curvature relations. In order to consider the influence of an effective stress path on the prediction of the group-pile foundation, the analyses are conducted within the framework of the soil-water coupling method with finite-difference and finite-element regime. The material parameters of soils are determined based on conventional triaxial drained compression tests on undisturbed and remolded specimens. The applicability of the proposed numerical method is encouraging, and therefore, it is quite confident to say that the method can be used to predict the mechanical behaviors of group-pile foundation to a satisfactory accuracy, particularly with the effective stress analysis.

Keywords

group-pile foundation / real-scale cyclic loading test / three-dimensional finite element method (3D-FEM) / soil-water coupling analysis / undisturbed and remolded specimens