Lateral Loading and Shaking Table Tests on Model Pile in Liquefiable Sand

Lateral Loading and Shaking Table Tests on Model Pile in Liquefiable Sand

For the study of the soil-pile interaction in a liquefiable soil under earthquake shakings, lateral loading tests and shaking table tests on a model pile in the large biaxial laminar shear box filled with saturated sand were conducted at the National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering(NCREE), Taiwan. The model pile, 1.50 m in length, was made of stainless steel with an outer diameter of 101.6 mm and a thickness of 3 mm. The pile tip was fixed at the bottom of the laminar shear box to simulate the condition of a pile foundation embedded in the rock. Strain gauges and accelerometers were placed on the pile surface to obtain the pile behaviors during shaking. The near-and far-field soil responses, including pore pressure changes, accelerations, and settlements were also measured using mini piezometers, accelerometers and displacement sensors. Lateral loading tests from the reaction wall were performed before the shaking table tests. The lateral loads were applied at the pile head, monotonically and cyclically, with and without soil inside the shear box. One-and multi-directional shaking table tests were then performed on the model pile in the shear box with and without soil. The shakings included sinusoidal and recorded earthquake accelerations. The test results from the lateral loading and shaking table tests will be analyzed and compared. The results of this study can be used for design of pile foundations under seismic loadings.