Shaking Table Tests on Seismic Failure Mechanism of Elevated-Pile-Foundation-Supported Bridges in Liquefied Or Nonliquefiable Soil

Abstract eng:
One-g shake-table experiments are conducted to explore the seismic failure mechanism of bridges supported by elevated pile foundation embedded into liquefiable or nonliquefiable soil. Two identical specimens consist of 2*2 reinforced concrete (RC) pile group, RC cap and single RC pier were constructed and embedded into saturated and dry sand, respectively. A lumped iron block was assigned at the pier top to represent the superstructure. Scaled Kobe and Chichi ground motions were adopted as seismic inputs. Representative test data, including frequency and damping properties of the soil-structure system, time histories of excess pore pressure ratios and accelerations, and curvature distributions along the piles are presented. Test results indicate a strong effects of soil liquefaction on the seismic failure mechanism of elevatedpile-foundation-supported bridge structures. Under strong seismic excitation, two plastic regions were formed on pile head and underground successively for the specimen in liquefiable soil. By contrast, the plastic region below the soil surface was formed first for the specimen in nonliquefiable soil. Besides, the specimen in liquefiable sand displays a deeper depth of underground plastic region than that in the nonliquefiable sand. Quantitative analysis results from recorded data coincide reasonably well with the post-shaking observation of pile damages.

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