DYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF PILE FOUNDATIONS UNDER

COUPLED VIBRATION
Shreehshail B.Heggond1, Jaydeep chougale2,
1 ,2

Asst Professor, Civil Engineering Department, SJCET Palghar, Maharashtra, (India)

ABSTRACT
For the dynamic response of pile foundation under coupled vibration single piles and 2 x 2 group piles with
length to diameter ratios 10,15 and 20 have taken. For group piles, spacing to diameter ratios of 2, 3 and 4 for
each length to diameter ratio were used. Formulation of the theory of plane strain model of Novak (Novak,
1974) for horizontal and rocking vibrations to predict the dynamic response of single pile and pile group. Static
interaction factors (El-Sharnouby and Novak, 1986) were determined to account pile-soil-pile interaction. By
using Novaks plane strain model with static interaction factor approach the frequency independent dynamic
response of both single pile and group of pile for horizontal vibration and rocking were determined. Finally the
predicted response of single and group piles were compared with the observed response reported in Manna
(2009).

Key Words: Dynamic Analsis1, Pile Foundation2, Static Interaction Factors 3, And Coupled
Vibration 4
I. INTRODUCTION
Pile foundations are widely used in weak soil deposits for supporting various structures. In addition to static
loads, pile-supported foundations and structures are subjected to dynamic loads such as machine-induced
vibrations, moving traffic, ocean waves and earthquakes. In recent years, with the development in the offshore
structures technology and the nuclear power industry and other applications, the dynamic behavior of pile
foundation has received a renewed attention.
The nature of the loading and soil-pile responses are quite different for different sources of dynamic loading. In
machine foundations, the piles may be subjected to vertical oscillation, horizontal translation, rocking and
torsion. Machines may cause only small amplitudes of vibrations, and soils may behave as elastic materials. The
response of pile foundations under these dynamic loads is relatively more complex than for static loads. In the
dynamic analysis of soil-pile-foundation, the interactions between piles and the surrounding soil represent one
of the important topics of foundation dynamics. However this is least understood and is in urgent need for
solution. Though a large number of analytical investigations on the dynamic response of pile foundation have
been carried out over the last three decades, much has yet to be known about the effect of soil pile
characteristics through systematic studies. At the same time, experimental investigation in the field on single
pile and pile groups of different configuration in layered soils is also needed to validate the theoretical findings.
However a very little information is available on observed dynamic behavior of pile foundations. This is mainly
because of difficulties in conducting tests including a large number of variables both in soils and piles.

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With the emergence of the new rather abstract theories for dynamic pile analysis, it became necessary to verify
their validity by means of experiments. The full scale forced vibration tests in the field were conducted for both
vertical and horizontal vibrations by many investigators [Jennings et al. (1984), Blaney et al. (1987), Han and
Vaziri (1992)]. Field experiments with small prototype single piles and group of piles were conducted by Novak
and Grigg (1976) and Han and Novak (1988) subjected to strong horizontal and vertical excitations. A series of
dynamic tests were conducted with a group of 102 closely spaced piles for vertical, horizontal and torsional
mode of vibrations by El Sharnouby and Novak (1984). These experimental results were evaluated by Novak
and El Sharnouby (1984) to determine if the theories available could predict the behavior of the test pile group.
Krishnamurthy et al. (1982) and Ghumman (1985) conducted dynamic tests on different model piles and pile
groups in the laboratory to study the dynamic behavior of pile foundation.

1.1 Objective and Scope

An attempt is made to study the dynamic response of single pile and pile group of different configurations in
layered soil subjected to coupled vibration by analytical study. The detailed objectives of the present study are
as follows:
1. Formulation of the theory of plane strain model of Novak (Novak, 1974) for horizontal and rocking vibrations
to predict the dynamic response of single pile and pile group.
2. Determine the static interaction factors (El-Sharnouby and Novak, 1986) to account pile-soil-pile interaction.
3. Determination of the frequency independent dynamic response of both single pile and group of pile for
horizontal vibration and rocking by Novaks plane strain model with static interaction factor approach.
4. Comparison of the predicted response of single and group piles with the observed response reported in Manna
(2009).

1.2 Experimental Study

The site was located adjacent to the Hangar, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur Campus, India (Manna,
2009). Both disturbed and undisturbed soil samples were collected from three bore holes (BH) located at
different places of the site. The subsurface investigation indicated that the test site consists of three different soil
layers upto a depth of 2.80 m. The soil properties were determined by in-situ and laboratory tests. The
laboratory experiments include natural moisture content (IS 2720 Part 2, 1973), specific gravity (IS 2720 Part
3/Sec 1, 1980; IS 2720 Part 3/Sec 2, 1980) Atterbergs limits test (IS 2720 Part 5, 1985; IS 2720 Part 6, 1972),
particle size distribution analysis of soil (IS 2720 Part 4, 1985) and triaxial test (IS 2720 Part 11, 1993). Two insitu tests, namely, crosshole seismic tests for determining the shear wave velocity (Vs) of soil layer and standard
penetration tests (SPT) to determine N value were conducted. Crosshole seismic tests (ASTM D 4428/D 4428M,
2000) were conducted in the field.
Based on different field and laboratory observations the soil stratum was divided into three different categories
as per Unified Soil Classification System (USCS). The soil profile consists of 1.20 m of soft yellow organic silty
clay with low plasticity (OL) overlying 1.10 m thick layer of brown medium stiff inorganic clay with low to
medium compressibility (CL). The third soil layer of red stiff inorganic clay with high compressibility (CH)
mixed with gravel was found at the depth of 2.30 m and it extends upto the depth of 2.80 m.

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The pile used in the study was a cast-in-place reinforced concrete circular pile. The diameter (d) of all the piles
was 0.10 m. In total twelve sets of pile were used in this investigation. Three sets of single pile of three different
lengths (L = 1.0 m, 1.5 m and 2.0 m) and nine sets of 2 2 group pile (Spacing s = 2d, 3d and 4d for each pile
length L, where L = 1.0 m, 1.5 m and 2.0 m) were used for the investigation. The dimension of pile cap was 0.57
mX0.57 mX0.25 m.

II. THEORETICAL STUDY

The approximate analytical technique developed by Novak (1974) derives stiffness and damping constants for
piles and pile groups, with the help of which lateral response is determined.
Lateral and damping constants for single piles with soil modulus constant with depth was derived by Novak
(1974). Novak (1974) considered (1) horizontal alone, (2) rocking alone, and (3) coupled rocking and
horizontal. Novak and El-Sharnouby (1983) extended these solutions to include parabolic variation of soil-shear
modulus.
The resonant frequency and amplitude of vibration of the foundation in coupled horizontal and rocking motion
can be obtained by Beredugo and Novak (1972). With the total stiffnesses in coupled mode of pile foundation,
the two resonant frequencies n1 and n2 can be obtained.

2.1 Coupled Response of Pile Foundation

The resonant frequency and amplitude of vibration of the foundation in coupled horizontal and rocking motion
can be obtained by Beredugo and Novak (1972). With the total stiffnesses in coupled mode of pile foundation,
the two resonant frequencies n1 and n2 can be obtained from the equation as given by where P = real
amplitude of horizontal force, M = real amplitude of moment, Kuu, K, Ku = total horizontal, rocking and
cross stiffness constants of pile foundation, Cuu, C, Cu = total horizontal, rocking and cross damping
constants of pile foundation.

2.2 Theoretical Response Curves

A set of response curves were plotted for different excitation levels using plane strain approach of Novak
(1974). Typical horizontal and rocking response curves of a single pile (L/d = 15, Ws = 12 kN) obtained from
coupled vibration test - Type 1 with different excitation intensities are presented in Figs. 1(a) and (b)
respectively for no contact condition of pile cap. The frequency versus amplitude response curves of pile group
(L/d = 15, s/d = 4, Ws = 12 kN, Case 2) for both horizontal and rocking motion are presented in Figs. 2(a) and
(b).
Important observations made from Figs. 1 and 2 are summarized below:
1. Two resonant peaks are observed at two different frequencies for both horizontal and rocking component.
2. The second resonant peak is well separated from the first peak.
3. The first resonant peak of the coupled response is dominated by the both horizontal translation and rocking.
4. As the excitation moment increases the resonant amplitude increases but the resonant frequency remains
same.

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To study the effect of various influencing parameter, namely, spacing of pile in a group, length of pile,
embedded conditions of pile cap, analytical results are presented separately for coupled vibration. It was
observed that the resonant frequency increases with increasing pile spacing for both first and second vibration
mode. However, the resonant amplitudes increases for first mode and decreases for second mode of vibration for
increasing pile spacing. It is found that embedded pile cap condition produced higher resonant frequency and
lower resonant amplitude than with no contact condition of pile cap. Both first and second resonant frequencies
of pile increase for higher L/d ratio. However, both the peak amplitudes decrease for increasing L/d ratio. The
effect of static loads on the resonant frequency and amplitude of piles were studied and it is observed that the
both resonant frequency and amplitude decreased as the static load increased for all the cases.

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2.3 Theory versus Experiment

Stiffness and damping of single pile were calculated using the Novaks plain strain approach and the static
interaction factors used to account for pile group effect. For the piles, Youngs modulus (Ep) was taken as 25 x
106 kN/m2 in this analysis. The shear modulus of soil (Gs) was determined from Figure for parabolic soil
profile. Based on the values of Ep/Gs ratio and pile length to diameter ratio, the vertical stiffness parameter
(fw1), vertical damping parameter (fw2), horizontal stiffness parameter (fx1), horizontal damping parameter (fx2),
rocking stiffness parameter (fq1), rocking damping parameter (fq2), coupled stiffness parameter (fxq1) and
couple damping parameter (fxq2) were determined for floating pile and parabolic soil profile from Novak (1974)
for L/d=10 and from Novak and El-Sharnouby (1983) for L/d 15. The theoretical response curves were
obtained by considering static interaction factor between the piles for calculating the stiffness and damping
parameters of pile groups. Static interaction factors were calculated at different pile length and pile spacing for
Poissons ratio of 0.35 from Novak and El-Sharnouby (1986). Typical comparison between the experimental
and theoretical response curves are shown in Figs. 3 and 4. It can be seen from the figures that the resonant
frequency decreases as the exciting intensity increases for experiment. However the resonant frequencies remain
constant as the exciting intensity increases for theoretical analysis. In most of the cases, the values of the first
and second resonant amplitudes are more in case of experimental value than the analytical results. The first
resonant frequency by analysis is very close to the experimental value.
The typical comparison between the experimental results and theoretical results for different conditions of pile
like for different spacing ratio (s/d), different embedded conditions of pile caps and for different length (L/d)
ratios have been clearly given in the Tables 1, 2 and 3 respectively. It can be seen from Table 1 that as the pile
spacing increases the both first and second resonant frequency increases while the both amplitudes decreases in
experimental results and linear analysis. It can be seen from Table 2 that for embedded pile cap (Case 1), the
values of both resonant frequencies are more and resonant amplitudes are less as compared to no contact
condition of pile cap (Case 2). It can be seen from Table 3 that as the L/d increases the resonant frequency
increases and the resonant amplitude decreases for most of the cases for both experiment and linear analysis.

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III. CONCLUSIONS
The main emphasis in this present work is to compare a huge number of dynamic test results of pile (Manna,
2009) under coupled vibration with plane strain model of Novak (1974) with static interaction factor approach
and check the accuracy of the theoretical model. The influence of pile-soil-pile interaction on the coupled
dynamic behavior of pile groups has investigated using static interaction factor approach. It is found from the
analytical investigation that many parameters like exciting intensities, static load, embedment of pile cap,
different L/d and s/d ratio have an influence on the dynamic response of pile foundation under coupled
vibration.
A comprehensive study involving both model dynamic testing of pile foundation and theoretical analysis have
been described in the paper. Coupled vibration tests with model reinforced concrete single pile and pile groups
embedded in layered soil have conducted in the field. A large number of tests with different exciting moments
and different embedded conditions of pile cap were considered. The measured data of single pile and group pile
were compares with the theoretical value with one approach namely, the Novaks frequency independent
approach. The pile-soil-pile interaction on the coupled dynamic behavior of pile groups was investigated using
static interaction factor approach.
Some important conclusions that can be made from the study performed are as follows:
1. Many parameters like exciting intensities, dynamic load, embedded of pile cap and L/d and s/d ratios have an
influence on the dynamic response of pile foundation under coupled vibration.
2. The resonant frequency decreases as the exciting intensity increases for experiment but the resonant
frequencies remain constant as the exciting intensity increases for theoretical analysis.
3. The values of the first and second resonant amplitudes are more in case of experimental value than the
analytical results.
4. The first resonant frequency by analysis is very close to the experimental value.
5. The both first and second resonant frequency increases while the both amplitudes decreases as the pile
spacing increases in experimental results and linear analysis.
6. For embedded pile cap (Case1), the values of both resonant frequencies are more and resonant amplitudes are
less as compared to no contact condition of pile cap (Case2).
7. The resonant frequency increases and the resonant amplitude decreases as the L/d increases for most of the
cases for both experiment and linear analysis.
The experimental data presented in this paper could be analyzed to correlate different influencing parameters
with dynamic behavior of pile foundation and these data may prove useful for future research purpose as well as
for the practicing engineers.

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BIOGRAPHIES
Shreeshail Basappa Heggond (M.Tech- Structural engineering) Working as Asst Professor in St.John
college of engineering and technology palghar(E)
Jaydeep Chougale (M.Tech- Structural engineering) Working as Asst Professor in St.John college of
engineering and technology palghar(E)

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