Axis-symmetric analysis of layered transversely isotropic saturated elastic soils containing a monopile under time-harmonic vibration

Abstract

The axis-symmetric dynamic soil-pile interaction analysis is of fundamental significance in geotechnical, seismic and transportation engineering. In addition, soils tend to show an obvious stratification after the long-term deposition. Physical and mechanical properties of soils are generally transversely isotropic due to the orientation of soil particles in deposition. Therefore, the axis-symmetric analysis of layered transversely isotropic saturated elastic soils containing a monopile under time-harmonic vibration is carried out in this study. Firstly, the extended precise integration method (EPIM) is employed to obtain the dynamic fundamental solution for layered transversely isotropic saturated soils, which would be utilized as the kernel function of the boundary element method (BEM). Moreover, by modeling the pile as a one-dimensional bar, the motion equation of the monopile under steady-state vibration is acquired based on the finite element method (FEM). Finally, the coupled BEM-FEM formulation representing the soil-pile interaction is developed and the axis-symmetric solution for layered soils containing a monopile is acquired. Compared with existing results, the accuracy of the proposed method is verified. Numerical examples are conducted to analyze the influence of frequency, transverse isotropy, the stratification of soils and the length-radius ratio of piles on soil-pile interaction behaviors.