Abstract
In this paper, the high-order moment method (HOMM) was developed for estimating pile foundation bearing capacity reliability assessment. Firstly, after the performance function was established, the first four moments (viz. mean, variance, skewness, and kurtosis) were suggested to be determined by a point estimate method based on two-dimensional reduction integrations. Then, the probability distribution of the performance function for the pile foundation bearing capacity was then approximated by a four-parameter cubic normal distribution, in which its distribution parameters are the first four moments. Meanwhile, the quantile of the probability distribution for the performance function and its reliability index was capable to be obtained through this distribution. In order to examine the efficiency of this method in engineering application, four pile foundations with different length-diameter radios were investigated in detail. The results demonstrate that the reliability analysis based on HOMM is greatly improved to the computational efficiency without loss precision compared with Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) and does not require complex partial derivative solving, checking point sought, and large numbers of iteration comparing with first-order reliability method (FORM). Moreover, the probability distribution function (PDF) approximated by the four-parameter cubic normal distribution was found to be consistent with that obtained by MCS. Eventually, the effects of parameter sensitivity for relative soil layer of the certain pile on reliability index were illustrated using the above-mentioned method. It indicated that the HOMM is an effective and simple approach for reliability assessment of the pile foundation bearing capacity.
Highlights
In decades, pile foundation is widely adopted in high-rise buildings and long-span bridge structures
Erefore, based on the above assertions, in order to promote the accuracy of the predicted reliability assessment, this paper developed a high-order moment method (HOMM) based on two-dimensional reduction integration and take into account the first four moments to conduct the reliability assessment for bearing capacity of pile foundation. e remainder of this paper is organized as follows: In Section 2, the performance functions of bearing capacity for pile foundation are firstly established; in Section 3, the expressions of afore-mentioned performance functions and the relevant reliability indexes determined by the HOMM based on two-dimensional reduction integration and cubic normal distribution are given
In order to investigate the impact on the reliability of the bearing capacity for pile foundation caused by the variability of different soil layers, this paper conducted a reliability sensitivity analysis on the certain pile by applying the HOMM. e conclusions can be drawn up as follows: (1) Compared to the predicted results of the reliability index by adopting Monte Carlo simulation (MCS), the results yielded by the HOMM show a good consistency
Summary
Pile foundation is widely adopted in high-rise buildings and long-span bridge structures. Cai et al [20] adopted the HOMM based on one-dimensional reduction integration and three-parameters lognormal distribution, which parameters are the first three moments of performance function to calculate the reliability indexes of the bearing capacity for pile foundation. E remainder of this paper is organized as follows: In Section 2, the performance functions of bearing capacity for pile foundation are firstly established; in Section 3, the expressions of afore-mentioned performance functions and the relevant reliability indexes determined by the HOMM based on two-dimensional reduction integration and cubic normal distribution are given.
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