Shaking table test and numerical investigation of seismic response of pile-supported wharves with batter piles

Abstract

Batter piles control displacement of wharves and offshore platforms by absorbing most earthquake and berthing loads because of their high lateral stiffness. Nevertheless, structural failure caused by stress concentrated in the pile caps has been reported in past earthquakes. The present paper investigates the seismic performance of wharf models with and without batter piles using 1 g shaking table tests with harmonic excitation as well as real earthquake records. Sensitivity analysis was performed by studying the effect of the deck load, shaking frequency, embedment depth of the pile and the relative density of the soil on horizontal displacement and acceleration of the deck. A numerical investigation was conducted using 3D finite element method to evaluate the role of the pile inclination angle on the behavior of the pile-supported system. The results of dynamic analysis quantitatively indicated the defects in the batter piles under different conditions. It was also concluded that, although the amount of deck displacement decreased when the inclination angle was reduced, the axial force generated in the batter piles showed no upward or downward trend and maximized at a specific angle.