Study on the Lateral Deformation of the Flexible Berthing Pile of High-Pile Wharf under Ship Impact Load

Abstract

Flexible berthing pile-high pile wharf is a system which is composed of flexible berthing pile, rubber fender and pile platform. The system was divided into two forms based on the pile platform sustained the impact load or not. The method to analysis the lateral deformation of the pile was relatively mature when the platform was subjected to the impact load. Instead, when the pile platform is subjected to the impact load, the analytical method is unsatisfactory because of the complexity about the lateral deformation of the system. This paper takes the second condition as the research object, and study the lateral deformation of the pile, rubber fender and the pile platform. The mathematical formula is built on the horizontal force balancing condition and displacement coordination at the top of pile, the method to evaluate the correlation coefficients of the formulas is suggested, and the steps that solve the formulas by iterative method are described. The theory is clear, and the result can offer a reference for structure design and code revision.