Torsional vibration of a large-diameter pipe pile embedded in inhomogeneous soil

Abstract

An analytical solution is proposed to investigate the torsional dynamic response of a large-diameter pipe pile embedded in inhomogeneous soil. First, both the outer and inner soils are discretized into many annular vertical zones, and their radial inhomogeneity caused by the construction disturbance effect is considered by the gradual variedness of soil parameters in the radial direction. Meanwhile, the layered properties of the soil in the vertical direction are simulated by the distributed Winkler model. Then, the analytical solution for the torsional dynamic response at the pile head is obtained by solving the pile–soil dynamic governing equations and its reliability is verified by comparing with the existing solutions. Finally, selected results for the complex impedance and velocity admittance are presented to examine the influence of the pile–soil parameters and the radial inhomogeneity of the soil on the torsional dynamic characteristics of the large-diameter pipe pile.