Sharif Digital Repository

It has been realized that the raft (mat) foundations are capable of bearing very large loads when they are assisted with a pile group. The contribution of both raft and piles to carry the surcharge loads is taken into account, considering the stiffness and strength of involved elements in the system, i.e. piles, raft and surrounding soil. The piles are usually required not to ensure the overall stability of the foundation but to act as settlement reducers. There is an alternative design in which, the piles are nonconnected from the raft to reduce the settlement, which are then known to be "settlement reducer non-connected piles" to increase the system stiffness. In this paper, two and three... 

Local scour around complex piers under steady clear-water condition was studied experimentally for a variety of configuration, including different sizes and shapes of complex piers. A total of 70 experiments were carried out. Three sets of experiments were performed over the entire range of possible pile cap elevations for complex piers with different geometrical characteristics. The collected data are used to quantify the pile cap elevations that maximize or minimize the local scour depth. Some of the available methodologies to estimate the maximum local scour depth around such complex piers are evaluated. The predictions of the scour depths improved by using the revised methods of... 

There is an increasing interest and use of energy foundation worldwide. Full-scale tests, physical model tests at one Earth's gravity and at elevated gravity in a geotechnical centrifuge and numerical simulations have been widely reported in the literature. Almost all studies have focused on single energy piles (EPs) and pile groups subjected to symmetrical thermal loads, although it is not unusual to have energy pile groups stressed by non-symmetrical thermal loads. In this study, a series of non-symmetrical thermal loading centrifuge model tests were conducted in saturated soft clay (OCR = 1.7), which is much vulnerable to temperature changes. The tests aim to investigate the effects of... 

In this paper we consider the Bak, Tang, and Wiesenfeld (BTW) sand-pile model with local violation of conservation through annealed and quenched disorder. We have observed that the probability distribution functions of avalanches have two distinct exponents, one of which is associated with the usual BTW model and another one which we propose to belong to a new fixed point; that is, a crossover from the original BTW fixed point to a new fixed point is observed. Through field theoretic calculations, we show that such a perturbation is relevant and takes the system to a new fixed point  

This study numerically investigates the side resistance of drilled shafts (bored piles) in sand using FLAC2D computer program. The results of the equations available in the literature are compared with the results of the present numerical study. A series of analyses is also conducted to assess the effects of various soil and pile parameters on the magnitude of side resistance of bored piles embedded in sand. Furthermore, the coupling (combined) effect of coefficient of lateral earth pressure with friction angle, and the coefficient of lateral earth pressure with a unit weight of soil on side resistance are investigated. The results show that the maximum effect of K0 on side resistance occurs... 

This study numerically investigates the side resistance of drilled shafts (bored piles) in sand using FLAC2D computer program. The results of the equations available in the literature are compared with the results of the present numerical study. A series of analyses is also conducted to assess the effects of various soil and pile parameters on the magnitude of side resistance of bored piles embedded in sand. Furthermore, the coupling (combined) effect of coefficient of lateral earth pressure with friction angle, and the coefficient of lateral earth pressure with a unit weight of soil on side resistance are investigated. The results show that the maximum effect of K0 on side resistance occurs... 

Pile Foundations are used to transfer loads from superstructures to the underlying competent soil layers. Predicting pile bearing capacity is among the most interesting subjects for geotechnical engineers. In this study, a single pile is modeled in axisymmetric condition. The soil is considered to be a sandy soil. Then, results of the model were verified with a full scale pile load test performed by previous researchers. In order to take into consideration the real behavior of sandy soils, a variation of modulus of elasticity with respect to the changes in the mean effective stress was taken into account. The dependency of soil modulus to the mean effective stress makes the model more... 

Scour phenomenon around piles could endanger the stability of the structures placed on them. Therefore, an accurate estimation of the scour depth around piles is very important for engineers. Due to the complexity of the interaction between the current, seabed and pile group; prediction of the scour depth is a difficult task and the available empirical formulas have limited accuracy. Recently, soft computing methods such as artificial neural networks (ANN) and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) have been used for the prediction of the scour depth. However, these methods do not give enough insight into the generated models and are not as easy to use as the empirical formulas. In... 

The author utilized neuro-fuzzy based group method of data handling (NF-GMDH) to predict the local scour depth around pile groups under clear-water conditions. They collected the datasets from literature. To predict the local scour by using NF-GMDH, nine dimensional parameters were considered to define a functional relationship between input and output variables. The results of NF- GMDH networks were compared with that of the empirical equations. However, the collected datasets for pile group scouring, the method of implementing the empirical formula to calculate scour depth, and using the equation of Sheppard et al. (2004) suggested for single pier to predict local scouring around pile... 

In the present study, the behavior of fin pile under lateral loading was investigated by ABAQUS software. First, the generated model was verified against an available experimental small-scale test in the literature. Having conducted verification, a study was carried out on the fin pile dimensions under lateral loading. Different parameters, such as pile diameter, fin’s length, and width, were studied. Moreover, a study on the fin’s aspect ratio by setting fin’s area constant was conducted, and then, optimum fin’s ratio was obtained. The results indicated that both fin’s length and width could improve pile efficiency under lateral loading, yet fin’s length had a more critical impact, and... 

Regulations of offshore structures suggest the application of Morison type equation for the estimation of forces induced by wave and current on the slender bodies of Jacket and Jack-up structures. However, common values of hydrodynamic coefficients are rarely defined in two different regulations. Estimation of global responses of Jack-up structure, the simplified geometrical model is used, therefore we will try to modify the DNV formulations in order to estimate the hydrodynamic forces on equivalent pile. Finally, the forces on the real structure and the equivalent pile model are compared and it has been shown that the approximation of the inertia forces has more accuracy comparing to the... 

Liquefaction-induced lateral spreading caused severe damages to pile foundations during past earthquakes. Micropiles can be used as a mitigation strategy against lateral spreading e ects on pile foundations. However, the available knowledge about the possible efficiency of this strategy is quite limited. In this regard, the present study aims to evaluate the e ectiveness of a vertical micropile system as a lateral spreading countermeasure using large-scale 1 g shake table tests on 3 x 3 pile groups. The results showed that the micropile system was not able to e ectively reduce the bending moments in piles; however, it considerably reduced the lateral soil pressures exerted on the upslope... 

Liquefaction-induced lateral spreading has imposed severe damages to many important structures supported on pile foundations during past earthquakes. As a result, evaluation of pile response to lateral spreading is an important step towards safe and resistant design of pile foundations against this destructive phenomenon. Current paper aims to study the response of a group of piles subjected to liquefaction-induced lateral spreading using a large scale 1-g shake table test. General test results including time-histories of accelerations, pore water pressures, displacements and bending moments are presented and discussed in this paper. In addition, distribution of lateral soil pressure on... 

The seismic behavior of pile-supported systems has been an active area of research over the past decades. However, focus has mostly been on evaluating the seismic response of structures embedded in either dry or fully saturated soil conditions. In this study, series of dynamic centrifuge tests were conducted to investigate the effects of soil's degree of saturation on the seismic behavior of pile-supported superstructures. The scaled physical model tests were carried out on two distinct pile-mass systems embedded in uniform sand layers. A steady state infiltration technique was used to control matric suction profiles in the sand layer prior to shaking. The obtained results from these...