Shaking Table Tests for Studies of Soil Liquefaction and Soil-Pile Interaction

Abstract

Physical model tests using a large biaxial laminar shear box on the shaking table at the National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering (NCREE), Taiwan was conducted to study the liquefaction behavior of saturated sand under one-and multi-directional earthquake shakings. Specimens of clean Vietnam silica sand and Mailiao sand with silt were prepared using specially designed pluviators. Model piles made of steel and aluminum pipes were also placed inside the shear box to evaluate the pile performances and soil-pile interaction within saturated Vietnam sand under shakings. The input shakings included sinusoidal and recorded earthquake accelerations. Pore water pressure changes and accelerations within the soil, displacements and accelerations of the shear box frames, bending and accelerations of the piles at various depths, pile top displacements were measured during the shaking table tests. Settlement of the sand surface after each shaking was also measured. Some analyses using the test results on soil liquefaction, settlement, behavior of pile in saturated sand under shaking were presented.