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Vertical Vibration of Full-Scale Single Pile - Testing and Analysis

Article · January 2008

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 th
The 12 International Conference of
International Association for Computer Methods and Advances in Geomechanics (IACMAG)
1-6 October, 2008
Goa, India

Vertical Vibration of Full-Scale Single Pile - Testing and Analysis

B. Manna
Research Scholar, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, India

D. K. Baidya
Associate Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, India

Keywords: Pile foundation; Vertical vibration, Natural frequency, Resonant amplitude, Layered soils

ABSTRACT: This paper presents a simple axisymmetric 2D finite element analysis using the software, PLAXIS,
Version 8, to obtain the response of single pile under vertical vibration. The Mohr-Coulomb model is used for
modeling the soil. In the FE model the static load was applied on the top of the pile by introducing the steel plate.
A vertical harmonic load was applied in the model to simulate the vibrations transmitted by the oscillator to the
pile. Using this model the vertical vibration amplitudes were determined at different frequencies. Vertical vibration
tests result of two full-scale single piles are used for the investigation. The tests were carried out in the field with
three different eccentric setting and three different static loads. The frequency-amplitude curves obtained from
PLAXIS were compared with the experimental results to validate the FE model. It was found that the simple 2D
model predict the natural frequency and peak displacement amplitude reasonably well. The variations of
amplitude of vertical vibration at resonance along the pile length were also determined by FE model.

1 Introduction
Pile foundations are widely used in weak soil deposits for supporting various structures. In addition to static loads,
pile-supported foundations and structures are exposed to dynamic loads such as machine-induced vibrations,
moving traffic, ocean waves and earthquakes. In recent years, with the development in the offshore structures
technology and the nuclear power industry and other applications, the dynamic behavior of pile foundation has
received a renewed attention.

Though many analytical and semi-analytical methods have been proposed to study the dynamic response of pile
foundations, Novak’s plane strain model (Novak, 1974) is commonly used in practice. A similar model was used
by a number of research workers (Novak, 1977; Novak and Nogami, 1977; Novak and El-Sharnouby, 1983) to
determine the impedance functions for both vertical and horizontal vibrations. Finite element method had received
substantial attention in solving the soil-pile-structure interaction problems under dynamic loading. This FE
analysis was carried out by Krishnan et al. (1983) and Wu and Finn (1997a, b) in which the piles were
represented by axisymmetric elements and energy transmitting boundaries were used to represent the far field. A
boundary element formulation was reported by Kaynia and Kausel (1982), Banerjee and Sen (1987) and Mamoon
and Banerjee (1992) to evaluate the dynamic response of pile foundations.

With the emergence of the new rather abstract theories for dynamic analysis of piles, it became necessary to
verify their validity by means of experiments. A few dynamic tests on piles have been reported in the literature.
Field dynamic experiments with small prototype piles were performed by Novak and Grigg (1976), El Sharnouby
and Novak (1984) and El Marsafawi et al. (1992). Full scale dynamic field tests on pile were conducted by
Jennings et al. (1984) and Blaney et al. (1987).

In this paper, dynamic response of single pile embedded in both homogeneous and layered soil under vertical
vibrations is obtained by a simple 2D soil-pile interaction finite element model using the software package,
PLAXIS, a finite element code for soil and rock analyses (Plaxis b.v., 2002). The effect of various soil parameters
on the dynamic response of single pile was investigated using the FE model. Vertical vibration test results of two
full-scale single piles embedded in layered soil are used for evaluating the performance of FE analysis.

2 Finite element analysis

It is possible to simulate dynamic soil-pile interaction problem using FE software PLAXIS (2D - Version 8). The
influence of the vertical vibration on single pile embedded in both homogeneous and layered soil is investigated in
this study. A vibrating source i.e. rotating mass oscillator was founded on single pile of diameter 0.45m and length

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22m embedded in soil. Oscillation caused by the motor are transmitted through the pile into the subsoil. These
oscillations were simulated as a uniform harmonic loading with a frequency and amplitude. A static load of
intensity 10 kN/m2 is assumed to simulate the weight of foundation and machine. The frequency amplitude
2 2 2
behavior was analyzed for harmonic loading of three different amplitudes (10 kN/m , 20 kN/m and 30 kN/m ).
Three type of soil strata, single clay layer (thickness 40m), single sand layer (thickness 40m) and two-layered soil
i.e. a sand layer (thickness 22m) underlain by a clay layer (thickness 18m), are considered in the investigation.

The geometry was simulated by means of an axisymmetric model in which the pile was positioned along the axis
of symmetry. Both the soil and pile were modelled with 15-noded elements. Interface elements were placed
around the pile to model the interaction between the pile and the soil. The interface was extended to about half a
meter into the soil layer. The boundaries of the model were taken sufficiently far away to avoid direct influence of
the boundary conditions. Standard fixities were considered and standard absorbent boundaries were used to
avoid spurious reflections. Static load was added on the top of the pile by introducing steel plate. In order to
model the dynamic forces, a distributed unit load (system A) was created on the top of the pile. The clay layer
was modelled with the simple Mohr-Coulomb model and the behavior was considered to be undrained. The sand
layer was modelled by means of the Hardening soil model and was also considered to behave undrained. The
strength reduction factor was taken as unity (Rinter = 1) for all soil layers. The pile was made of concrete and was
modelled by means of the linear elastic model considering non-porous behavior. The properties of the soils, pile
and steel plate is listed in Table 1. The triangular mesh was generated with a global coarseness set to coarse and
then a local refinement was made in the pile cluster. Initial effective stresses were generated by the Ko procedure,
using the default values.

Table 1. Material properties used in PLAXIS

Soil
Material properties Unit Pile Steel plate
Clay Sand
Mohr - Hardening- Linear Linear
Model -
Coulomb soil elastic elastic
Type - Undrained Undrained Non-porous Non-porous
3
Unit wt. above phreatic line kN/m 16 17 24 78.5
3
Unit wt. below phreatic line kN/m 18 20 - -
2 7 8
Young's modulus kN/m 15000 50000 3.0 x 10 2.0 x 10
Poisson's ratio - 0.3 - 0.1 0.25
2
Cohesion kN/m 2 1 - -
o
Friction angle 24 31 - -

The analysis consisted of three calculation phases. In the first phase the pile was created using plastic
calculation. In the second phase the static load was applied on the top of the pile. In third phase vertical harmonic
load was applied with varying frequencies (10Hz to 70Hz) and varying amplitude (10kN/m2, 20 kN/m2, and 30
2
kN/m ) to simulate the vibrations transmitted by the oscillator.

The actual time versus displacement curves were obtained for different frequencies and loading amplitudes. From
this curves the amplitudes at various frequencies were determined, and from this data the frequency amplitude
curves were plotted. Typical frequency versus amplitude curves of the pile embedded in two layered soil obtained
from this analysis is shown in Figure 1.The results for the pile embedded in single clay layer and single sand layer
are also obtained and compared with the response of pile embedded in two-layered soil in Figure 2. The resonant
frequency and amplitude of pile obtained from PLAXIS at different dynamic force amplitude is shown in Table 2
for various soil layers.

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 Figure 1. Frequency amplitude curve for two-layered soil Figure 2. Comparison curve for different soil layer
(PLAXIS) (PLAXIS)

It can be seen from the Figure 2 that both the resonant frequency and amplitude of pile embedded in single sand
layer is higher than the pile embedded in single clay layer. For two-layered soil the natural frequency of pile is
higher than single clay layer but lower than single sand layer. The values of resonant amplitude in two-layered
soil are more than two other cases. So it can be said from the FE results that the effect of different soil strata
around the pile has a significant effect on the dynamic response of pile foundation.

Table 2. Natural frequencies and resonant amplitudes of pile in different soil layer (PLAXIS)

Single clay layer Single sand layer Two-layered soil

Amplitude Natural Resonant Natural Resonant Natural Resonant
2
(kN/m ) Frequency Amplitude Frequency Amplitude Frequency Amplitude
-6 -6 -6
(Hz) (x10 m) (Hz) (x10 m) (Hz) (x10 m)
10 40 11.58 60 13.31 50 15.26
20 40 22.41 60 28.7 50 27.64
30 40 33.25 60 43 50 41.3

3 Experimental results
Vertical vibration tests results of the two single full-scale pile at I.I.T. Kharagpur Extension Centre, Sector - III,
Salt Lake City, Kolkata, are used here to validate the results obtained from FE analysis. In the field three bore
holes were made and soil samples were collected. The depth of exploration below ground level was 30.45m. The
water table was found at the depth of 1.25m below the ground level. Standard penetration tests (SPT) were
carried out in the field and the N value was determined at different depths. Based on different field and laboratory
observations and Standard Penetration test results the site soil was broadly divided under six different sub layers.
The variation of SPT value at this different soil layers is shown in Figure 3.

In this study the bored cast in situ concrete piles (2 nos) were constructed in the field. The diameter and length of
the pile was 0.45m and 22m respectively. Forced vibration tests were conducted on the single piles in vertical
direction. The schematic diagram of the experimental setup is shown in Figure 2.

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Figure 3. Variation of SPT value at different soil layers Figure 4. Schematic diagram of experimental setup

The vertical amplitudes were measured at different frequencies for each eccentric setting. Tests were conducted
for three different static loads (8, 10, and 15 kN) and four different exciting moments (0.278, 0.366, and 0.45 N-m)
for each pile. From the experiments the frequency versus vertical amplitude of two single piles were recorded. A
set of response curves were obtained with different excitation level (Eccentric moment W.e, where W is the
eccentric weight and e is the eccentric distance of the weights) for each static load. The response indicates a
single resonant peak for vertical vibration. It is found that the resonant frequency and amplitude of pile 1 is
marginally higher than the pile 2. This difference is, perhaps, due to the variation of soil profile of two piles
location.

4 Validation of experimental results - Modelling with PLAXIS

The pile soil system as shown in experimental setup is modeled in FE analysis using axisymmetric model with
different soil layers. The geometry model and finite element discretization using 15-noded triangular element with
boundary condition is shown in Figure 5. The dynamic finite element analysis was performed by applying
sinusoidal vertical load on the pile using a dynamic multiplier function at wide range of frequencies (10 Hz to 60
Hz). The value of the dynamic multiplier was determined according to the value of eccentric moment and
operating frequency of the motor. Figure 6 shows the vertical dynamic response of pile with time for different
frequencies. The vertical displacement amplitudes were determined from Figure 6 for different frequencies for any
particular eccentric moment and static load. A set of data was then determined with different exciting moments for
a single static load.

5 Comparison of experimental results with finite element model

The effect of static loads on the resonant frequency and amplitude of piles are found similar in the test results and
FE analysis. It is observed in both the cases that the both resonant frequency and amplitude decreased as the
static load increased for all the cases.

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 Figure 5. Geometry model and finite element discretization

0.02
Static load (Ws) = 10 kN
0.015 W.e = 0.366 N-m

0.01
Vertical amplitude (mm)

0.005

-0.005 20Hz
30Hz
35Hz
-0.01
40Hz
45Hz
-0.015 50Hz
FE Analysis (PLAXIS)
60Hz
-0.02
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07 0.08 0.09 0.1
Dynam ic tim e (s)

Figure 6. Displacement - time response of pile at different frequencies (PLAXIS)

A typical observed and predicted frequency versus displacement amplitude response curve of pile 1 for static
load of 10 kN is shown in Figure 7. Similar response curve of pile 2 for static load of 10 kN is presented in Figure
8. It is observed from the figures that the predicted response curves are similar to the experimentally measured
one. It is seen from the figures that the vertical amplitudes estimated by the finite element model are marginally
higher at frequencies near resonance compared to the experimental values. These differences can be eliminated
by introducing the proper damping value of soils in the finite element model. It is also observed that the finite
element model overestimates the value of natural frequencies by about 7% to 13% when compared with
experimental results for both the piles.

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Figure 7. Comparison of observed and predicted Figure 8. Comparison of observed and predicted
(PLAXIS) frequency response curve of pile 1 (PLAXIS) frequency response curve of pile 2

From the FEM analysis it is observed that the natural frequency of pile reduces as the eccentric moment or
dynamic force increases. But the rate of reduction in the natural frequency is relatively less in finite element
model than the experiments. The resonant vertical amplitudes of pile are predicted at different depths using FE
model. The variation of resonant vertical amplitudes of pile at different depth for static load of 10 kN is shown in
Figure 9. It can be seen that the amplitude of vertical vibration decreases as the depth of pile increases and the
vertical resonant amplitude of pile is negligibly small below the depth of 16 m.

Resonant Vertical Am plitude (m m )

0 0.005 0.01 0.015

0

5
Depth from GL (m)

10

FE Analysis (PLAXIS)
(Ws = 10 kN)
15

W.e = 0.278 N-m

20
W.e = 0.366 N-m
W.e = 0.450 N-m

25

Figure 9. Variation of resonant vertical amplitudes of pile at different depth

6 Conclusions
Dynamic analysis of full-scale pile in layered soil medium is very complicated problem in practice. A FE model
using software PLAXIS is used here to analyze the complex dynamic pile-soil interaction problem. Using the FE
analysis the vertical amplitudes are determined for various frequencies. The effect of different soil layers on the
dynamic response of pile foundation is also predicted. To validate the FE analysis experimental results of two full
scale single piles subjected to vertical vibration are used. From the experiments, a series of frequency versus
amplitude data were collected for different eccentric moments and static loads. By comparing the experimental
results with that obtained from FE analysis it has been found that the finite element method overestimated the
natural frequency and peak displacement amplitude. But most of the predicted peak amplitudes are within a
reasonable range of the experimental peaks. However the finite element method overestimates the natural

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 frequencies by about 7% to 13% when compared with experimental results for both the piles. Soil properties that
are used in the FE model are estimated using some standard correlations. These correlations sometime may not
accurately estimate the soil properties. More accurate results by finite element method may be achieved by
introducing proper values of damping and modulus of soil.

7 References
Banerjee P. K., Sen R. 1987. Dynamic behavior of axially and laterally loaded piles and pile groups. Chapter 3, Developments
in Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering-Vol. 3. Ed. Banerjee, P. K. and Butterfield, R., Elsevier Applied Science
Publishers Ltd., 95-133.
Blaney G. W., Muster G. L., O’Neill M. W. 1987. Vertical vibration test of a full-scale pile group. ASCE Geotech. Special
Publication No. 11, 149-165.
El Marsafawi H., Han Y. C., Novak, M. 1992. Dynamic experiments on two pile groups. J. Geotech. Eng., 118(4), 576-592.
El Sharnouby B., Novak, M. 1984. Dynamic experiments with group of piles. J. Geotech. Eng., 110(6), 719-737.
th
Jennings D. N., Thurston S. J., Edmons, F. D. 1984. Static and dynamic lateral loading of two piles. Proc. 8 World Conf.
Earthq. Eng., San Francisco, 3, 625-632.
nd
Kaynia A. M., Kausel, E. 1982. Dynamic behavior of pile groups. 2 Int. Conf. Num. Meth. Offshore Piling, Austin, Texas, 509–
532.
Krishnan R., Gazetas, G., Velez, A. 1983. Static and dynamic lateral deflection of piles in non-homogeneous soil stratum.
Geotechnique, 33(3), 307-325.
Novak M. 1974. Dynamic stiffness and damping of piles. Can. Geotech. J., 11, 574-598.
Novak M. 1977. Vertical vibration of floating piles. J. Eng. Mech., 103(1), 153-168.
Novak M , El Sharnouby B. 1983. Stiffness constants of single piles. J. Geotech. Eng., 109(7), 961-974.
Novak M., Grigg, R. F. 1976. Dynamic experiments with small pile foundations. Can. Geotech. J., 13, 372-385.
Novak M., Nogami, T. 1977. Soil pile interaction in horizontal vibration. J. Earthq. Eng. and Struct. Dynam., 5(3), 263-282.
Mamoon S. M., Banerjee P. K. 1992. Time domain analysis of dynamically loaded single piles. J. Eng. Mech., 118(1), 140-160.
Plaxis b. v. 2002. User’s manual, Plaxis Version 8.0. A. A. Balkema, The Netherlands.
Wu G., Finn, W. D. L.. 1997a. Dynamic elastic analysis of pile foundations using finite element in the frequency domain. Can.
Geotech. J., 34, 34-43.
Wu G., Finn, W. D. L. 1997b. Dynamic elastic analysis of pile foundations using finite element in the time domain. Can.
Geotech. J., 34, 44-52.

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