A model of soil-pile interaction owing to cyclic loading - h

JERZYSWINIANSKI
Gdansk Technical University, Department of Geotechnics, ul. Majakowskiego 11, 80-952 Gdansk- Wrzeszcz, Poland
AND
ANDRZEJ
SAWICKI
Institute of Hydroengineering, IB W PAN, ul. Cystersow 11, 80-953 Gdansk-Oliwa, Poland
Received May 1 , 1989
Accepted August 3, 1990

A model of a pile-soil system subjected to vertical cyclic loading is proposed. The model is based on the classical t-z
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concept and on the compaction theory of granular materials to study the reduction of shearing resistance around a
shaft owing to cyclic loading and the redistribution of loads carried by the shaft and tip of a pile. The model is applied
to predict the behaviour of cyclically loaded piles in experimental conditions. Theoretical predictions against experi-
mental data are presented. The model gives realistic predictions from a qualitative view point. Quantitative agreement
is obtained for large-scale tests.
Key words: piles, theoretical model, cyclic loading, compaction theory, redistribution of load transfer.

Un modkle d'un ensemble sol-pieu soumis a une charge verticale cyclique est proposk. Le modkle est bask sur le
concept t-z classique et sur la thkorie de compactage des matkriaux pulvkrulents pour l'ktude de la rbduction de la
rksistance au cisaillement autour d'un ffit due a la charge cyclique, et de la redistribution des charges prises par le ffit
et la pointe d'un pieu. L'on applique le modkle a la prediction du comportement des pieux soumis a des charges cycliques
dans des conditions expkrimentales. Les prkdictions thkoriques sont comparkes avec les donnkes expkrimentales. Le modkle
donne des predictions rkalistes du point de vue qualitatif. Une concordance quantitative est obtenue dans les essais
a grande Cchelle.
Mots cl6s : pieux, modele thkorique, charge cyclique, thkorie de compactage, redistribution du transfert de charge.
For personal use only.

[Traduit par la rkdaction]

I Can. Geotech. J . 28, 11-19 (1991)

I Introduction explained on the basis of the Coulomb-Mohr failure criterion,

Both experimental and in situ investigations have shown
that the bearing capacity of piles subjected to vertical cyclic
loadings decreases, and their settlements increase, with
an increase in the number of loading cycles. Such cyclic-
degradation effects pose some danger to structures sup-
ported by cyclically loaded piles. This paper is restricted to
piles embedded in noncohesive soils.
Chan and Hanna (1980) have shown that pile failure may
take place under a one-way cyclic load of about 30% of the
static ultimate load Q1. The bearing capacity of a pile
loaded by a two-way cyclic load is even lower. Investiga-
tions of Gudehus and Hettler (1981) support the observa-
tion about progressive degradation of pile bearing capacity
under cyclic loading, even at a cyclic load amplitude of 10%
of the static ultimate load Q1. Similar conclusions can be
drawn from the experimental investigations of Van Weele
(1979).
The characteristic feature of single pile behaviour under
cyclic loading is redistribution of loads carried by the shaft
and tip. The capacity of the pile shaft to carry the pile load
decreases as the number of loading cycles increases, and
consequenty the tip load increases. A typical record is pre-
sented in Fig. 1 after Boulon et al. (1980). The quantity Qb
denotes the portion of the total load carried by the tip; Q is
the total vertical force acting at the top of the pile. The case
Qb/Q = 100% means that the total load is carried entirely
by the tip.
The phenomenon described depends on the progressive
reduction of frictional resistance between the shaft and the
surrounding soil. With granular soils this reduction can be
Prlntcd In Canada / Impnm6 au Canada
i.e., the normal stress around the shaft decreases as the num-
ber of loading cycles increases.
Figure 2 shows the reduction of frictional resistance at
the shaft as measured by Boulon and Foray (1986). A pile
is cyclically loaded by a vertical force of the amplitude 270 N
around the mean value of Q, = 650 N. After approx-
imately 100 loading cycles the frictional resistance at the
shaft dropped about 50% compared with its initial value.
It is postulated that the progressive reduction of normal
stresses around a shaft, and subsequent reduction of shear-
ing resistance, can be explained on the basis of the behaviour
of granular materials subjected to cyclic loadings. It is well
known that under cyclic shearing dry or moist sands com-
pact. The compaction is understood as an irreversible
porosity change. The compaction depends mainly on a cyclic
shear strain amplitude and the number of loading cycles and
is independent of confining pressure. If cyclic shearing is
performed at constant volume conditions (no compaction),
a decrease of effective confining pressure is observed as the
number of loading cycles increases (see Andersen and
Moussa 1973).
It is assumed in this paper that the behaviour of soil sur-
rounding a shaft is similar to cyclic shearing at constant
volume. Such an assumption provides a relatively simple
method to study the distribution of loads carried by a single
pile subjected to vertical cyclic force (see Sawicki et al. 1989).
This paper presents a more general approach to this prob-
lem than that given by Sawicki et al. (1989). A simple model
of the pile-soil system for vertical cyclic loadings is proposed.
The model is based on a concept of t-z curves, coupled with
 CAN. GEOTECH. J. VOL. 28, 1991
i r,

5 -maximal load
--- minimal load
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2000 4000 6000 N

FIG. 1. Load carried by the pile tip as a function of loading
cycles (after Boulon et al. 1980).
For personal use only.

0 I
FIG. 3. Distribution of loads carried by a pile.

number of qycles
-
@o Ido 260 N
FIG. 2. Reduction of frictional resistance at the shaft in the
tests of Boulon and Foray (1986).
a compaction theory of granular materials, to study the
reduction of shearing resistance around a shaft owing to
cyclic loading and the subsequent redistribution of loads car-
ried by the shaft and tip of the pile. The comparison of
theoretical predictions against experimental data is also
shown.
Assumptions and basic ideas
A single pile embedded in a dry, noncohesive soil is con-
sidered. The pile is loaded at the top by a vertical force Q,
the value of which cyclically changes around some mean
quantity Q,. The pile may be either cyclically pressed into
or may be cyclically pulled out of the surrounding soil.
Cyclic loadings of the pile are assumed to be quasistatic,
i.e., inertia effects are neglected in the analysis.
The vertical cyclic force Q is carried partly by the shaft
(through shear stresses T around it) and partly by the tip
(reaction Qb). It is assumed, for simplification, that the
cyclic vertical force can be expressed in the following form:
[l] Q = Q, + Q,sinwt
where Qo is the amplitude of cyclic loading, w is an angular
frequency of cyclic loading, and t denotes a real time. If
the number of loading cycles N is used as an independent
variable, then sin wt = sin 27rN.
Figure 3 shows schematically the distribution of loads
carried by the shaft and the tip of a pile for the cyclic part
of Q. The soil reaction around the shaft is described by the
distribution of three components of the stress tensor a,
namely, shear stress T, vertical stress a,, and normal stress
a,. It is assumed that the vertical stress a, is due to the
weight of the soil and does not change during cyclic loading
of the pile.
One can distinguish in the soil surrounding a pile some
characteristic regions in which the soil behaviour can be
modelled by different mechanisms. The first characteristic
region is a very thin cylindrical layer at the pile-soil con-
tact. The behaviour of soil in this layer is very similar to
that in direct shear conditions (see Boulon and Foray 1986).
The potential failure surface coincides with the pile shaft
surface. Let us denote that region by DS (direct shear). The
thickness of the DS region can be neglected.
The second characteristic region is a soil cylinder around
the shaft, in which simple shear conditions (SS) prevail
(Randolph and Wroth 1978). The thickness of the region
SS with pure shear conditions is approximately 5r0 (Frank
1978), where ro denotes the radius of the pile. The shear
stress T decreases rapidly in the region SS with increasing
values of r. It is assumed that cyclic-degradation effects take
place only in a narrow part of the region SS, near the pile-
soil interace.
In the soil outside the SS cylinder the shear stresses are
rather small, so their influence on the cyclic-degradation
effects at the pile-soil interface can be neglected.
 SWINIANSKI AND SAWICKI \ i

' r

Epi
h ELEMENT I
kei =
T
&I
Ge;lT d' h
(after
ro In (
'0
Randolph and Wroth 1978)
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Equivalent stiffness :

elastic

model

FIG.4. Model of a shaft and surrounding soil.

Figure 4a presents a synthesis of the above-mentioned

observations. Soil surrounding a pile in the DS zone is
modelled by elastic - ideally plastic t-z curves (see Fig. 5).
For personal use only.

An example of results of direct shear tests on fine sand for

various confining pressures with approximation by t-z
curves is presented in Fig. 6.
The DS shearband adheres to the SS zone, which is respon-
sible for the cyclic degradation of shearing resistance and
softening of the t-z curves (see Fig. 5) at the pile-soil inter-
face. Soil in this zone is assumed to work at constant volume
conditions. The description of phenomena appearing in the
SS zone will be presented in the next section.
Figure 4b presents the proposed model of the shaft-soil.
The pile is assumed to be ideally elastic with pile stiffness
k,. The mobilization of the shear stresses at the pile shaft
is modelled by elastic - ideally plastic t-z elements described
by an initial stiffness kt, (see Fig. 5). The t-z characteristics
are coupled with nonlinear horizontal springs that symbolize
the degradation effects. The reduction of horizontal earth
pressure (a,) depends on the compaction behaviour of soil
surrounding a pile in the SS zone.
To complete a model of the pile-soil interaction, the pile
tip - soil interaction must be defined. Physical phenomena
appearing beneath a tip are very complicated because of phe-
nomena like the crushing of soil grains, etc. As a first
approximation we have assumed that the soil reaction at the
tip is elastic and follows from the solution for a rigid punch
on elastic half-space (see Randolph and Wroth 1978). Thus,
it seems that the Q-z characteristics will reasonably approx-
imate the subsoil reaction at the tip.
Alternatively one can assume, outside the DS zone, that
the static vertical soil deformations can be modelled by the
elastic supports k,, characteristics that can be defined after
Randolph and Wroth (1978) (see Fig. 4b).
Compaction theory
An original feature of the model presented in Fig. 4 is that
the simple shear (SS) zone approximates the soil reaction
. FIG.5. Model of degradation of t-z curves with an increasing
number of load cycles.
on cyclic loading. Soil in this zone is assumed to work at
constant volume conditions, so no compaction occurs, but
the normal stress a, decreases as the number of loading
cycles N increases (see Andersen and Moussa 1973). The
decrease of a, can be described by the compaction theory
(see Sawicki 1987; Sawicki and ~widziriski1989).
The compaction theory is formulated in terms of cyclic
stresses and strains amplitudes. The cyclic parts of the stress
u and strain E tensors are assumed to be harmonic with
respect to the real time t:
[2] aC = eiWtT
[3] c C = eiWtE
where w denotes an angular frequency of cyclic loading and
T and E denote the stress and the strain amplitude tensors,
respectively. The assumption of a harmonic character of the
cyclic parts of the tensor u and E is a simplification of the
real character of cyclic loading, but it has been found that
the shape of cyclic loading does not strongly influence
compaction.
 14 CAN. GEOTECH. J. VOL. 28, 1991
i
j

exists a so-called "common compactioq curve" represented

by the equation
[9] = CI l n ( 1 + C2z)
which describes compaction properties of a given sand,
characterized by a density index ID. Figure 7 presents a
common compaction curve for the dense fine silica sand.
The coefficients C1 and C2 appearing in [9] are in this case
7.52 and 0.028, respectively, if the strain unit l o p 3is used.
The coefficients D l and D2 in [7] are defined by C1 and C2:
[lo] D l = C1C2, D2 = l/C1
a------
e B. 200 km The second constitutive equation that describes the com-
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paction model is the stress-strain relationship between the

deviators of T and E. In a simple cyclic shearing the shear
modulus G is defined as the ratio ~,/y,, where T, is a cyclic
shear stress amplitude. We can generalize this definition for
the three-dimensional case:
[ll] F = 2 G E
where l? is defined by [8] and
f 1 (tr T) 1
= T - ;
[12]
J
, -
FIG. 6. An example of results of direct shear tests on fine sand
with approximation by the t-z concept. For small strains, and in simp1ci:cyclic shear conditions, it
is convenient to use the modified Hardin and Drnevich
(1972) relationship between the cyclic shear strain and stress
The noncyclic part of the strain tensor c N consists of two amplitudes:
For personal use only.

components:
1
[4] c N = cS + € + -Ja, tan 4
G*
where t S denotes a "static" part of this tensor, and 6' [I3] yC = uo tan 4 - Tc Tc
describes irreversible strains due to cyclic loading. The com-
paction a is defined by the following formula: where G* ( x lo8 ~ / m is~a )coefficient that has to be deter-
mined experimentally for a given sand or can be taken after
Drnevich (1975)

where no is an initial porosity, n is an actual porosity, A

denotes the reversible porosity change given by
uo is a mean effective stress, 4 denotes the angle of inter-
nal friction, and e is void ratio ( e r 2.0).
At constant volume conditions (n = no) the potential
where uo is the mean effective stress, and K is the soil- compaction is related to the decrease of mean effective
skeleton compressibility. stress Auo according to the following formula (see Sawicki
To describe the behaviour of granular materials subjected et al. 1989):
to cyclic loadings we have to know a constitutive equation
defining the compaction a, as well as the relation between
aCand cC. The first constitutive equation is the compaction
law
[71 dN
da - D lJ exp ( - D2+) Numerical algorithm
To study the behaviour of the pile-soil system, a com-
where N is the number of loading cycles, J is the second puter program CYLPIS has been developed. The program
invariant of strain amplitudes deviator solves, cycle by cycle, a system of equilibrium equations with
[8] J = -1 tr E2,
2
E = E - 3-1 (tr E ) 1 respect to the vector of displacements of pile nodes {z).
A general form of that system of equations is as follows:
D l and D2 are coefficients that have to be determined 1161 [K (z,N)I {z) = {RI
experimentally for a given sand. A method of experimental
where [K] is a global stiffness matrix for the pile-soil sys-
determination of the coefficients D l and D2 is described
tem and {R) is a vector of external forces. Matrix [K] is
by Sawicki and ~widzinski(1987) (see also Sawicki and
a symmetrical, well-conditioned, and three diagonal matrix.
~widziriski1989). Respective experiments were performed
in a simple cyclic shear device at various cyclic shear strain Main diagonal elements of the stiffness matrix depend on
node displacements and actual cyclic shear strength 72.
amplitudes y,. Then the results were plotted in the z-a
From a numerical point of view it is a one-dimensional,
plane where z = -1 y: N. It has been shown that there nonlinear problem solved iteratively by a modified Newton-
4
 SWINIANSKI AND SAWICKI 5

.
x
1.01 IX
3.34 Ir
0.90
0.91
STANDARD DEVIATION
S@ = 4 . 0 9 1 ~ 1 0 ~ )
FINE SAND 0 7.481~10-~1 0.90
dy)=0.25rnrn A 13.10 l x 0.89
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• 1.01 l x 1 0 - ~ ) 0.90 STANDARD DEVIATION

( ~61x10-3)
1 3.341~10-~) 0.91
sQ= ~ . O 1~10-6)
Q
o 7.48 l r 1 0 - ~ ) 0.90
35- FINE SAND A 13.10 1x10-3) 0.09
dm= 0.25m m

FIG. 7. Common compaction curve for a fine silica sand. - - -

For personal use only.

Raphson method (the initial stiffness method, see Owen and ,-,

Hinton 1980).
NUNBEROF CYCLE
The detailed analysis procedure is as follows.
(1) The pile is divided onto elements (usually 10-50 ele-
ments). Initial data as the t-z and Q-z characteristics, coeffi- 02
cients D l , D2, initial earth-pressure coefficient K', etc. are
chosen.
(2) The global stiffness matrix K is assembled, and the
initial distribution of mean effective pressure a. along the
pile is determined.
(3) The analysis starts in a loop from cycle number 1 to
N,,, with a step of integration of compaction law [7] AN
(1 r AN 5 10).
(4) In each step the pile is analyzed for the maximum load
Q, and the distribution of displacements {z,,} and
shear stresses {T,,) is determined by solving the system of
equations [16]. The Coulomb-Mohr failure criterion
IT,,,,^ 5 TE is satisfied with a specified tolerance, in the
iterative process.
(5) In the same step the pile is similarly analyzed for the
minimum load Qmin.
(6) The cyclic shear stress amplitudes (7,) are deter-
mined from the two foregoing analyses by subtracting the
minimum values from the maximum values.
(7) At each pile element the compaction @ is computed
using [7] and [13], and subsequently the decrease of the mean
effective stress Aa, is determined from [15].
(8) A new distribution of the mean effective pressure a,
is determined from the following formula:
1171 oo = ooi - Aao
where aoi denotes the initial distribution of a,.
(9) A new distribution of analong the pile is determined FIG.8. Experimental results of Chan and Hanna (1980) (a)
under the assumption that the vertical normal stress a, does against theoretical prediction ( b ) for one-way tension cyclic
not change. The change of a, may be identified with a loading.
 CAN. GEOTECH. J. VOL. 28, 1991 i
'i

(a) E

Qt=l.LkN- static ultimate load

in tension
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(b)
-
,
E :.
-E
0.90 QtlO Q t zl.4 kN - static ultimate load
in tension
For personal use only.

W tNO
m
I QI
LA IL
z

number of cycks
I I

2000 Loo0 6 000 8000 10 000

FIG.9. Number of cycles to failure N,(a), degradation of cyclic shear strength 7: (b), reduction of earth-pressure coefficient K~ (c),
and total uplift of the pile (d) computed for data of Chan and Hanna (1980) for one-way tension cyclic loading.

change of the lateral pressure coefficient KO. We shall

denote the value of this coefficient at the Nth loading cycle
by K~ (z). The value of this coefficient can be determined
from the formula
where K' is an initial value of KN, y is the soil unit weight,
z is a vertical coordinate, and a is defined in [15]. The cur-
rent value of the horizontal stress is then given by
1191 a, (z) = KN(z) a,(z)
(10) The actual shearing resistance at the pile-soil inter-
face is computed as
1201 : 7 = a, (N) tan 4 = K ~ tan Z 4
(1 1) The reduction in shearing resistance : 7 causes, at
given loading cycle N, a softening of the t-z characteristic.
A new initial stiffness of the t - z curve is determined from
the formula
where zf is the limit displacement of the t-z curve (see
Figs. 5 and 6). The value of zf is assumed to be constant
during cyclic loading.
(12) Owing to the changes of k: the global stiffness
matrix [K] is modified, and subsequent computations are
repeated from step 3 until N, or pullout of the pile are
reached.
Theoretical predictions against experimental data
To verify the proposed model of the pile-soil system we
have used the CYLPIS program for the data from experi-
ments by Chan and Hanna (1980) and Koreck (1986). Note
that the initial data do not correspond exactly to the data
of these authors, since we have not been able to determine
the compaction characteristics of sands used in their exper-
iments (coefficients Dl and Dz). We have assumed the com-

(a)
0.15 Qc10.30 Qt Qc= L.3 kN - static ultimate I w ~in compression
Q t = 1.LkN - static ultimate load in tension
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(b)
Qc;L3 kN - s t a t i c ultimate l m d in compression
-
Qc=l.L N static ultimate Imd in tension
VI
2 O-
2aJo 3000
b 1-
z
"6 2 -
For personal use only.
$2-
-
0.150c/0.01 Q t
FIG. 10. Experimental results of Chan and Hanna (1980) (a)
against theoretical predictions ( b ) for two-way cyclic loading.
paction characteristics of a similar sand (see Fig. 7).
Chan and Hanna (1980) performed small-scale experi-
ments in sand characterized as follows: ID= 0.62; p =
1.57 g/cm3; eo = 0.67; dSo = 0.24 mm; d60/d10= 1.8.
A pile 0.57 m long and 0.019 m in diameter was built of
aluminum. All the experiments were performed with a sur-
charge pressure of 100 k ~ / m applied
~ on the sand surface.
We have also assumed the following: 4 = 30";
C1 = 12.32; C2 = 0.0638 (for ID= 0.5); G* = 1 (see
eq. [13]); initial earth pressure coefficient K' = 0.685; soil-
skeleton compressibility K = 9 x lo-' m 2 / ~ ;limit
displacement of the t-z curves zf = 1 mm; pile modulus of
elasticity = 7 x lo7 k ~ / m ~stiffness ; of the pile
k, = 1.O1 x lo5 kN/m; stiffness of the spring at the pile
tip ko = 100 kN/m. We have neglected the deformability
of a soil outside the SS zone (k, = a ) .
Figure 8a shows experimental results of Chan and Hanna
(1980) in which the upward movement of the pile top was
measured as a function of loading cycles N for different
values of the cyclic force amplitude Qo. The pile was pulled
out from the initial value of Q, = 0 to its maximum
value of Qmin= a Q,, where Q, = 1.4 kN was the static
ultimate load of the pile in tension and a = 0.15, 0.2, 0.3,
0.5, and 0.7. For small values of a the pile displacement
slowly increases as the number of cycles increases up to a
certain value N = N f where the pile is pulled out (rapid
SWINIANSKI AND SAWICKI
\ 1
i
(0) ,
- TECT 2 1 2
--.
L -
Omr=250kN T E S T 5/1
n
u. -2
1-
0 - -100-- 1 0 0 7 10,300 10qOa) log N
+
z n- Q,,, A 5 0 kN
LWO
number of cycles
5000
- ------ ------------
E Q m , e - 8 0 kN
FIG. 1 1 . Experimental results of Koreck (1986) (a) against
theoretical prediction ( b ) for one-way and two-way cyclic loadings.
increase of displacement). For a I0.5 there is a continuous
and rapid extraction of the pile.
Figure 8b shows theoretical predictions computed by the
CYLPIS program. From the qualitative viewpoint, the predic-
tions seem to look reasonable. For the same data, Fig. 9
presents the following results of computations for various
.
levels of cyclic tension load Qminversus number of cycles
N in log scale: number of cycles to failure Nf(a), degrada-
tion of shearing resistance rfc (b), reduction of earth
pressure coefficient K~ (c), and total uplift of the pile (d).
Figure 1Oa presents experimental results of Chan and
Hanna (1980) but for a pile that is cyclically pressed down
and pulled out. The pressing down force was Q, =
0.645 kN. The level of pulling out forces Qminvaried from
0 to 0.3 Q,. Figure 10a presents respective predictions. Also
in this case the qualitative agreement is quite reasonable.
The differences between experimental data and theoretical
predictions are due to some artificially assumed initial data
and residual effects of the small-scale tests.
Koreck's (1986) experiments were performed at a much
larger scale. He used a reinforced concrete pile 5 m long and
0.13 m in diameter. The initial sand characteristics were as
follows: ID= 0.61; p = 1.57 g/cm3; eo = 0.715; dS0=
0.2 mm; dso/dlo = 6.5. The static ultimate load of the pile
was Q, = 240 kN in tension and Q, = 300 kN in compres-
sion. We have also assumed the following: 4 = 40";
K' = 3.1; C1 = 7.519; C2 = 0.0282; G* = 1.0; K = 25 x
1 0 - ' m 2 / ~ ; zf = 2 m m ; k, = 1.33 x 106kN/m; ko =
2500 kN/m; k, = a . The parameters 4, k l , Ci, and C2
 18 CAN. GEOTECH. J. VOL. 28, 1991

ZIL
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log N
1 10 im 1000 aooo immo
For personal use only.

Log N

FIG. 13. Redistribution of pile load transfer with number of

cycles computed for Koreck's (1986) data for one-way compres-
sion cyclic loading.
ZIL
7' 15'

FIG. 12. Redistribution of pile load transfer with number of case of compression loads, the increase of tip load Qb can
cycles computed for Koreck's (1986) data for two-way cyclic be observed as a consequence of degradation of cyclic shear
loading. strength rfc and softening of the t-z characteristics.
Comparison of the results presented in Figs. 8, 10, and 11
shows that the model proposed gives, from the quantitative
were assumed for dense sand owing to the technology of view point, much better prediction for large-scale tests than
pile installation. for small-scale ones.
Figure 1l a presents the experimental results of Koreck The proposed engineering model, owing to its simplicity,
(1985) and Fig. 1l b shows the theoretical predictions. The permits the analysis of pile behaviour under cyclic loading
solid lines correspond to experiments in which a pile was cycle by cycle up to many thousands of cycles. But, because
cyclically pressed down and pulled out. The broken line cor- of the theories adopted (t-z concept, amplitude compaction
responds to experiments in which the pile was cyclically only theory) and simplifying assumptions, the model does not
pressed down. Respective values of cyclic-force amplitudes take into account such cyclic effects as development of
are noted in Fig. 11. residual stresses and strains in soil and permanent displace-
The qualitative agreement between experimental data of ments of piles.
Koreck (1985) and the predictions seems to be quite good.
Also, there is reasonable agreement from the quantitative Conciusions
viewpoint. The presented model of the soil-pile system subjected to
Both for one-way and two-way cyclic loading, gradual vertical cyclic loadings gives reasonable predictions, at least
redistribution of load transfer along a pile can be observed. from the qualitative view point. Application of the model
Figure 12 shows computed distributions of the following to some experimental results shows that quantitative agree-
quantities with relative depth for selected cycles in two-way ment of the theory and experiment is also possible provided
loading: (a) axial force in pile Q(z) for maximum and min- that initial data are properly chosen. Good agreement, both
imum in cycle, (b) mobilized shear stresses T,, and rminat qualitative and quantitative, was obtained for the large-scale
the shaft, ( c ) reduction of earth pressure coefficient K ~ , tests of Koreck (1986).
and (d) total displacements,,s and tip load Qb/Q,, Small-scale experiments on cyclically loaded piles show
versus log N. Similar results of computation for one-way large permanent displacement (see Boulon et al. (1980),
compression loading, with Q, = 250 kN and Qmin= 30 van Weele (1979), and Gudehus and Hettler (1981)). This
kN, for Koreck's data are presented in Fig. 13. is so because of the small level of confining pressure within
Degradation of skin friction begins at the upper part of the soil mass. It seems that an application of the model pro-
the pile and gradually develops towards the pile tip. In the posed to large-scale piles can give quite realistic predictions.
 SWINIANSKI AND SAWICKI
ANDERSEN, K.H., and M o u s s ~A.A.
, 1973. Cyclic loading simple
shear tests on sand. Norwegian Geotechnical Institute, Report
51505-1.
BOULON,M., and FORAY,P. 1986. Physical and numerical
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