Failure Mechanisms of Pile Foundations in Liquefiable Soil: Parametric Study

This paper presents the response of piles in liquefiable soil under seismic loads. The effects of soil, pile, and earthquake parameters on the two potential pile failure mechanisms, bending and buckling, are examined. The analysis is conducted using a two-dimensional plain strain finite difference program considering a nonlinear constitutive model for soil liquefaction, strength reduction, and pile-soil interaction. The depths of liquefaction, maximum lateral displacement, and maximum pile bending moment are obtained for concrete and steel piles for different soil relative densities, pile diameters, earthquake predominant frequencies, and peak accelerations. The potential failure mechanisms of piles identified from the parametric analysis are discussed.