Loads and settlements estimations in piles due to negative friction caused by liquefaction.

Application to the Maule 2010 earthquake, Chile

Abstract

During a high-magnitude earthquake, drag loads can be induced by liquefaction of soils, defined as the additional vertical load caused by the settlement after soil liquefaction around the pile due to yielding and volume decreasing in soft soils layers, causing a downdrag displacement. In several projects, the magnitude of these loads and settlements caused by downdrag in piles is not well defined. In this research, we advance towards estimating this drag loads and their impact on projects. For this purpose, a case study considering the 2010 Maule earthquake was analyzed, comparing methodologies of shaft loads against numerical modelling results using nonlinear finite element method, in order to estimate the range of settlement, shear stress at the soil-structure interface, the axial loading in the pile and the volumetric strain, among others. It can be demonstrated that the studied piles show downdrag with its consequently drag loads, which is shown as the effective mobilization in the surrounding soil of the southeast and northeast piles, with a strain of 0.2% and 0.1% respectively. These strains imply an additional shear stress in the soil-structure interface, with axial loadings of 45 and 36 ton respectively.