Liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage tanks are often supported by very large pile groups (≥ 100 piles). As these superstructures tend to be located along coastal areas, there is often a high risk of extreme lateral loading caused by either seismic, flooding or hurricane activity. In many cases, the foundation design can be governed by the required lateral resistance. At present, the responses of large pile groups subjected to lateral loading are not well understood. Published guidance for design is premised upon experimental testing of smaller pile groups (< 25 piles), and no additional commentary is provided to advise the design for groups of a larger scale. A typical approach for design of laterally loaded pile groups uses the beam on Winkler foundations method, where nonlinear p-y curves are reduced by a p-multiplier to account for the group effects. Alternatively, an average p-multiplier known as a group reduction factor (GRF) can be used. Chapter 1 details the study of using 3D continuum finite element (FE) models to measure the group effects in large pile groups using p-multipliers and GRF. Soil conditions, pile spacing, pile number, and pile head condition were varied to observe their effects. The study also looked at the effect of the circular configuration of pile groups used in LNG tank foundations. The design standards and prevailing methods were shown to overestimate trailing row p-multipliers for large pile groups, particularly with larger pile spacing. Based on the study data and published data, a predictive equation was proposed for estimating GRF of a laterally loaded large pile group. In addition, geotechnical engineers tend to evaluate the lateral responses of pile groups regardless of the presence of superstructures. It is not known whether this approach is suited for large infrastructure such as LNG storage tanks and their respective foundations. Chapter 2 captures the results from 3D finite element (FE) models used to observe the integrated tank and piled foundation behaviour and evaluate whether the current design approach used in practice is suitable. In addition, changes to soil-foundation stiffness, including varying soil conditions and pile spacing, were made to observe their effects. The results found that the foundation responses in the integrated model varied significantly from models which only considered the foundation. It was also found that the amount of LNG in the tank, soil conditions, and pile spacing also affected the lateral pile responses, particularly the leading and trailing piles. / Graduate

No description available.

[pt] A constante expansão ocupacional de terrenos resulta na eventual construção sobre camadas de argila mole, o que requer a utilização de fundações em estacas e, com isso, maior conhecimento sobre o material do subsolo e a interação entre as estruturas. Em um projeto de fundações, a consideração das cargas transversais atuantes na superfície nem sempre é suficiente, é necessário adicionar as solicitações também impostas ao longo do seu comprimento. Este trabalho relata o caso de um edifício em Ubatuba/SP, que entrou em colapso devido a solicitações laterais no fuste das estacas próximas ao fundo do terreno, local com maior espessura de argila mole. Este movimento foi analisado por meio de quatro métodos convencionais (Tschebotarioff, De Beer e Wallays, Stewart e Goh), além do método numérico utilizando o software Plaxis em modelagens 2D e 3D. Os métodos convencionais apresentaram momentos fletores bastante divergentes entre si, porém todos apresentaram resultados cuja ordem de grandeza foi muito maior que os obtidos por meio da análise numérica. A modelagem bidimensional mostrou que o espaçamento entre estacas no eixo fora do plano é um fator com bastante influência e interfere nos valores resultantes do modelo 2D, outra constatação foi a redução de até 50 por cento dos momentos fletores atuantes quando considerado o efeito de grupo. Os resultados da modelagem 3D mostraram-se concordantes com os da modelagem 2D, chegando a apresentar uma divergência de 2 por cento entre os resultados. Em termos gerais, foi confirmada a maior solicitação nas estacas mais próximas ao limite posterior do terreno, onde se encontra a camada mais espessa de argila, o que gerou momentos maiores do que aqueles gerados pela carga transversal da superestrutura. / [en] The constant expansion of land occupation leads to the eventual construction over soft clay layers, requiring the use of foundation piles and thus, greater understanding of the subsurface material and the interaction between the structures, especially in regards to the induced loads and displacements. Naturally, the loads from the overhead structure are transmitted to the foundation, causing it to suffer from the action of axial and transverse loads. In a foundation design, the consideration of transverse loads acting on the surface is not always sufficient, making it necessary to include the loads imposed along its length as well. This study depicts the case of a building in Ubatuba/SP that collapsed due to lateral stresses along the middle section of the piles, located close to the farthest site boundary where a thicker layer of soft clay can be found. This movement was analysed using four conventional methods (Tschebotarioff, De Beer and Wallays, Stewart and Goh), as well as a numerical method for 2D and 3D modelling on the Plaxis software. The conventional methods presented diverging results relative to each other, of which. However, all four methods produced results with orders of magnitude much greater than those obtained through numerical analysis. The bidimensional model showed that the spacing between piles in the out-of-plane axis is a factor of great influence and interferes in the simplifications of the 2D model. Another finding was a reduction of up to 50 percent of the acting bending moments when considering the group effect. The results from the 3D model were in agreement with those from the 2D model, exhibiting only a 2 percent difference. In general, a greater load on the piles closest to the farthest limit of the site was confirmed, located on the thickest clay layer that generated bending moments greater than those generated from the transverse load of the structure.

No description available.

The importance of seismic rehabilitation became evident with 1992 Erzincan Earthquake, after which a large number of reinforced concrete buildings damaged in recent earthquakes required strengthening as well as repair. In the studies related to rehabilitation, it has been realized that inadequate lateral stiffness is one of the major causes of damage in reinforced concrete buildings. Recently, economical, structurally effective and practically applicable seismic retrofitting techniques are being developed in METU Structural Mechanics Laboratory to overcome these kinds of problems. The strengthening technique proposed in this thesis is on the basis of the principle of strengthening the existing hollow brick infill walls by using high strength precast concrete panels such that they act as cast-in-place concrete infills improving the lateral stiffness. Also, the technique would not require evacuation of the building and would be applicable without causing too much disturbance to the occupant. For this purpose, after two preliminary tests to verify the proper functioning of the newly developed test set-up, a total of fourteen one-bay two story reinforced concrete frames with hollow brick infill wall, two being unstrengthened reference frames, were tested under reversed cyclic lateral loading simulating earthquake loading. The specimens were strengthened by using six different types of precast concrete panels. Strength, stiffness, energy dissipation and story drift characteristics of the specimens were examined by evaluating the test results. Test results indicated that the proposed seismic strengthening technique can be very effective in improving the seismic performance of the reinforced concrete framed building structures commonly used in Turkey. In the analytical part of the study, hollow brick infill walls strengthened by using high strength precast concrete panels were modelled once by means of equivalent diagonal struts and once as monolithic walls having an equivalent thickness. The experimental results were compared with the analytical results of the two approaches mentioned. On the basis of the analytical work, practical recommendations were made for the design of such strengthening intervention to be executed in actual practice.

The loads applied to pile foundations installed offshore vary greatly from those encountered onshore, with more substantial lateral and torsional loads. For combined axial and lateral loading the current design practice involves applying an axial load to a deep foundation and assessing the pile behaviour and then considering a lateral load separately. For the problem of an altering directions of lateral loads (e.g. due to changes in the wind directions acting on offshore wind turbines) a clear design procedure is not available. There is thus a need for a clearly established methodology to effectively introduce the interaction between the four different loading directions (two lateral, one axial and one torsional). In this thesis, a model is presented that introduces a series of Winkler elasto-plastic elements coupled between the different directions via local interaction yield surfaces along the pile. The energy based method that is used allows the soil-pile system to be defined explicitly using two equations: the energy potential and the dissipation potential. One of the most interesting applications of this model is to piles subjected to a change in lateral loading direction, where the loading history can significantly influence the pile behaviour. This effect was verified by a series of experimental tests, undertaken using the Geotechnical Centrifuge at UWA. The same theory was then applied to cyclic loading in two dimensions, leading to some very useful conclusions regarding shakedown behaviour. A theoretically based relationship was applied to the local yielding behaviour for a pile subjected to a combination of lateral and axial loading, allowing predictions to be made of the influence of load inclination on the pile behaviour. The ability of this model to represent interaction between four degrees of freedom allows a more realistic approach to be taken to this problem than that considered in current design practice.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:48:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ArthurGDA_DISSERT.pdf: 3193366 bytes, checksum: 6e05d0803e66a8ae37a24358be586be8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-12-10 / An experimental study has been conducted to investigate the behavior of continuous flight auger (cfa) bored piles and metalic driven H-section piles under lateral loading in cohesionless soils. The piles were tested in two different areas at the same site. Both areas consisted of a 3-m thick compacted superficial fill of pure fine sand, underlain by layers of naturally occurring pure fine-thick sand. Fills are differentiated by the relative densities which were compressed, 45% e 70%, respectively. Each area received one identical pair of cfa piles and two identical pairs of H-piles. A static lateral loading test was performed in each pair of piles. In this work, the pile load test results are reported and interpreted. The horizontal coefficient of subgrade reaction was determined from the results of the loading tests and compared with values determined by correlations based on penetration resistance index of SPT tests (NSPT). p-y formulations describing the static behavior of the piles were applied to the problem under evaluation. Back Analyses were made through theoretical and experimental p-y curves for obtaining input parameters for the analytic models, among which the coefficient of horizontal reaction. The soil pile system horizontal loading at rupture was determined by the theoretical methods and the results were compared with the experimental results, checking its validity / Um estudo experimental foi realizado para investigar o comportamento de estacas escavadas h?lice cont?nua e estacas cravadas met?licas submetidas a carregamentos laterais em areia. As estacas foram ensaiadas em duas ?reas diferentes no mesmo local. Ambas as ?reas eram compostas por um aterro superficial de 3 m de espessura de areia fina, seguido de camadas naturais de areia fina a grossa. Os aterros diferenciam-se pela densidade relativa com que foram compactados, 45% e 70%, respectivamente. Cada ?rea recebeu um par id?ntico de estacas h?lice cont?nua e dois pares id?nticos de estacas met?licas com perfil H . Em cada par de estacas foi executada uma prova de carga est?tica. Neste trabalho, os resultados das provas de carga s?o apresentados e interpretados. O coeficiente de rea??o horizontal do solo foi determinado atrav?s dos resultados das provas de carga e comparado com valores obtidos a partir de correla??es baseadas no ?ndice de resist?ncia ? penetra??o do ensaio SPT (NSPT). Curvas p-y foram constru?das para prever o comportamento de estacas submetidas a carregamentos horizontais. Retro an?lises foram efetuadas atrav?s das curvas p-y te?ricas e experimentais para obten??o de par?metros de entrada para os modelos anal?ticos, dentre os quais o coeficiente de rea??o horizontal. A carga de ruptura do sistema solo estaca foi determinada atrav?s de m?todos te?ricos e os resultados foram comparados com os resultados experimentais, verificando sua validade

La capacité axiale et latérale des pieux foncés dans du sable de Fontainebleau NE34 ont été étudié à l’aide d’essais sur modèles réduits centrifugés. L’effet de la méthode d’installation, de la densité et de la saturation du sable, du diamètre du pieu, de la géométrie de sa pointe (ouvert /fermé) et de sa rugosité sur la capacité axiale a été étudié. Une augmentation significative de la capacité en traction est observée dans les pieux foncés cycliquement, contrairement aux pieux foncés d’une manière monotone à 100 × g. La saturation du sable dense accélère la formation du bouchon lors de l'installation du pieu. L'augmentation de la rugosité du pieu et de la densité du sable accroissent significativement le frottement latéral des pieux testés. Dans tous les cas, les capacités de pieux sont comparées aux codes de dimensionnement des éoliennes offshore. Une étude paramétrique de l'effet de la méthode d'installation, de l'excentricité de la charge et de la saturation du sable sur la réponse latérale des pieux foncés est ensuite réalisée grâce à l'utilisation d'un pieu instrumentée. Le pieu est chargé d’une manière monotone puis un millier de cycles sont appliqués. Une nouvelle méthode a été développée pour la détermination des constantes d'intégration pour déterminer le profil de déplacement latéral du pieu. La méthode d'installation influence directement le comportement global (moment maximum et déplacement latéral) et local (courbes p-y) des pieux. L'effet de l'excentricité de la charge et de la saturation du sable sur le comportement des pieux est également présenté. Dans chaque cas, une comparaison avec les courbes p-y extraites du code DNVGL est réalisée. / The axial and lateral capacity of piles jacked in Fontainebleau sand NE34 are studied using centrifuge modelling at 100×g. The effect of the installation method, sand density and saturation, pile diameter and pile tip geometry (open or closed-ended) and pile roughness on the axial capacity of piles are firstly studied. A significant increase in the tension capacity is observed in cyclically-jacked piles unlike piles monotonically jacked at 100×g. The saturation of dense sand accelerates plug formation during pile installation. The increase in pile roughness and sand density increases significantly the shaft resistance of the piles tested here. For all the cases, pile capacities are compared with the current design codes for offshore wind turbines. A parametric study of the effect of the installation method, load eccentricity and sand saturation on the lateral response of jacked piles is then realized using of an instrumented pile. The pile is loaded monotonically, then a thousand cycles are applied. A new methodology has been developed for determining of the constants needed in the integration procedure to identify the lateral displacement profile of the pile. The installation method influences directly the global (maximum moment and lateral displacement) and local behaviour (p-y curves) of the piles. The effect of the load eccentricity and sand saturation on the behaviour of the piles is also presented. In each case a comparison with the p-y curves extracted from the DNVGL code is realized.