No abstract

It is commonly assumed that the fully-saturated scenario represents the critical shear strength condition for geotechnical structure design; nevertheless, this is not the case when the dynamic shear strength of unsaturated soil is considered, because the water content affects the transfer of seismic waves through the porous medium and into a structure. It is important to better understand this behavior so the soil response during an earthquake could be established to prevent damage or failure of the structure. A series of cyclic triaxial tests with controlled matric suction was conducted to determine the principal dynamic parameters for a sandy soil for different degrees of saturation. Finally, to assess the influence of soil saturation on the dynamic soil properties of a sandy soil, a dynamic lateral load pile design was performed using Reese’s p-y curve method, and the parameter obtained from the laboratory testing were used to backcalculate the seismic coefficients used for structural design. Structural designs of laterally loaded piles considering different soil degrees of saturation demonstrated that the saturated soil condition while subjected to a dynamic condition does not represent the critical load case for seismic analysis.

The structural design of deep foundations depends on both the applied loads and the soil that will support them. However, during an earthquake this process reverses, and the seismic stresses are transmitted towards the structure through the soil. Proper design of deep foundations must account for the lateral loads imposed on the foundations by the dynamic loading. In order to assess the influence of soil saturation in the transmission of a dynamic load to a foundation, a dynamic lateral load pile design was performed using Reese’s p-y curve method. A series of suction-controlled dynamic triaxial tests were performed to obtain the Modulus of subgrade reaction at different matric suctions and seismic coefficients were back-calculated to perform structural designs. In general terms, it was observed that contemplating a saturated soil in the dynamic lateral load pile design does not represent the critical load case for seismic analysis.