Integral Pile-Backfill Soil Relationship in Stub-Type Integral Abutment Bridge

Abstract

Temperature effects are significant to the sustainability of integral abutment bridges with the elimination of expansion joints. The thermally induced lateral movement of the structural components is opposed by the backfill soil supporting the components of integral abutment bridges. A 2D finite element analysis was performed on a typical integral abutment bridge using OASYS SAFE to investigate the complex interactions that exist between the pile supporting stub-type integral abutment and the backfill soil. The primary objective of this paper is to compare the effect of various soil types on the displacement of the piles when subjected to lateral loading and secondly to identify the significance of cyclic lateral load on the behaviour of the piles for various foundation soil types. The results suggest similar effect on the integral pile displacements for investigated soil types, especially for non-cyclic lateral loading.